Effect of liming and NPK fertilization on the quality of peanut seeds

Abstract

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seeds of the cultivar Tatu were produced in plots which received the following treatments: (a) no liming or fertilizer, (b) liming, (c) NPK, and (d) liming and NPK. Soon after harvest, the seeds were tested for weight of 100 seeds, germination and vigor, stored, and tested for germination and vigor at every three month interval for a total period of 15 months. The seeds produced in the presence of lime (with or without NPK), even though being of smaller size, were those which presented the highest values of germination and vigor at the beginning and during the whole storage period. Practically there was no effect of NPK or additive effect of NPK and lime in the physiological quality of the seeds. The seeds produced in the presence of lime, and lime + NPK maintained high germination through the whole storage period, presenting at the end of 15 months the germination percentages of 92.5 and 90.5, respectively, while those in the check and NPK plots, exhibited, at the same period, the germination indexes of 57.5% and 71.5%, respectively.