Germination and seedling growth response of Aframomum melegueta K. Schum to different pre-treatments

An experiment was carried out to check the effect of pre-treatments on germination and early seedlings growth of Aframomum melegueta at the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management of University of Port Harcourt. The research seeks to investigate the effect of pre-germination treatment on seeds of A. melegueta. The treatments used were Hydrogen peroxide (10 minutes), Cold water (24 hours), Methylated spirit (10 minutes), warm sand at 45oC (30 minutes), Nicking and Control. The experimental design was the completely randomized design (CRD) while analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the effect of treatments on seeds and seedlings of A. melegueta. Result from this study indicated that in nicked seeds germination started 11days after sowing while it was 14 days after sowing in hydrogen peroxide treated seeds. Germination duration was lowest in hydrogen peroxide treated seeds (28.67 days) and highest in seeds buried in warm sand (36.33 days) while germination percentage was lowest in nicked seeds (56%) and highest in seeds soaked in cold water (92.67%). Seedlings of A. melegueta subjected to different pre-treatments displayed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in all growth parameters at all stages of growth. Seedlings in warm sand exhibited the greatest seedling height, collar diameter and leaf number while seeds soaked in methylated spirit displayed lowest seedling height and leaf number; and seedlings treated with hydrogen peroxide had the lowest collar diameter. It was observed that seeds of these species did not exhibit dormancy. However, to enable optimum, rapid, uniform germination and good growth, it is recommended that the seeds of A. melegueta should be pre-treated before sowing.Keywords: Aframamum melegueta, pre-treatment, germination, seedling growt

Influence of pre-germination treatments on germination and early seedlings growth of Carapa procera

This study was carried out at the Forest Nursery of the Department of Forest and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt Nigeria. It assessed the effect of pre-germination treatments on seed germination and early seedling growth performance of Carapa procera. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design involving analysis of variance. Duncan multiple range test (DMRT) at (P<0.05) was used for mean separation. The treatments used were: hot water soaking (5 minutes), mechanical scarification, cold water soaking (24 hours) and the control. A total of 600 seeds were used for germination (i.e. 150 seeds per treatment). Observations on germination were recorded daily for six weeks on germination emergence, duration and percentage. A total of 80 seedlings were used i.e. 20 seedlings of uniform height at two (2) leaves stage for each treatment were transplanted into polypots, Evaluation of early seedling growth was done for four months based on height, collar diameter and leaf number. Highest Germination percentage was observed in mechanically scarified seeds (94%) and lowest in control seeds (56%). Earliest emergence and duration was observed in mechanically scarified seeds (5 and 4 days respectively) and latest in control (21.67 and 29.33 days respectively). A significant effect (p ≤ 0.05) was observed in all growth parameters at all stages of growth. Mechanically scarified seeds produced the highest performance for all growth parameters studied followed by control when compared to the other pre-treatment methods. It is recommended that seeds of Carapa procera be mechanically scarified before sowing. Although other treatments can be used to enhance germination, they may not be required for seedling growth since seedlings from untreated seeds produced higher growth parameters after scarification treatment.Keywords: Carapa procera, pre-treatments, germination, early seedling growt

Fruiting efficiency of the African walnut (Lovoa trichilioides Harms): a case study of Benin tropical rainforest and Onne swamp forest of Nigeria

The influence of geographical location on fruiting efficiency and abortion rate of gynoecium per inflorescence were investigated between 2004 and 2006 at two locations of Nigeria (the tropical low land rain forest of Benin and Onne swamp forest) Five (5) sample trees each of L. trichilioides were randomly selected in Iguowan forest (Benin) and Onne swamp forest. Twenty (20) inflorescences were randomly selected per tree at each site. Mean fruiting efficiency per inflorescence was calculated by dividing the number of fruits-set by the total number of flowers produced and multiplied by one hundred. The mean fruiting efficiency of L. trichilioides were 9.0 ± 0.14% and 9.35 ± 0.09% in Benin and Onne respectively. Similarly, the mean abortion rate of gynoecium were 91.0 ± 0.14% and 90.65 ± 0.09% for Benin and Onne respectively. L. trichilioides has irregular fruiting pattern since it fruits once in two years without inter annual variability. Competing sink for available food resources, pollination and fertilization failures could be speculated as factors responsible for low fruiting efficiency and high abortion rate in L. trichilioides. The use of vegetative growth retardant sprays such as endothall and artificial pollination during flowering are recommended.Keywords: Lovoa trichilioides, African walnut, fruiting efficiency, gynoecium drop, inflorescence number, geographical locatio