Germination and vigour of narrow-leaved lupin seeds as the effect of irrigation of parent plants and cultivation in different soil tillage systems

Abstract

The research was conducted on the basis of the field experiment which was carried out at the Złotniki Research Station in Poland (52◦29’ N, 16◦49’ E) in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. Two effects were studied: the first factor comprised overhead irrigation (non-irrigated vs. overhead irrigated), and the second factor was soil tillage systems (conventional tillage, reduced tillage and no-tillage). The aim of this study was to determine the influence of experimental factors on the quality of harvested seeds of narrow-leaved lupin. Irrigation of the parent plant decreased the germination of harvested seeds and increased percentage of mouldy seeds. Dry weight of seedlings from seeds produced under the irrigation treatments was significantly lower. The reduced and no-tillage systems decreased the germination of seeds produced under irrigation conditions. There was no significant effect of soil tillage systems in the non-irrigated variant.