Effect of Seed Priming on Seedling Emergence and Establishment of Four Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc.) Landraces

Bambara groundnut is an indigenous African legume which is cultivated for human consumption. Mature seeds have hard coat which prolongs seedling emergence especially under drought. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of seed priming on seedling emergence and establishment of four bambara groundnut landraces. Two hundred seedlot of bambara groundnut landraces; Burkina, NAV 4, NAV Red and Black eye were soaked separately in tap water for 24 and 48 h. The control was not soaked in water. Seeds were sown on the field at a spacing of 20x10 cm at approximately 5 cm depth using a measured dipper. Treatments were arranged in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates of each treatment. Days to 50% emergence were significantly different among the three treatments. No significant difference was however, observed among the landraces with respect to 50% emergence. Final seedling establishment was significantly different among the landraces (p = 0.02). Soaking bambara groundnut seeds in water for 24 h significantly enhanced final seedling establishment (p = 0.001). Seedling emergence was delayed under the control treatment. Percentage seedling establishment was also significantly lowest under the control treatment. Seed priming also significantly affected the final percentage seedling establishment. Results from this study provide farmers a cheap and easy technology which can improve on the final plant stand and yield of bambara groundnut.