Low-cost seed storage technologies for development impact of small-scale seed saving entities in tropical climates

Autor: Patrick Trail, Timothy Motis, Stacy Swartz, Abram Bicksler
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Experimental Agriculture. 57:324-337
ISSN: 1469-4441
0014-4797
DOI: 10.1017/s0014479722000023
Popis: SummarySeeds can deteriorate rapidly under high heat and humidity, making it challenging and potentially costly to store orthodox seeds effectively in the tropics, thereby affecting agriculture development. This work explores the effectiveness of novel, low-cost technologies for storing seeds in warm, humid, resource-constrained environments, focusing on maintaining the viability of seeds already dry prior to storage. Seeds of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), and velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC) were kept for 12 months under roofed, outdoor screened porches. Seed moisture content prior to treatment was 6, 9, and 12% for okra, sorghum, and velvet bean, respectively. Treatments, replicated four times at each of two locations (USA [Florida] and Thailand), were technology suites involving vacuum drawn on glass jars with a modified bicycle pump, vacuum drawn on polyethylene bags with an electric vacuum sealing machine, desiccant (calcium oxide powder or zeolite Drying Beads® at a 2:1 ratio, by weight, of seeds to desiccant) in glass jars, and nontreated seeds in paper bags. Ambient temperature and humidity were variable and high, reaching over 35 °C and 83%, respectively, at both locations. Under these conditions, okra and sorghum germination percentages (across locations) without treatment declined from over 90% initially to 30 and 0%, respectively, by month 12. Both vacuum treatments and calcium oxide maintained high germination of okra (≈ 80%) and velvet bean seeds (nearly 100%) across locations. Glass, however, was superior to polyethylene in maintaining vacuum and stabilizing the moisture content of okra and sorghum seeds. Only zeolite reduced seed moisture below initial values, drying seeds to ultradry levels of
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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