Abstract
Abstract: Black oat seeds exhibit dormancy when newly harvested, which is normally broken in the interval between harvest and the sowing season. Dormancy, however, becomes a limiting factor in the estimate of the physiological quality of the seeds soon after harvest, requiring the use of methods for breaking dormancy, which delays making decisions in regard to the destination of seed lots. Given this situation, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the possibility of reducing the period for obtaining results in the germination test of newly harvested black oat seeds, studying variations on the recommended methods for breaking dormancy. Five seed lots of newly harvested seeds of cultivar IAPAR 61 (Ibiporã) were used, for which the following determinations were done: moisture content, germination test, and tetrazolium test. The following methods were tested for breaking dormancy: pre-cooling at 5 - 10 ºC for three and five days; and pre-drying at 33 ºC for five and seven days. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that there is the possibility of reducing the period recommended for estimating the germination of newly harvested black oat seeds through the use of pre-drying of the seeds for five days or of pre-cooling for three days.
Highlights
The successful establishment of the crop and obtaining high yields depend on satisfactory seed production (Carvalho et al, 2013), which is expressed by means of genetic, physical, physiological and health attributes (Marcos-Filho, 2005)
At the end of the germination test evaluation, ungerminated seeds were subjected to the tetrazolium test, which has the ability to identify the viability, regardless of the occurrence of dormancy in seeds
Seed viability determined by the tetrazolium test ranged 91-96% (Table 1), and the lots were statistically similar
Summary
The successful establishment of the crop and obtaining high yields depend on satisfactory seed production (Carvalho et al, 2013), which is expressed by means of genetic, physical, physiological and health attributes (Marcos-Filho, 2005). Black oats seeds, when freshly harvested, may have primary type dormancy, which is characteristic of the species (Menezes and Mattioni, 2011), and systematically occurs with varying intensity (Marcos-Filho, 2005). Such behavior is genetically programmed, and may arise while the seed is still attached to the mother plant (settling during ripening), and remain after dispersion (Vivian et al, 2008), causing interference of one or more locking mechanisms and preventing the transcription of the genetic message for the activation of the metabolic sequence, which will result in germination (Marcos-Filho, 2005). The occurrence and degree of seed dormancy intensity can be identified only during laboratory testing
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