Seed Germination of <i>Faidherbia albida</i> (Delile) A. Chev as Influenced by Different Pretreatments

Abstract

Faidherbia albida is an agroforesrty tree that has the potential of promoting agroforestry establishment in Nigeria. The seeds are glossy due to the presence of wax in the seed coat which prevents easy penetration of water. Thus, this study assessed the effect of different pretreatments (biological, mechanical and chemical) on the germination of F. albida seeds. The treatments include; seeds scarified at the helium, soaked in cold water for 24 hours, soaked in hot water for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, & 15 minutes and soaked in Conc. H₂SO₄ for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes. The result showed that all treatment had uniform germination percentage of 100% but seeds soaked in H₂SO₄ for 15 min and 10 min had the highest germination value of (65.25) and (65.00) respectively, followed by 15mins soaking in hot water (47.14) while the least germination value was recorded in seeds scarified mechanically (33.31). Analysis of variance revealed that there was no significant difference in the treatments. However, seeds treated with H₂SO₄ at 15 mins and 10 mins had the best performance in terms of germination value compared with other treatments. Therefore, for optimum and uniform germination, the seed of F. albida seeds should be soak in concentrated H₂SO₄ for 15 min.