مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - The Effects of Seed Treatments on Germination, Emergence and Yield of Some Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Cultivars

Abstract :

This research was carried out to determine the effects of seed treatments on the germination, emergence and seed yield of some sunflowers cultivars. In this study, germination, cool test, cold test and accelerated ageing test were applied to the sunflower seeds of cv. Sanbro MR, Bosfora and Transol pre-conditioned with 500 mg/L potassium nitrate (KNO3) and hydration for 16 h in laboratory conditions, while emergence, seed yield, yield components and oil contents were investigated in field conditions. The results showed that the seed treatments increased considerably germination percentage, root length, shoot length, seedling fresh and dry weight, while the mean germination time was shortened. Hydration was the most effective method for enhancing germination of sunflower in adverse conditions. In field experiments, it was determined that seed treatments increased emergence percentage, seed yield and oil content of sunflower. As a result, the study showed that seed treatments significantly affected the germination and seedling growth along with the emergence and seed yield in sunflower. It was concluded that hydration can be used on sunflower seeds because of easy to apply, cheap and unnecessary in chemicals and sophisticated equipment in spite of different responses in cultivars.