Long-term storage of Pinus kesiya Royle ex Gordon seeds is essential not only for continuous seedling production, but also for genetic conservation. In Dedza, Malawi Pinus kesiya seeds are collected in good productionyears, stored in sealed black polythene tubes at (4±1) °C and used thereafter for seedling production. However,information about the effect of conditions and period of storage on seed quality is scarce. Therefore, the objective of thisstudy was to evaluate the germination percentage (GP) and germination energy (GE) of Pinus kesiya seeds recentlycollected and after four and ten months after storage in sealed black polythene bags at the temperature of (4±1) °C, driedat 20%, 14%, 7% and 3% moisture content levels. The results shows there were significant (P <0.001) differences on bothGP and GE among different moisture content levels. GP and GE increased with a decrease of moisture content up to 7%, then decline at 3% moisture content. Consequently, there were significant (P <0.001) differences on both GP and GEamong storage period at 3% moisture content. GP and GE decreased with an increase of storage period. In contrast, therewere no significant (P >0.05) differences on GP among the storage period at 20%, 14% and 7% moisture content levels.Similarly, no significant ( P >0.05) differences were observed on GE during the first four months of storage at 20%, 14%and 7% moisture content levels. However, GE significantly declined by the tenth month. Highest GP of (96.6±2.1) %, (95.8±2.6) %, (95.2±2.8) % and GE of (78.3±2.2) %, (75.9±2.7) %, (60.2±2.7) % at 7% moisture content were obtainedfor 0, 4 and 10 months of storage respectively. Therefore, the present study recommends storage of Pinus kesiyaseeds insealed black polythene bags with a moisture content of 7% at (4±1) °C temperature in order to maintain the seed viabilityfor a long period. Further studies are required to determine the pre-chilling period in order to maintain the highgermination energy. |
