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Dormancy in Oil Palm
Elaeis guineensis
Oil palm seeds pose difficulties in terms of commercial germination due to a strongdormancy. Dormancy could last several months or years, depending on theenvironmental conditions before and after harvesting. In the wild, seeds mayremain viable and begin germination even after 25 years in the soil. The dormantperiod is affected by various factors such as moisture, light, and the concentration of gases and other substances, which can sometimes be manipulated to effect changesin dormancy. Due to these difficulties and to the importance of the crop, methods of accelerating the germination process have been the object of investigation since1922.
Dry heat method
One of the most extensive reviews of methods for achieving uniform oil palmgermination was carried out by Galt (1953), who had, at that time, already describedthe dry heat method for accelerated germination. In 1959, Rees detailed the dryheat process, a commercial method for large-scale plant production, for interruptingseed dormancy in
Deli dura
palms on a commercial scale in Malaysia. This methodconsists of subjecting the seed to temperatures of between 38°C and 40°C for 40 to60 days, although the authors originally indicated periods of 70 to 80 days. Thismethod can be inconvenient in terms of the high cost of maintaining thetemperature, as well as the amount of time necessary to break dormancy.
Chemical treatments
The experiments carried out by Ramiro and Guevara (1998) identified chemicaltreatments stimulating different levels of germination. The best results wereobtained with treatments of H
2
SO
4
followed by immersion in 1.5 % CH
2
N
2
for 24hours or in 0.6% or 1.8% ethephon for 48 hours, as well as with CH
2
N
2
immersiononly. These treatments had significant effects on germination over short, butvariable, timeframes (15 to 43 days) and success rates are as high as 80%. Use of thischemical involves some difficulties, such as the quantities required to carry out large-scale seed treatments, as well as the harmful effect of the residue and the danger tothose handling it, all of which make it necessary to look for alternative solutions.
Accelerated aging
Accelerated aging (AA) performed by Murugesan
et al.
(2005) according to the SeedVigour Testing Handbook of the Association of Official Seed Analysts. One subsamplewas AA treated without initial water soaking and another was presoaked for fivedays prior to the AA test. Presoaked AA treated seeds recorded 40%, 72%, and 80%germination after 50, 60, and 70 days; whereas, unaged seeds had no germinationduring the same period. Furthermore, the five day presoak followed by agingtreatment significantly improved germination.
References
Addae-Kagyah, K.W. 1988. Effect of Seed Storage, Heat Pretreatment and itsDuration on Germination and Growth of Nursery Stock of the Idolatrica Palm,
Elaeisguineensis
var
idolatrica
(Chevalier).
Tropical Agriculture
. 65(1): 77-83.
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