Effects of some combined treatments on breaking the seed dormancy and enhancing the germination rate from different Morrocan varieties of date palm

Subject Areas : Plant Physiology

Oumaima Harkousse ¹ , Afaf Slimani ² , Issam Jardane ³ , Mohamed Aitboulahsen ⁴ , Mouaad Mazri ⁵ , Lahcen Ouahmane ⁶ , Tayeb koussa ⁷ , Mohamed Najib Alfeddy ⁸

1 - Laboratory of plant biotechnology, ecology and ecosystem exploitation, department of biology, faculty of sciences, EL Jadida, Morocco.
2 - Laboratory of plant biotechnology, ecology and ecosystem exploitation, department of biology, faculty of sciences, EL Jadida, Morocco.
3 - Cadi Ayyad University, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary University of Safi, Morocco
4 - Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, B.P 745, Larache, Morocco
5 - National Institute of Agronomic Research, UR Agro-Biotechnology, Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, Marrakech, Morocco
6 - Cadi Ayyad University, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary University of Safi, Morocco
7 - Laboratory of plant biotechnology, ecology and ecosystem exploitation, department of biology, faculty of sciences, EL Jadida, Morocco.
8 - National Institute of Agronomic Research, Plant Protection Unit, Laboratory of Phyto-Bacteriology, Marrakech, Morocco

Received: 2020-01-09 Accepted : 2021-12-26 Published : 2021-10-01

Keywords: Phoenix dactylifera L, cultivar, operculum, germination percentage, speed index,

Abstract :

An accelerating worldwide trend toward planting elite cultivars is leading towards two types of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L) propagation: offshoot propagation or a tissue culture propagation. However, the date palm diversity is nowadays facing crucial problems. The alternative for both these methods is Seed propagation. Although Seed dormancy in date palm has continued to be challenging especially when cultivating through seeds. This study evaluated the efficiency of the operculum removal treatment combined with temperature on the seed dormancy for four different Moroccan cultivars (Najda, Boufegousse, Aziza and Assian). Thereby the germination Test was carried out using a completely randomized design, the four cultivars seeds were selected and subsequently received the pre-germination treatment. In this survey, the evaluated traits were the germination rate and the germination speed index. Results showed that the treatment significantly (p < 0.05) affect the germination rate and Germination percentage of all of the four cultivars of date palm. The germination rate was above 90% and below 20% for the treated seed and control, respectively. The higher germination rates were exhibited by the “Najda” and “Assiane” seedlings. The highest levels of the germination speed index were exhibited also by the “Najda” and “Assiane”. This study demonstrates that seed dormancy in date palm can best be overcome by an operculum removal treatment combined with temperature.

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