New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Short communication
Effect of sowing date and harvest timing on seed vigour in garden pea (Pisum
sativum L.)
A. G. CASTILLO*
J. G. HAMPTON1
P. COOLBEAR
Seed Technology Centre
Department of Plant Science
Massey University
Palmerston North, New Zealand
*Present address: University of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, Cotabato,
Philippines.
Abstract Quality parameters were measured in two seasons for
seeds produced from early (sown November, harvested January) and late (sown
December, harvested February) crops of garden pea (Pisum sativum L.)
`Pania'. Harvest was by hand at 15% seed moisture content (SMC). Time of sowing
had no effect on the germination of the seeds produced, but did affect seed
vigour as both conductivity and hollow heart were greater in seeds from the
November sown crop, and as a consequence, expected field emergence (EFE) was
significantly lower. At a 40% SMC harvest in the second year of study,
germination and conductivity did not differ between the two sowing dates and so
the EFE also did not differ significantly. However as harvest was delayed until
25 and 15% SMC, there was a higher hollow heart incidence and higher
conductivity in seeds from the early crop compared with the late crop. Seeds
from the November sowing encountered greater climatic extremes (temperature,
rainfall, and relative humidity) during their maturation in January than seeds
from the December sowing which matured in February. Although the data are only
from one cultivar at one site over two seasons, the results suggest that pea
seed vigour and hence potential field and storage performance could be improved
by sowing to avoid detrimental climate effects during seed development and
ripening.
Keywords conductivity; expected field emergence; garden pea;
hollow heart; seed quality; seed vigour; time of sowing
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (357K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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