Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

V. Guberac, J. Martincic and D. Banaj:

Influence of cereal seed size on shoot and root length

Summary

During the years 1996 and 1997, researches on the influence of winter wheat, spring barley and spring oats seed size on shoot and root length were carried out in the laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture in Osijek (Croatia). During the research on four calibrations (three seed fractions as follows: 2.8; 2.5 and 2.2 mm of diameter and unsieved seed being used as a control), it was found that large seeds had the longest shoot, whereas small seeds resulted in the shortest shoot. According two years average, the seed fractions of 2.8 mm have the highest values of shoot length by all cereals as follows: winter wheat 71.4 mm, spring barley 92.1 mm and spring oat 82.9 mm. Also, the lowest values of shoot length were attained with small seed (seed fractions of 2.2 mm) by all tested cereals: winter wheat 48.3 mm, spring barley 48.1 mm and spring oat 64.0 mm. The differences found in shoot length between seed fractions with all cereals are statistically highly significant (P < 0.01). Similar results were also achieved with the seed size influence on root length. The largest seeds had the highest values of root length, also the smallest one had the shortest root, with all tested cereals. According to two year average, the seed fractions of 2.8 mm have the highest values of root length as fallows: winter wheat 131.9 mm, spring barley 182.2 mm and spring oat 97.4 mm. Also, the lowest values of root length were attained with small seed (seed fractions of 2.2 mm): winter wheat 102.6 mm, spring barley 120.7 mm and spring oat 79.4 mm, The differences found in root length between seed fractions by all cereals are statistically highly significant (P < 0.01). Key words: winter wheat, spring barley, spring oats, seed size, seed fraction, shoot length, root length.