Dormancy and Seed Germination in Tamarindus indica (L)

The dormancy and seed germination of Tamarindus indica (L) was studied. This involved the usage of some dormancy-releasing methods and the influence of oven dry heat treatments on the seeds. The preliminary germination tests on fresh and air-dried seeds showed low percentage germinability (10-20%). The seeds are known to have high socio-economic value most especially in the savanna regions of the vegetation zones. Subjecting the seeds to conc. nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, and methanol greatly enhanced the percentage germination of the seeds to about 70-100%. The influence of dry heat (40 o C and 60 o C) treatments on the seeds showed maximum percentage germination of 70-90% within 1-5 hours duration of treatments. This work centered on releasing different methods of improving and inducing germination of the seeds in order to unleash the socio economic importance of the seeds and seedlings. The information gathered in this research will go a long way in eradicating or tackling the problems of dormancy or improve propagative methods of T. indica seeds. All these will help the foresters to have access to producing the seedlings to meet the population demands. (