Enhancing seedling production of black velvet tamarind (Dialium guineense Willd) 1

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted to enhance seedling production of Black Velvet Tamarind (Dialium guineense). Three different types (sets) of experiments were designed. The results showed no sprouting of the stem cuttings in the first type of experiment ( stem cuttings treated with Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) and coconut milk). The second type of experiment (seeds subjected to some pre-sowing treatments using NAA, coconut milk, manual scarification and seeds soaked in water for 24 hrs) showed highly significant treatment effects for seed treatments and days after planting, DAP (p < 0.001), while time or duration of treatment was not significant. There were highly significant interaction effects for Treatment duration x Seed treatments and Treatment duration x Days after planting (DAP). Mean percentage germination was best at 2000ppm NAA (43.85%), but was not significantly different from 1000ppm, (40.28%), water soaked (40.28%) and manual scarification (38.88%). Lower germination rates were observed for 500ppm (34.72%), normal or untreated seeds (30.75%), and coconut milk (28.38%). There were highly significant treatment effects (p < 0.001) between the control (normal seeds) with 11.2% mean germination, cold treatment (stratification), 21.1% and manual scarification 33.7%. DAP was also highly significant with the highest mean germination of 34.1% at 56DAP. Treatments x DAP was highly significant (p < 0.01) in the third experiment (stratification, a cold temperature pre-sowing treatment). Soaking seeds for 24 hrs before planting was adjudged the best treatment for enhancing seedling production in Dialium guineense in this study. It was the easiest and cheapest of all other treatments considered.

Growth response of black velvet tamarind (Dialium guineense Willd) seedling to different potting media

“…BVT is an important non-timber multipurpose agroforestry crop with a high potential (Nwaoguala et al, 2007). The potentials of BVT as food supplement, in herbal medicine and as source of energy are well documented by Ogbe and Egharevba (1992), Aghartise and Egharevba (1994), Nwaoguala et al (2007) and Nwaoguala and Osaigbovo (2009). According to Ogbe and Egharevba (1992), BVT is a lesser known tropical forest fruit with high consumption but given a less priority in terms of research, production, improvement, storage and hence not domesticated.…”

“…According to Ogbe and Egharevba (1992), BVT is a lesser known tropical forest fruit with high consumption but given a less priority in terms of research, production, improvement, storage and hence not domesticated. Efforts made so far to domesticate this crop had been concentrated on improving the germination of the seed through presowing treatments (Aghatise and Egharevba, 1994;Nwaoguala et al, 2007;Nwaoguala and Osaigbovo, 2009) which has been found to exhibit uneven and poor germination due to its thick gelatinous seed coat ). The slow growth of BVT seedlings in the nursery also hampered the domestication of this crop.…”

“…The slow growth of BVT seedlings in the nursery also hampered the domestication of this crop. Hence, Nwaoguala and Osaigbovo (2009) suggested that more reliable ways of enhancing seedling production of BVT need to be developed. The inclusion of organic materials such as farm yard manure, cow dung, compost etc as source of growth in potting media is essentials as it is the main source of organic matter for the supply of essential mineral nutrients needed by the plant (Khan et al, 2006).…”

Influence of Scarification on the Germination Capacity of Acorns Harvested from Uneven-aged Stands of Pedunculate Oak (<em>Quercus robur </em>L.)

“…The seed coat can be punctured, scarified with sharp sand, excised or removed chemically with concentrated acid. Scarification is recommended in around 7% of tree species, including in the Persian turpentine tree [9], honey locust [10], common myrtle [11], black velvet tamarind [12], black locust [13], lebbeck tree [14], African locust bean [15], Judas tree [16], noni [17], afzelia and African teak [18].…”

Comparative Phytochemical Analysis of Fermented and Unfermented Seeds of Dialium giuneense

“…BVT is an important non-timber multipurpose agroforestry crop with a high potential [1]. The potentials of BVT as food supplement, in herbal medicine and as source of energy are well documented [2][3][4]. According to Agbani [5], BVT is a lesser known tropical forest fruit with high consumption but given a less priority in terms of research, production, improvement, storage and hence not domesticated.…”