Abstract
Hybrids and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) are two commercial maize seed types cultivated in Nigeria. Information on their response to mechanical damage during processing is limited. This study is thus aimed at assessing the response of hybrids and OPVs of maize seeds to mechanical damage which would facilitate fabrication of processing facilities suitable for either of the maize types. Six maize varieties: three hybids (‘New Kaduna’, ‘SDM-1’, and ‘JO-195’) and three OPVs (‘Sammaz 15’, ‘Sammaz 27’ and ‘Suwan-1-stry’) were used for the study. The seed samples were subjected to standard germination, seedling vigour analysis, accelerated ageing, conductivity and fast green tests. The result showed that all the hybrid seed varieties had more damaged seeds than their OPVs counterpart. Shoot length and root length were more affected than other parts of the seedling. There were differences in the magnitude of electrolyte leakage as well as in what time each seed type (hybrid or OPVs) passed through the phases with ‘JO-195’ having the highest rate of electrolyte leakage. Hybrid seeds had lower resistance to mechanical damage and poorer storability when compared with the OPVs. In the overall, for all the traits, ‘Sammaz 15’, the best among OPVs was more promising when compared with ‘SDM-1’ which was the best among hybrid varieties. Processing machine equipment and accessories that are suitable for hybrid seeds might be inappropriate for conditioning OPVs.
Highlights
Maize is one of the major crops in Nigeria
Interrelationship among seed quality tests In overall, before the mechanical processing, significant differences (p>0.05) in mean values were observed between the open pollinated varieties (OPVs) and hybrid seeds for normal seedling from standard germination test, number of dead seeds, amount of electrolyte leachate after 24 h of soaking and normal seedlings from accelerated ageing test (Table 2)
It is apparent that mean values for normal seedling from standard germination and accelerated ageing tests were significantly lower (p>0.05) when compared to the mean values for OPVs
Summary
Maize is one of the major crops in Nigeria. Hybrid and OPVs are two commercial maize seed types cultivated in Nigeria. In case of farmers, the reasons why they may not invest in hybrid seed include high cost of seed, lack of cash at planting time, non-availability of hybrid seeds at local shops, the need to purchase fertilizer, small or no difference in yield when compared to some of the local varieties, lack of adaptation, poor storability and poor processing quality of commercially available hybrids (Pixley and Bänziger, 2001). These arguments have raised the question whether hybrid seeds have an advantage over OPV seeds in Nigerian situations
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