Farmers’ perceptions of climate change and its implication on livestock production in mixed-farming system areas of Bale highlands, Southeast Ethiopia; Challenges and extents of Soil and Water Conservation measures in Guba-Lafto Woreda of North Wollo, Ethiopia; Evaluation of milk production performance of lactating Fogera cows fed with urea and effective micro-organisms treated rice straw as basal diet.

E3 Journal of Agricultural Research and Development

E3 Journal of Agricultural Research and Development Vol. 3 (3) pp. 035-041, May 2013; © E3 Journals; ISSN 2276-9897


Seed Germination, Emergence and Seedling Vigor of Maize as Influenced by Pre-Sowing Fungicides Seed Treatment

Wondimeneh Taye 1 * , Fanuel Laekemariam 1 , Gifole Gidago 1
1 Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Sciences, Wolaita Sodo University, P.O box 138, Ethiopia
*Corresponding Author E-mail: wondimeneh2008@gmail.com
Accepted 6 December 2012

Abstract

Effect of pre-sowing fungicides seed treatment on seed germination, emergence and seedling vigor in maize (Zea mays L.) was evaluated at Wolaita Sodo University in 2011. The objectives of the experiment were to evaluate the effect of chemical seed treatment on germination, emergence and seedling vigor of maize under laboratory and field condition and to identify effective fungicides used for pre sowing seed treatment of maize. Four treatments (three fungicides and one untreated) ridomil, mancozeb and metalaxil at a rate of 2.5 gm/kg of seeds was used. A Completely Randomized Design was used for the laboratory experiments whereas for pot and field experiments a Randomized Complete Block Design was used. The number of replications for both experiments was four. Maize variety BH540 was used. The tested fungicides enhanced the germination of maize seeds as compare to untreated whereas, in pot trial the tested fungicides significantly affected the emergence date, fresh root and shoot weight and shoot dry weight but had no significant effect on seedling height and average leaf number. In the field experiment, the tested fungicides improved the seedling height, average leaf number, fresh and dry weight of maize seedling as compared to untreated control. In all the three experiments, metalaxil showed better effect among the tested fungicides.

Keywords: Fungicides, Pre-sowing, seed treatment, ridomil, mancozeb, metalaxil

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