SEED PRODUCTION CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME TROPICAL GRASSES IN SOUTHERN ITALY.  PRELIMINARY STUDIES

P. Gherbin and A.S. De Franchi

Department of Crop Production, University of Basilicata,

via N. Sauro 85, 851 00 Potenza, Italy

This work reports the results obtained in 1995-96 from an experimentation made in southern Italy (40° 02' N; 16°55' E) to asses the biological behavior, the weight of 1000 seeds and, at 1 to 12 months from harvesting, the germination percentage and the mean time of germination (MGT) of 10 tropical fodder grasses (Cenchrus ciliaris, Cenchrus setigerus, Chloris gayana, Eragrostis curvula, Panicum coloratum, Panicum maximum, Paspalum dílatatum, Setaria sphacelata, Sorghum almum, Urochloa mosambiciensis).  The seed was collected no lather than early October and then stored at room temperature and 50% relative humidity. It resulted that: i) the two Cenchrus didn't survive winter cold; ii) the weight of 1000 seeds was satisfactory for C. gayana, S. almum and E. curvula, whereas it was smaller than usual values for the other species; iii) at 1 month from harvesting, the germination percentage was high only for the previously mentioned three genotypes and for P. coloratum, at 12 months from harvesting it decreased for P. coloratum and for E. curvula, whereas it increased for C. gayana and both Cenchrus; iv) depending on the species, MGT at 12 months from harvesting was smaller  than or not different from the 1 month value.

Keywords: seed; tropical grasses; Mediterranean environment.