Effect of Seed Size on Germination and Seedling Growth of Arabica Coffee Coffea arabica L.
Keywords:
seed size, germination, growth, coffee seedlingAbstract
Selection of arabica coffee seeds before seeding is a method that could be recommended to farmers for use in arabica coffee seedling productions. It has been observed that different seed sizes affect germination and seedling growth but this has not been reported in arabica coffee. Therefore, the effect of seed size and growth of arabica coffee seedling was studied. Six hundred coffee cherries were collected from coffee trees within each of the four plots under the canopy of natural forest using purposive sampling method and sizes of coffee cherries were measured. Then, seeds were divided into 3 size categories according to weight, which were large (>2.21 g), medium (1.43 - <2.21 g), and small (<1.43 g). In addition, coffee seeds were also categorized according to the ministry of agriculture and cooperatives grades using seed width as a criterion and resulted in 7 grades. Graded coffee seeds were then germinated under greenhouse condition and seedling growth was monitored over time. The results showed that differences among seed sizes either according to weight or width did not affect seed germination, germination index, mean germination time and seedling growth. Therefore, this implied that smaller seeds, which do not meet standard and were sold as cheap beans, can be used in coffee seedling production. This can greatly reduce production costs for the seed business, as well as allow for an efficient use of arabica coffee seeds.
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