Ar seco e aquecido no processo de dormência e germinação de sementes de Brachiaria humidicola

Abstract

Sulfuric acid use has shown effectiveness in overcoming dormancy, even though its effective use carry some risks to the workers and environment. The work was carried out to study the sulfuric acid treatment effectiveness, recommended by the RAS, and ventilation with dry and heated air to overcome the dormancy and the germination performance of six seed lots Bracharia humidicola cv. Tully. The work performed comparisons between the physiological effects of heat treatments at 45, 55, 65 and 75 ºC, during 24 and 48 hours periods and chemical scarification (immersion in concentrated sulfuric acid) for 10 minutes, constituting eight treatments and two controls. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. The seed germination, the germination velocity index, the tetrazolium test and seedling dry weight were evaluated. The use of controlled temperatures and of H2SO4 are mechanisms to overcome dormancy, but in greater vitality batches results were equal to conventional treatment with sulfuric acid, which can be considered as an alternative. Generally, the work did not indicate the best period (24 or 48 hours), for use with dry air ventilation, however a temperature of 60 °C for lots with high vitality (L1, L3 and L5) may be recommended. The H2SO4 use in lots with greater vitality was not statistically significant compared with the control, but for lots with less vitality physiological deterioration occurred in the seeds.