Effects of Hot Water Treatment and Temperature on Seedling Emergence and Morphological Attributes of <i>Acacia senegal</i> L. Seeds

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maiduguri, to study the effect of hot water treatment and temperature on the morphological characteristics of Arabic gum. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design in a factorial arrangement. The treatments included a combination of different times of seed exposure to hot water in hours of 0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16; and boiling temperatures of 30, 40, 60, 80 and 100 oC which was replicated three (3) times. Data collected include days to first emergence, days to 50 % emergence, number of emerged seedlings, plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of compound leaves, stem diameter and plant mortality. Data collected was subjected to Analysis of Variance. Differences between treatment means were separated using the Least Significant Difference. Result shows that time of exposure significantly affected number of emerged seedlings. Pre-treatment temperature significantly affected days to 50 % emergence, number of emerged seedlings, plant height, seedling leaves at 6 weeks after sowing, stem diameter and plant mortality. Based on the result obtained, soaking Arabic gum seeds in hot water at 40oC and exposing it for sixteen (16) hours broke seed dormancy and improved the germination and emergence of the seeds. 

Key words: Arabic gum, dormancy, pre-sowing treatment, seed emergence