A comparison of methods for evaluating seed quality in carrots (Daucus carota)

Abstract

SUMMARYComparisons of embryo length, ISTA (International Seed Testing Association), cold (10 oC), controlled‐deterioration, and slope tests for estimating seedling size variability and percentage seedling emergence were made using eighteen stocks of carrot seeds.The coefficient of variation (C.V.) of seedling weight was closely correlated with the C.V. of embryo length (r = 0–87 D.F., 16) and also with the C.V. of root length from the slope test (r = 0–63 D.F., 16).Poorer estimates of percentage seedling emergence were obtained from the cold test in all three sowings (correlation coefficients were between 0–65 and 0–70 D.F., 16) compared with the ISTA, controlled deterioration, and slope tests. For these three tests the correlation coefficients varied between 0–80 and 0–87 (D.F., 16) for all sowings.The embryo test is a rapid (1 man hour per seed lot) and accurate method of assessing potential variability between seed lots. The slope test could provide a less labour demanding method of assessing potential variability than the embryo length test though the results would not be available immediately. However, the slope test could also provide as good an estimate of seedling emergence in the field as the ISTA or controlled‐deterioration tests.