Seedling age, nitrogen fertilizer, and seed storage time affect the seed germination of rice varieties in Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of seedling age and nitrogen (N) fertilizer (urea) rates on germination with the storage of two rice varieties. With four replications, the trial was set up as a split-split plot design. The key factor in trial was two rice varieties the subplot factor was four seedling ages (7, 14, 21, and 28 days), and the sub-sub plot factor was five inorganic N fertilizer rates (0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 kg N ha^-1). The highest germination rate was found in seedlings that were seven days old and had not been fertilized with nitrogen.  All the treatments, germination decreased with storage but germination was better at one and two months of storage. With the application of 0 kg – 60 kg N ha^-1 to seven days old rice seedlings, seeds stored at one and two months gave a non-significant higher germination.