Comparative Evaluation of Cocoa Seeds Germination in Local Variety Gantarangkeke Bantaeng (GTB) with MCC 01 Variety Using Seed Priming Treatment
Muhammad Yusril Hardiansyah (a*), Azmi Nur Karimah Amas (a), Yunus Musa (a), Abdul Mollah Jaya (a)

(a) Department of Agronomy, Agrotechnology Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia

Abstract

Gantarangkeke Bantaeng (GTB) variety seed is a type of local seed that has experienced a decline in its existence due to the emergence of superior seed types such as the MCC 01 variety resulting in low local cocoa production due to the lack of use of GTB seeds in South Sulawesi. One of the causes of low seeds quality is the lack of special treatment given to seeds which refers to the inhibition of germination of cultivated cocoa seeds. On average, farmers^ production is only 1/5 of the potential productivity of the plant, which ranges from 1.2 - 3 Tonnes/Ha in South Sulawesi. Seed priming is a treatment of soaking seeds with microbes to improve the quality of seeds germination. This study aims to determine the comparison of the germination of local varieties of cocoa seeds GTB with varieties MCC 01 using PGPR Seed Priming treatment. This study was arranged in the form of a two-factor factorial design (F2F) in a randomized block design (RBD). The use of cocoa seed varieties as the first factor consisted of local GTB and MCC 01 cocoa, while the Seed Priming treatment with various concentrations of PGPR as the second factor consisted of concentrations of 0% (control), 5%, 10% and 15%. The results obtained indicated that the treatment with Seed Priming affected the germination of two varieties of cocoa seeds which included the parameters of MCC 01 seeds germination which was higher than local GTB seeds (100.00%), the growth speed of MCC 01 seeds was higher than local GTB seeds (7.14%/etmal) while the local abnormal GTB seeds were higher than MCC 01 seeds (10.00%). So it can be concluded that the Seed Priming treatment of cocoa seeds has a high effect on seed germination of the MCC 01 variety compared to the local variety GTB.

Keywords: Cocoa, Germination, GTB, MCC 01, Seed Priming

Topic: Crop Production and Environment