Effect of pretreatments on seed germination rate of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) populations

ÖNAL AŞCI Ö., ACAR Z., AYAN İ., BAŞARAN U., Mut H.

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, vol.6, no.13, pp.3055-3060, 2011 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 6 Issue: 13
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Journal Name: AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Veterinary Science Database
  • Page Numbers: pp.3055-3060
  • Yozgat Bozok University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate effective methods in breaking the seed dormancy for red clover populations collected from Central-Black Sea Region of Turkey. To increase germination percentage of red clover, precooling, preheating, hot water, potassium nitrate and mechanical scarification were used. The results pointed out that there was a significant difference among the populations and treatments regarding germination rates. While average germination vigor of seeds was 29.4% in control treatments, it increased to 54.2% in mechanical scarification. Additionally preheating and precooling treatments were recommended.