TITLE:
Variation in Seed Germination and Seedling Growth in Five Populations of Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn. Subsp. Nilotica in Uganda
AUTHORS:
Juventine B. Odoi, Thomas L. Odong, Clement A. Okia, John Bosco Lamoris Okullo, Moses Okao, Harriet Kabasindi, Alice Mucugi, Samson Gwali
KEYWORDS:
Ethnovarieties, Plantlets, Root Collar Diameter, Leaf Size Index, Population, Cluster
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.12 No.7,
July
27,
2021
ABSTRACT: We studied seed germination and seedling growth performance in an economically and socially important fruit tree species Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn. subsp. nilotica (shea tree) in Uganda. The study aimed at determining variations in germination among five shea tree seed provenances and seedling growth performance based on five growth traits (total height, root collar diameter, leaf length, leaf width and leaf petiole length). Five populations were considered from four agroecological zones comprising of 180 candidate “plus” trees. The seed trees consisted of 16 ethnovarieties selected based on their traits for fast growth and high oil yield. A total of 1,204 biological seeds were collected and sown in a tree nursery at Ngetta Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute during the month of June 2018 in a randomized incomplete block design with three replications. Significant variation (χ = 708; p