Germination of alfalfa seeds submitted to periods of immersion in water

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the germination of alfalfa seeds cv. Crioula under flooded conditions, submitting the seeds to the following daily immersion periods: 0 (control), 6, 2, and 24 hours. The recently harvested seeds were sown in a substratum of folded double gauze, inside small plastic boxes, where they stayed, totally immersed in water, for different periods of time. Every 24 hours the water was drained, and the germinated seeds were counted. Then the water was replaced, according to specifications of each treatment. This procedure was maintained during eight days. The experimental units were arranged according to a completely random design, with four replications for each treatment. The germination tests were conducted at a temperature of 9 ±oC and 8 hours of photoperiod. The resulting data allowed the following conclusions: - The seeds supported up to 2 hours of daily immersion in water without damage to their germination capacity; 2- Continuous immersion of the seeds for eight days severely reduced their germination.Additional keywords: Medicago sativa L.; forage legume; hypoxia; flooding