CAPACIDADE FISIOLÓGICA DE SEMENTES DE Brachiaria decumbens cv Basilisk

Abstract

The use of good quality seed is essential for the proper establishment of a crop. The aim of the research was to evaluate the efficiency of different vigor tests to determine the physiological capacity of seeds of thirteen lots of Brachiaria decumbens, seeking information that may indicate their best use in quality control, as well as verify their relationships with the emergency Of field seedlings. Thus, it was developed in the Laboratory of Seed Analysis of the CCA / UFPB, using a completely randomized experimental design, with four replications. Starting from thirteen seed lots of B. decumbens, in which the water content was determined, as well as the germination and vigor tests (first germination count, first count, emergency speed index, emergency percentage Of seedlings in sand substrate, emergence of field seedlings and electrical conductivity). For the electrical conductivity test, four subsamples were counted with the aid of eppendorf of 1.5 ml and the weight was measured in an accuracy scale of 0.001 g. The seeds were placed for soaking in 50 and 75 mL of distilled water at 25 ° C with readings performed after 2, 4, 6, 8 and 24 hours in a conductivity meter. The first count and emergence tests of seedlings in laboratory environment are efficient in evaluating the vigor of seed lots of B. decumbens, providing information similar to the emergence of field seedlings. The electrical conductivity test ranked batch with high levels of vigor in B. decumbens, but was not efficient, as a test of vigor for the species under study when compared with field emergence.