Presowing seed treatment methods to overcome dormancy in seeds of Vachellia rehmanniana Schinz

Mature Vachellia rehmanniana seeds were collected from healthy erect trees at Butale Village, Botswana to investigate the effect of different pre-sowing treatment methods on seed germination. The hard seed coat of many forest species have evolved to withstand unfavourable conditions, such as intense heat from sunlight, dispersing animals, severe drought and physical damage (Tadros et al., 2011). Seed characteristics To assess the seed characteristics of V. rehmanniana, the three dimensions of the seeds, namely length, width and breadth of seeds were measured using an electronic digital caliper (0-150 mm), and their thousand seed weight were determined by weighing the seeds using an electronic analytical balance (Model: PW 124). The mean thousand seed weight qf the seeds was 93.5 ± 0.95 g, ranging between 88.3 and 97 g. The results indicated that seed germination percentage, germination mean time and germination index were significantly (F(9, 30) = 51.4, P < 0.01) affected by pre-sowing treatment methods (Table 1).