Effect of Treatments on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Irvingia gabonensis in a Nursery in Soubre (South-West Côte d’Ivoire)

Abstract

Anthropogenic pressures, climate change, and certain factors, including seed coat dormancy, hinder the natural regeneration of some tree species such as Irvingia gabonensis . This study, conducted in the city of Soubre, aimed to evaluate the germination potential of Irvingia gabonensis seeds and investigate the growth of seedlings from various treatments within an agroforestry perspective. The methodology involved subjecting seeds to fourteen different pre-treatments. These included seeds 1) treated with water at 100˚C; 2) soaked in tap water for varying periods (days); 3) treated with concentrated sulphuric acid at 96%; 4) soaked directly in GA3 at different concentrations; 5) scarified and soaked in GA3; and 6) untreated seeds, which served as controls. For the growth tests, the growth of seedlings from seeds treated with GA3 was compared with seedlings from control and scarified seed lots. The most satisfactory results were observed with scarified seeds soaked in gibberellin solution at 0.5 and 2 mg/L, yielding 46.66% and 56.66% germination, respectively. However, the best result was obtained with seeds soaked in GA3 at a concentration of 2 mg/L (50%). The findings showed that control seedlings exhibited similar growth to those derived from GA3-treated seeds.