Seed Vigour of Quality Protein Maize Varieties Belonging to Different Maturity Groups

Laboratory tests were carried out to investigate inherent quality differences among stored seeds of early, intermediate and late-maturing quality protein maize using completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications at the Seed Testing Laboratory of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Obafemi Awolowo University, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Nigeria for two consecutive years (2014 and 2015). From the results, germination and accelerated ageing germination traits were affected by the storage period. Similarly, the seed performance on germination, accelerated ageing and the conductivity test were seen to be better in early-maturing than in other maturing maize genotypes. The speed of germination measured as the germination index was low; ranging from 3.24-3.68 days after sowing (DAS) irrespective of the maturity group. Seedling traits measured after physiological quality tests were equally affected by the storage period and the maturity group. All the seedling traits measured were better in the early-maturing genotypes. Seed quality measured by laboratory quality assessments showed that genotypes in the early-maturing group are of high quality. Seeds of early-maturing genotypes retained significantly higher physical and physiological quality parameters and appear to have inherent potential to withstand effects of deterioration due to their slower rate of quality decline.