Effects of Storage Conditions and Duration on Seed Germination of Okra (Abelmoscus esculentus)

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is an important crop grown mainly for its pods which are used either fresh, canned or dried and ground as powder. It is a good source of vitamins A, B, C and also rich in protein, minerals and iodine. However, conservation of okra seed for long term use especially for the purpose of crop improvement in Nigeria is still a big challenge. The objective of this study was to carry out preliminary investigation on the influence of storage conditions and duration on seed germination of okra seeds. Freshly harvested and processed seeds of three okra accessions (NGAE-96-011, NGAE-96-0060 and NGAE-96-0062-1) were packaged inside well-covered plastic containers and kept in three storage environments namely, ambient (control), short and medium term chambers. The laboratory experiment was conducted at the seed testing laboratory of NACGRAB between February and November 2015. One hundred seeds of each accession were subjected to germination test in three replicates at three-month intervals. The experiment was arranged in 3 x 3 x 3 factorial using completely randomized design (CRD). The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that effects of accession and storage duration as well as interactive effect of storage conditions by duration were significant (P<.01) on germination of okra seeds indicating that there were differential germination response of okra seeds to accession and storage duration. Moreover, the significant interactive effect of storage conditions and duration indicates that duration of okra seed in storage and storage conditions should be given prime consideration in determining germination status of okra seeds in order to avoid wrong conclusion on okra seeds germination potential.