Reviving the Resilient: Exploring Pre-Dormancy Breaking Treatments for Acacia nilotica (L.)

Abstract

Acacia nilotica plays an important ecological role in its native habitats and has great relevance for restoration as well as in terms of economic worth. Acacia nilotica species frequently exhibit seed dormancy, which makes planting and seed testing difficult. In the present work, we examined the degree of dormancy and the impact of various pre-treatments on the dormancy breaking of Acacia species. Several tests were carried out against this backdrop to standardize the mechanical scarification, seed priming, and coating techniques. The results showed that mechanical scarification of Acacia nilotica seeds with @6 min scarification improved the seed germination percentage and vigour index percentage by 117 and 184 percent over the control. Correspondingly, the application of the TNAU seed coating formulation on Acacia nilotica seeds at 2g kg-1 increased the germination percentage and vigour index percentage by 129 and 186 percent, respectively, over the control. Also, humid priming of Acacia seeds (12 h soaking in water + 2 days humid incubation) resulted in a gradual increase in the seed germination percentage and vigour index percentage by 181 and 263 percent over the control. The seeds were not harmed by any of these treatments, which all reduced hard seeds to zero and improved germination percentages.