CHANGE OF SEED GERMINATION RATE WITH STORAGE TIME OF Santalum album l. (INDIAN SANDALWOOD) SEEDS

Abstract

Not like other trees species, Indian sandalwood (S. album) nurseries needs more space due to the requirement of spaces for seedling hosts and field hosts in addition to the space required for the sandalwood seedlings. Therefore the number of seedlings that can be raised in a sandalwood nursery is comparatively low. Moreover, sandalwood seeds can be obtained only twice per year and due to those reasons, storage of seeds becomes a necessity. The dried sandalwood seeds are mostly stored in cotton bags. The aim of the current study was to identify the change of germination rate with the storage period under the above mentioned storage method.

For this purpose, seeds collected soon after falling to the ground were stored in cotton bags after preliminary cleaning. Then the seeds were germinated on weekly basis after a pre-treatment with 0.05% gibberelic acid (GA3). Water was used instead of GA3 for the control experiment. As the storage time increased it was observed that the number of seeds germinated decreased. The maximum germination percentage of >80% was observed when the storage period was 3 weeks. Germination of 50% was achieved at the 7thweek of storage and the germination rate was zero percent after 28 weeks of storage under the GA3 treatment. The control experiment indicated comparatively a lower germination rate than the treatment with the GA3.