EFFECT OF PRE AND POST STORAGE HOTWATER TREATMENTS ON VIABILITY OF Corchorus olitorius SEEDS

Investigation into the effect of pre and post storage treatments of dormancy in three cultivars of Corchorus olitorius seed ( Oniyaya, Amugbadu and Eleti-eku) using hot water was conducted at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan. The four treatments include: seed treated before packaging (pre-storage treatment), seed treated after storage at sampling periods (post-storage treatment), seed treated before storage and retreated at each sampling period ( combination of pre and post storage treatments) and seed not treated at all (control). The seeds were packaged in plastic bottles with tight screw cover and stored for 18 months under ambient condition. Seeds were sampled and tested for germination and emergence at three months intervals. Data collected were transformed using sin-1?X, before subjected to analysis of variance. Significance of treatment means was determined using Fisher’s LSD at 5% probability level. Significant differences were observed for the effect of seed treatments among the three cultivars over 18 months of storage. Oniyaya had significantly highest performance while the other two were similar. Significant values were recorded in terms of germination and emergence (%) for the effect of storage period on treated seeds. Seed treated after storage (post storage treatment) had best performance at 12 months after storage (12 MAS) with 86 and 84% germination and emergence respectively, while seed treated only before storage (pre storage treatment) had best performance at 3 MAS with 87 and 85% germination and emergence respectively. Seed samples under the combination of pre and post treatment had similar and poor performance throughout the duration of storage with less than 14% germination and emergence respectively. The result demonstrated that C. oilitorius seed whose dormancy has been treated before storage can remain appreciably viable for up to 15 months while those that were not treated before storage can remain appreciably viable beyond 18 months. Corchorus seed whose dormancy has been treated before storage and were retreated after storage performed poorly. Few seeds germinated in the untreated (control) samples due to inherent dormancy. Therefore, retreating C. olitorius with hot water may be injurious to the seed resulting in death of the embryo.