Viability of Jatropha curcas Seeds Under Different Periods and Storage Enviroment.

Jatropha curcas can be propagated vegetatively by cuttings and grafting or by seeds. It is a allogamous plant, when propagated via seed originates progenies with high genetic variability, later production, but with developed tap root which gives great plant vigor and resistance to prolonged drought. The present study was developed out at greenhouse condictions at the Crop Sciences Department of Sao Paulo State University and evaluated seed germination and early seedling development of Jatropha curcas as a function of environment and time of seed storage. Seeds stored for 120 days provided higher values of germinated seeds, number of living plants at the end of the experiment, higher number of leaves greater than 2 cm, and greater dry mass of shoots and roots of seedlings. Seeds stored for 30 and 120 days showed no differences in relation to stem diameter of seedlings. Storage of Jatropha seeds is viable for up to 120 days in cold storage or environment conditions, but the sowing must be done under conditions that do not restrict germination and seedling development. It is recommended to perform the sowing in spring - summer season where minimum temperatures are higher than 20 ºC and possibly not affect seed germination and seedling development.