Effect of Seed Priming Methods on Germination of Sweet Dattock (Detarium microcarpum) and Indian Jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) in Sudan Savanna Ecological Zone of Nigeria

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different methods of seed pre-treatment on germination of two indigenous tree species, Sweet dattock and Indian jujube (Detarium microcarpum and Ziziphus mauritiana). The experiment is carried out at the Tree Seedlings Nursery of Faculty of Agriculture, Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aleiro. Treatments consisted of Boiled water (100ºC) for 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes; three levels of diluted sulphuric acid (H2S04) soaking time for 10minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes; Seed scarification and control. The treatments were arranged in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications per treatment. Results revealed that the seed of Sweet dattock (Detarium microcarpum) soaked in hot water at 1000 C for 30 minutes exhibited the best germination percentage (100.00±0.00) within four (96 hours) days. This is followed by hot water treatment for 10 minutes and sulphuric acid treatment for 20 minutes which gave the same germination percentage of 93.33±11.54 within 4 (96 hours) days. The seeds under control treatment gave the least germination percentage of 86.67±11.54 and took a longer period to germinate (eleven days.) Indian jujube (Ziziphus maurtiana) seeds on the other hand, gave the highest germination percentage (93.33±5.77) with scarification, followed by soaking in hot water for 30minutes (46.57±11.54), while the lowest germination percentage was recorded for seeds in the untreated control (3.33±5.77). Based on the result, pre-treatment of Sweet dattock (Detarium microcarpum) seed with hot water at 1000 C for 30 minutes and scarification of Indian jujube (Ziziphus maurtiana) seed is recommended for effective germination.