Some aspect of soil and seed pre-treatments on germination, growth and biomass production of Tamarindus indica seeds in the nursery

Abstract

Tamarind is a multipurpose plant. Hence, the study investigated soil and seed pre-treatments on germination, growth and biomass production of Tamarindus indica seeds in the nursery. Completely Randomized Design with four replicates was adopted and data were analysed using Analysis of Variance. Mechanically scarified seeds (MS) sowed in top soil (S₁), river sand (S₂), top soil plus river sand plus manure (S₃) (S₁MS), (S₂MS), (S₃MS), seeds treated with 60 % concentrated tetraoxosulphate (V1) acid (H₂SO₄) for 10 minutes (A₁₀) and sowed in S_1, S_2, S₃ (S₁A₁₀), (S₂A₁₀) and (S₃A₁₀) germinated first, 5 days after sowing (DAS), while the untreated soil (C) germinated last, 9 DAS. A₁₀ gave (100 %) germination, while, A₁₀ in an untreated soil (C) was the least (65 %). There was no significant effect among soil media on number of leaves (NL), wet weight of shoot (WWS) and dry weight of shoot (DWS) except on S₃ with significant value (1.49) at 12 weeks after planting (WAS). Meanwhile, pre-germination treatment of MS had higher significant values (39, 105, 148, 171) on NL at 2, 6-12 WAS, (1.51) on leaf area (LA) at 12 WAS, (0.38, 0.98, 1.40, 2.56,2.83, 3.35) and (0.39, 0.43, 0.58, 0.97, 1.14, 1.32) on WWS and DWS both at 2-12 WAS respectively. Seeds soaked in water for 24 hours (S_24h) had the lowest significant effect (0.80) on LA at 6 WAS. It is concluded and recommended that, mechanically scarified seeds at the micropyle was the effective treatment for breaking dormancy of T. indica seeds.