Abstract

LEZCANO, J.C; NAVARRO, Marlen; GONZALEZ, Yolanda  and  ALONSO, O. Determination of the quality of seeds from Leucaena leucocephala cv: Peru stored under ambient conditions. Pastos y Forrajes [online]. 2007, vol.30, n.1, pp.1-1. ISSN 0864-0394.

The quality of seeds from Leucaena leucocephala constitutes the guarantee for the future seeding of the Cuban livestock areas; on it depends, to a certain extent, the use of this important protein feed source for animals and its spreading throughout the country. The objective of this work was to determine the quality of the seeds from L. leucocephala cv. Peru, one of the most cultivated commercial varieties nowadays, through the tests recommended by ISTA. The seeds were from the storehouse of the "La Rioja" farm belonging to the Martí Livestock Firm. A completely randomized design with four replications was used. The purity (97,0 and 94,5%) as well as the moisture content (10,09 and 9,87%) were within the optimum range for the stored seeds of this forage plant (6 and 18 months, respectively) and the germination percentages corresponded to the physiological age of the seeds (71 and 26%). Nine fungal genera (Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Chaetomium, Fusarium, Alternaria, Cladosporium, Trichoderma and Pestalotia) and a bacterial one (Erwinia sp.) were detected. The viability values (93,5 and 67,7% for lot 1 and 2, respectively) are considered acceptable for the seeds from this forage plant when it is stored under ambient conditions; nevertheless, the lower value in the seeds of lot 2 may have been caused by the increase in the percentage of seeds rotten by fungi, which had a direct influence on deterioration. Hence, it is recommended to continue the studies for identifying the fungal species associated to them and determining the ones that are pathogenic of this tree legume widely distributed in the livestock systems of the country.

Keywords : Leucaena leucocephala; quality; seed storage.

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