Effects of seed provenance and growth media on the growth performance of Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.

Abstract

This work investigated the effects of seed provenance and growth media on the growth performance of Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn. Seeds were extracted from fresh fruits collected from Eruwa, Saki and New-Bussa and sown into six media in black polythene pots: top soil + sawdust (1:1); river sand + top soil (1:1); river sand + sawdust (1:1); top soil only; sawdust only and river sand. The experiment was 3 x 6 factorial laid in a Completely Randomized Design. Germination, seedling height, collar diameter, number of leaves and leaf area were evaluated. Data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at p<0.05). Seeds from New-Bussa sown on river sand + top soil (1:1) had the highest germination percentage (92%) while the seeds from Saki sown on top soil only had the least of 74.7%. River sand + top soil medium had the longest seedling growth with 5.41 cm; also rated second in collar diameter (4.07 mm) and leaf area index (47.95 cm2). Thus, top soil based medium, especially river sand + top soil is recommended for good growth performance of this species collected from any of the three provenances.Keywords: Pseudo–radicle, germination, seed source, seedling vigour, traits.