Plant Soil Environ., 2013, 59(1):37-43 | DOI: 10.17221/551/2012-PSE

Drying of meadow fescue seeds of different moisture contents: Changes in dormancy and germinationOriginal Paper

R. Stanisavljević1, J. Milenković1, D. Djokić1, D. Terzić1, M. Petrović1, L. Đukanović2, D. Dodig3
1 Institute of Forage Crops, Kruševac, Serbia
2 Department of Seed, High School for Agriculture, Šabac, Serbia
3 Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje, Belgrade-Zemun, Serbia

In the past few years in Europe grass seed production declines. This tendency is especially pronounced in meadow fescue. Seed shedding and therefore yield losses are the problem in seed production. This can be reduced if seed of higher moisture contents is harvested. The impacts of drying temperatures of 70, 60, 50, 40 and 22°C on changes in dormancy and germination of seed harvested with moisture contents of 45, 35 and 25% were observed in the present study. The analysis was done immediately after seed drying, then three months later and eight months later. Seeds with the moisture content of 45% that were dried at 70°C were not dormant at all after harvest, but seeds were damaged, which resulted in reduced germination. Drying temperatures of 40°C and 50°C resulted in maximum germination of seed harvested with 45% moisture after three months. After eight months the best germination of all seeds was obtained at 22°C and 40°C. The seed ageing test confirmed faster deterioration of seeds harvested with higher moisture contents. Seed harvested with 25% moisture and dried at 22°C is the most suitable seed for longer storage.

Keywords: Festuca pratensis; germination ability; post-harvest maturation; seed viability; seed storage

Published: January 31, 2013  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Stanisavljević R, Milenković J, Djokić D, Terzić D, Petrović M, Đukanović L, Dodig D. Drying of meadow fescue seeds of different moisture contents: Changes in dormancy and germination. Plant Soil Environ. 2013;59(1):37-43. doi: 10.17221/551/2012-PSE.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Bewley J.D., Black M. (1994): Seeds: Physiology of Development and Germination. Plenum Press, New York. Go to original source...
    2. Dias D.C.F.S., Toledo F.F. (1993): Germination and fungi incidence in tests with brachiaria decumbens stapf. seeds. Scientia Agricola, 50: 68-76. Go to original source...
    3. Eichelberger L., Maia M.S., Peske S.T., Moraes D.M. (2002): Chemical composition of ryegrass seeds in response to drying delay and storage. Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira, 37: 693-701. Go to original source...
    4. Eichelberger L., Maia M.S., Peske S.T., Moraes D.M. (2003): Drying delay effect on physiological quality of stored annual ryegrass seeds. Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira, 38: 643-650. Go to original source...
    5. Hejduk S., Knot P. (2010): Effect of provenance and ploidity of red clover varieties on productivity, persistence and growth pattern in mixture with grasses. Plant, Soil and Environment, 56: 111-119. Go to original source...
    6. Huyghe C., Tabel C. (2010): Grasslands and forage crops in Europe: Context and stakes. Consequences for breeding. Sustainable use of Genetic Diversity in Forage and Turf Breeding, 26: 3-13. Go to original source...
    7. ISTA (2011): International Rules for Seed Testing. International Seed Testing Association, Zurich, 1-45.
    8. Jakobsson A., Eriksson O. (2000): A comparative study of seed number, seed size, seedling size and recruitment in grassland plants. Oikos, 88: 494-502. Go to original source...
    9. Jensen H.A. (1976): Investigation of anthesis, length of caryopsis, moisture content, seed weight, seed shedding and strippingripeness during development and ripening of a Festuca pratensis seed crop. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, 26: 264-268. Go to original source...
    10. Jensen T.M. (2010): Seed production in Europe with special focus on Denmark. Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry, 26: 149-158.
    11. Martins L., Silva W.R. (2001): Dormancy performance of Brachiaria brizantha seeds submitted to thermal and chemical treatments. Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira, 36: 997-1003. Go to original source...
    12. Moles A.T., Westoby M. (2006): Seed size and plant strategy across the whole the life cycle. Oikos, 113: 91-105. Go to original source...
    13. Samuil C., Vintu V., Sirbu C, Surmei M.G. (2012): Behaviour of fodder mixtures with alfalfa in north-eastern Romania. Romanian Agricultural Research, 29: 227-235.
    14. Stanisavljević R., Djokić D., Milenković J., Djukanović L., Stevović V., Simić A., Dodig D. (2011): Seed germination and seedling vigour of Italian ryegrass, cocksfoot and timothy following harvest and storage. Ciencia e Agrotecnologia, 35: 1141-1148. Go to original source...
    15. Stanisavljević R., Djokić D., Milenković J., Terzić D., Djukanović L., Stevović V., Dodig D. (2010b): Desiccation, postharvest maturity and seed aging of tall oat-grass. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira, 11: 1297-1302. Go to original source...
    16. Stanisavljević R., Dragićević V., Milenković J., Djukanović L., Djokić D., Terzić D., Dodig D. (2010a): Short communication. Effects of the duration of after-ripening period on seed germinations and seedling size in three fescue species. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 8: 454-459. Go to original source...
    17. Stanisavljević R., Simić A., Sokolović D. (2010c): Seed production of perennial forage grasses in Serbia. Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry, 26: 159-172.
    18. Šlepetys J. (2001): Changes in the chemical composition of grass seed and stem during the period of ripening. Biologija, 2: 57-61.
    19. Tunes M.L., Pedroso C.D., Badinelli G.P., Tavares C.L., Rufino A.C., Barros A.S.C.A., Muniz B.F.M. (2011): Accelerated aging of ryegrass seeds submitted to saturated salt solution. Ciencia Rural, 41: 33-37. Go to original source...
    20. Wang Y.R., Yu L., Nan Z.B., Liu Y.L. (2004): Vigor tests used to rank seed lot quality and predict field emergence in four forage species. Crop Science, 44: 535-541. Go to original source...
    21. Wilkins P.W., Humphreys M.O. (2003): Progress in breeding perennial forage grasses for temperate agriculture. Journal of Agricultural Research, 140: 129-150. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content