Quality of alfalfa seeds from different regions of Serbia during storage up to 42 months

• Published in: Journal on Processing and Energy in Agriculture Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 38 - 42
• Main Authors: Stanisavljević, Rade, Poštić, Dobrivoj, Štrbanović, Ratibor, Oro, Violeta, Milenković, Jasmina, Tabaković, Marijenka, Đokić, Dragoslav
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Society of Processing and Energy in Agriculture, Novi Sad 2024
• Subjects: alfalfa; quality; seed; storage
• ISSN: 1821-4487; 2956-0195
• DOI: 10.5937/jpea28-49467

This study presents the findings from assessing the quality of alfalfa seeds collected from three Serbian regions: in each region, batches of seeds from six places were analyzed. The following criteria were investigated: the proportion of dormant seeds, the germinated seed content, the proportion of dead seeds, and the percentage of aberrant seedlings. Seed quality was assessed after six, eighteen, thirty, and forty-two months of storage. The highest seed quality was obtained after thirty and eighteen months of seed storage (91% and 89% of germination, respectively). During the 42-month storage period, the percentage of dead seeds (8%) and abnormal seedlings (7%) increased, while germination declined to 84%. In a storage period of six months, the participation of dormant seeds of 21% affected the germination rate, which was 77%, regardless of the low proportion of dead seeds (1%) and abnormal seedlings (2%).