Seed dormancy breaking of palm (Arenga pinnata) with various treatments and the evaluation of the growth of seedlings in the field

Abstract

Rozen N, Thaib R, Darfis I, Firdaus. 2016. Seed dormancy breaking of palm (Arenga pinnata) with various treatments and the evaluation of the growth of seedlings in the field. Pros Sem Nas Masy Biodiv Indon 2: 27-31. Sugar palm is included versatile plant, so it is needed to be developed because until now there is no farmer cultivating sugar palm. Sugar palm only grows wild in the forests or in the hills. One benefit is the young fruits for sugar palm fruit. The cultivation of sugar palm is very difficult to be done because has seed dormancy until one year period, so it is needed to be broken. The purpose of this study was to obtain the sugar palm seed dormancy breaking treatment precisely and quickly. The design used in this study was a completely randomized design (CRD) with 5 treatments and 4 replications. The treatments were consisted of: (i) soaking the seeds in hot water at a starting temperature of 60oC for 6 hours, (ii) soaking the seeds in a solution of KNO3 3% for 6 hours, (iii) soaking the seeds in a solution of HCl 3% for 6 hours, (iv) soaking the seeds in H2SO4 3% solution for 6 hours, and (v) the erosion of the seed coat with sandpaper. The results showed that the erosion of the seed coat with sandpaper could break sugar palm seed dormancy for 32 days. The seed germination of sugar palm was about 16.8%, while the height of seedling in the field was about 37.8 cm at the treatment of erosion of seed coat with sandpaper.