Harvest Date Influence on Seed Germination of Some Nerica Rainfed Rice Varieties

Abstract

The present study aims to determine the effect of harvest date on the germination of rice seeds. The experiment was carried out at Nkol bisson, a locality within the forest agro-ecological zone characterized by a bimodal rainfall pattern. Four varieties of NERICA: NERICA 3, NERICA 8, NERICA 9 and 13 NERICA widely grown in Cameroon were used and planted in a completely randomized block design. Rice seed was produced according to the standards of its production and were harvested at six different dates: 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 days after heading. The harvested seeds were dried at 13% moisture content. The results showed that the harvest dates have a significant effect on the latency, the time corresponding to 50% sprouted grains (T50), the number of sprouted grains, number of dead seed and the number of non-sprouted grains. There was significant difference between rice varieties evaluated and the different harvesting date. The germination rates 98.88%, 99.44%, 99.75% and 97.00% were obtained respectively for the harvest dates of 30, 35, 40 and 45 days after 50% heading. The harvest dates 20 and 25 days after 50% heading presented low germination rates. With these early harvesting dates, the mean percentages of dead seeds ranged between 18.25% and 55.25%. Too early harvest had a negative impact on rice seeds germination. To obtain good germination rate, it is recommend harvesting rice between the ranges of 30 to 40 days after 50% of heading.