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Effect of ultrasonic dormancy breaking on seed germination and seedling growth of three wild yam species (Dioscorea spp.) from SW-Madagascar

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Abstract

In rural areas of Madagascar, wild yam species (Dioscorea spp.) serve as a food supplement and are therefore overexploited during food shortage periods. Domestication of wild species and promotion of their cultivation could reduce this pressure. To this end the regeneration abilities of seeds of three wild yam species from the Mahafaly region in SW-Madagascar exposed to pre-germination treatments were investigated. These consisted of chilling at 5 °C for 2 weeks, submersion in a water bath at 40 kHz for 10 min and 20 min, and a control whereby seeds were sown after soaking in running water for 1 h. Treatment effects on germination were species-specific (P < 0.001). For Dioscorea alatipes Burkill & H. Perrier (71%) and Dioscorea fandra H. Perrier (90%) germination was highest when seeds were exposed to 10 min of ultrasonic waves. For Dioscorea nako H. Perrier, however, highest germination was obtained when seeds were soaked in running water. Pre-chilling induced an early germination in D. fandra, which supports the importance of temperature in the germination of Dioscorea spp. from warm climates. Growth-enhancing effects of ultrasonic treatments were noticed at the initial stages of seedling development, such as seedling emergence. At the exposures tested no negative effect of ultrasound was noticed in any species. For the germplasm tested this study supported earlier evidence of ultrasonic treatment on seed germination and early seedling growth of Dioscorea spp. that could be helpful in the cultivation of wild yams, especially under drought conditions such as in SW Madagascar.

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Acknowledgements

This work was conducted within the UrbanFoodPlus Project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under the initiative GlobE - Research for the Global Food Supply, Grant No. 031A242-A whereby yam seeds were collected within the BMBF-funded project ‘Participatory Research to Support Sustainable Land Management on the Mahafaly Plateau in South-Western Madagascar, SuLaMa’ (No. 01LL0914C).

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  1. Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics, Universität Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany

    Jessica N. Andriamparany & Andreas Buerkert

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  1. Jessica N. Andriamparany
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  2. Andreas Buerkert
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Correspondence to Jessica N. Andriamparany.

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Andriamparany, J.N., Buerkert, A. Effect of ultrasonic dormancy breaking on seed germination and seedling growth of three wild yam species (Dioscorea spp.) from SW-Madagascar. Genet Resour Crop Evol 66, 1167–1174 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-019-00779-5

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