Dalberghia melanoxylon needs a serious propagation and conservation to serve it from extinction
A study was conducted in D. melanoxylon comparing germination in soil to that of the Murashge and Skoog medium. An overharvested species D. melanoxylon have a highly valued wood but not propagated. This is why in recent years there have been some efforts to conduct investigations which can improve seedling production. About 2 kilograms of seeds were purchased from TTSA for experiment on 2010 at Botany Department University of Dar es Salaam. Three treatments were employed for soil germination (Low, Median and High moisture level) while two treatments were employed for MS germination (Half strength and Full strength). Sterilizing reagents were 35%, 70% alcohol and 2.6% sodium hypochlorite. Sterilizing duration were 10, 20 and 30 minutes. Data recorded include germination percentage, moisture level, MS concentration, sterilizing reagent concentrations and time used to sterilize the seeds. Standard procedures were used to analyze and compare germination Data as described by Zar, (2010). Highest germination in the soil was 21% while that of the MS was 19.8%. The two germination mediums did not differ significantly. More investigations especially genetic transformation of the species for easy access in tissue culture is needed to improve seedling production of D. melanoxylon for propagation of the species. Copyright © IJPFS, all rights reserved.
Mkwawa University College of Education