Germination studies on seed of fruit trees indigenous to Malawi

Abstract

Indigenous fruit trees play an important role in rural areas in Malawi. However, information on propagation techniques for these species is scantily available. Freshly obtained seed of 16 indigenous fruit trees and one exotic species were therefore collected and tested for germination after applying eight different seed pretreatments. The pretreatments included direct sowing, washing, soaking, hot water treatment and different degrees of removal of the seedcoat. The objective was to find a simple technique to germinate seed of each species so that such a technique can be applied under village conditions in Malawi. More than 80% germination was achieved for Bridelia cathartica, Bridelia micrantha, Diospyros mespiliformis, Parkia filicoidea, Piliostigma thonningii, Strychnos spinosa, Syzygium cordatum, Tamarindus indica, Uapaca kirkiana, Ziziphus abyssinica and Ziziphus mauritiana by simply cleaning and soaking the seeds. Quicker germination could be achieved by partial removal of the seedcoat for some species. Azanza garckeana and Parinari curatellifolia, however, required partial or complete removal of the seedcoat to achieve some germination. Flacourtia indica and Parinari curatellifolia had very poor germination of 20% and 17%, respectively.