Treatments for breaking dormancy of the crotalaria seeds (Crotalaria ochroleuca)

The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of methods in breaking dormancy in the seeds of tropical forage legume Crotalaria ochroleuca. The seed treatments were: (T1) water at 100oC/10 min; (T2) immersed in water for 24 h at ambient temperature, after immersion in water at 100°C/1 min; (T3) acetone (10 min); (T4) ethyl alcohol (10 min); and (T5) intact seeds = control treatment. Data were analyzed using a completely randomized design with two replications, and was adopted for the Tukey test at 5% significance level. Seeds immersed in water for 24 h at ambient temperature before cultivation is enough to ensure germination. The treatments T1, T2 and T5 had the highest speed germination of seeds GSI, which differed (P<0.05) from T3 and T4. The T3 treatment was the only one with difference (P<0.05) in germination which was 15 days after sowing (Germ15). The T1 and T2 treatment had the highest amount of seed germination (P<0.05). The acetone affected the embryo in the tegument negatively.