Potencial Fisiológico de sementes híbridas de forrageiras

Abstract

The production of seeds from forage species plays a fundamental role in the Brazilian agribusiness in the economic, social, and environmental sectors. It is essential for beef and dairy cattle farming, food security, environmental conservation, and agricultural development. The objective of this work is to evaluate the physiological potential of hybrid forage seeds through seed germination and initial seedling growth. The experiments will be conducted at the Seed Technology Laboratory of the Faculty of Agrarian Sciences at UFGD, using hybrid Urochloa seeds from the following genotypes: Mulato II, Sabiá and Cayana, in a completely randomized design with four repetitions of 50 seeds each. The effect of seed treatment technologies will be assessed through the standard water absorption curve, seed germination, germination speed index, mean germination time, shoot and root length, shoot and root dry mass of seedlings, tetrazolium test, field emergence, and emergence speed index. The results will be subjected to analysis of variance at a 5% probability, and, when significant, compared using Tukey's test at a 5% probability. For most of the analyzed variables, uncoated and scarified seeds showed higher germination and initial seedling growth compared to coated seeds without scarification. Therefore, it can be concluded that coated seeds without scarification have lower germination and initial seedling growth when compared to uncoated and scarified seeds.