Impact of Maize Seed Moisture Content Reduction on Germination Parameters as Influenced by Sun Drying

Abstract

When growing seedlings for commercial purposes, excellent seed quality is crucial. Seed quality influences germination rate because seeds that sprout slower typically produce lower-quality seedlings. In numerous plants, seed moisture content has a significant impact on seed germinating speed. This study investigates the impact of various moisture content (MC) reductions on maize germination parameters and determines the moisture content level essential for maize germination. A comprehensive laboratory experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) consisting of five treatments and three replicates. The treatment levels were maize seeds not sun-dried after collection (control), maize seed sun-dried for 3 days, maize seed sun-dried for 6 days, maize seed sun-dried for 9 days, and maize seed sun-dried for 12 days. Data were obtained on shoot length, root length, seedling length, germination percentage (GP), germination energy (GE), mean germination time (MGT), and seedling vigour index (SVI). All germination parameters were taken and calculated and the experiment was terminated two weeks after planting (WAP). Results indicated that the control significantly (p<0.05) performed better than other treatments for all the germination parameters. It was determined that maize with moisture content of 9.4% and below had low germination ability. This study concludes that the impacts of reduced moisture content on maize's physical properties (quality, texture, shape), chemical composition (fat and starch content), and biological characteristics (seed viability) resulted in the low germination ability of maize seeds.