African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6900

Article in Press

Seed germination biology of Milicia excelsa and Terminalia ivorensis under different pre-sowing treatments: A case study of seeds collected from Benchi-Maji zone, south western Ethiopia

Mohammed Adefa, Yigardu Mulatu

  •  Received: 11 January 2022
  •  Accepted: 09 March 2022
Tree seeds of Milicia excelsa and Terminalia ivorensis always have seed germination difficulties. The main objective of this experiment is to study the seed germination of M. excelsa and T. ivorensis. In this study, a total of 1000 seeds of M. excelsa were tested using 9 pre-sowing treatments. On the other hand, a total of 300 seeds of T. ivorensis were tested using 2 pre-sowing treatments. Both tests were conducted at room temperature, and three months test duration was allowed for both species. Analysis of M. excelsa germination test showed that the higher mean germination percentage was recorded for seeds rubbed by sandpaper (39%) followed by seeds treated by 70 oC hot water for 15 minutes (24%). Analysis of the one-way t-test showed that seeds rubbed by sandpaper tend to have significantly higher mean germination compared to other pre-sowing treatments at p?0.05. Analysis of seeds germination test of T. ivorensis showed that seeds that were not treated exhibited higher mean germination (62%) followed by seeds soaked in water for 24 hours (47%). But analysis of pairwise t-test showed no significance at p?0.05. However, we believe other pre-sowing treatments might be employed to optimize the germination capability of both specie in-vitro.

Keywords: Milicia, Terminalia, Seeds, Germination, Physiology, Pre-sowing, treatments