Longevity of maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) seeds during low input storage under ambient conditions of southwestern Nigeria

Longevity of maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) seeds during low input storage under ambient conditions of southwestern Nigeria

Authors

  • I.O. Daniel Department of Plant Breeding & Seed Technology, University of Agriculture, PMB 2240, Abeokuta, Nigeria.

Keywords:

Probit analysis, Seed conservation, Tropical seed storage.

Abstract

Seed longevity of two commercial hybrid maize (Zea mays L.) varieties (‘Oba-Super’ and ‘Suwan-1’) were evaluated under simulated low-input seed storage systems typical of the tropics. Saturated salt solutions of ZnCl2, CaCl2, Ca(NO3)2, NaBr, NH4NO3, NH4Cl, and KCl in air-tight containers at 31±4°C provided relative humidity (RH) levels of 15.6, 28.7, 52.5, 56, 60, 75.4, and 80.5% respectively for storage. Monthly germination data for a 12-month storage period were analyzed using the Probit model. Survival curves confirmed a normal distribution pattern for most RH treatments. Seed longevity estimates (p50 or seed half-viability period and σ or distribution of seed mortality in time) were significantly different among the RH treatments. The two seed kinds equilibrating at 15.6±0.95 and 28.7±1.51% RH had p50 values of ~600 days representing a 10-fold increase in the estimates of seed longevity compared to seeds stored at >60% RH and 31±4°C (corresponds to the ambient microenvironmental conditions in southwestern Nigeria). Implicit in this are potential gains in seed longevity for dry and ultra dry seed storage under tropical temperature regimes.

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Published

11-01-2008

How to Cite

Daniel, I. (2008). Longevity of maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) seeds during low input storage under ambient conditions of southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Tropical Agriculture, 45(1), 42–47. Retrieved from https://jtropag.kau.in/index.php/ojs2/article/view/171

Issue

Section

Regular papers

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