The African Blackwood (D. melanoxylon) Seedling Initiation Technicality, (Germinability and Rootability)

A study was conducted in Dalbergia melanoxylon (African Blackwood) comparing the ability to form seedling between seed germination in the soil, germination in the Murashge and Skoog medium (MS) and rooting of the cuttings to form seedling. An overharvested species D. melanoxylon have a highly valued wood but not propagated. This is why in recent years there have been some efforts to conduct investigations which can improve seedling production. About 2 kilograms of seeds were purchased from TTSA and cuttings (root, softwood and hardwood stem cutting) were collected from the forest for experiment on 2010 at the Botany Department University of Dar es Salaam. Three treatments were employed for soil germination (Low, Median and High moisture level) while two treatments were employed for MS germination (Half strength and Full strength). Sterilizing reagents were 35%, 70% alcohol and 2.6% sodium hypochlorite. Sterilizing duration were 10, 20 and 30 minutes. Softwood, semi-hardwood, hardwood and root cuttings were introduced in a non-mist propagator using soil inoculated with mycorrhizae. Data recorded include germination percentage, moisture level, MS concentration, sterilizing reagent concentrations and time used to sterilize the seeds, temperature and humidity in the propagator and sprouting percentage of cuttings. Standard procedures were used to analyze and compare germination and rooting data as described by Zar, [1]. Highest germination in the soil was 21% while that of the MS was 19.8%, rooting was 100% in softwood cuttings and 37% in root cutting while semi-hardwood and hardwood cutting didn’t root at all. The two germination mediums (soil and MS) did not differ significantly while using cuttings imply harvesting of the existing forests which is not recommended. More investigations especially genetic transformation of the species for easy access in tissue culture is needed to improve seedling production of D. melanoxylon for propagation of the species.