Evaluation of pregerminative treatments and morphological characterization of "butterfly pea" (Clitoria ternatea L.) seedlings cultivated in trays

Seeds of forage legume "butterfly pea" (Clitoria ternatea L.) have low germination percentage, which is due to a cover that prevents the passage of water, partially inhibiting the germination process. Therefore this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different treatments on emergence pregerminative two genotypes, blue and white (GA and GB), the morphological characteristics of seedlings emerging and grown in trays. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications. In each genotype were applied following pre-germination treatments: control (T1), scarification with sandpaper 80 by 20 min (T2), soaking in water for 12 h (T3), soaking in water for 24 h (T4), and immersion in hot water for 5 min (T5). Variables were evaluated: percentage emergence (PE), emergence rate (TE), seedling height (AP) and number of leaves (NH). The results showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) between pregerminative treatments applied to PE, AP and NH in both genotypes, and TE in GA. Scarification with sandpaper yielded the highest values of PE, AP and NH in both genotypes, and lower in the TE of GA which reached a PE of 94% at 4 days after seeding and 88% to GB at 12 days. The TE was 4.4 and 7.5 days for GA and GB, respectively. It was concluded that the seeds "butterfly pea" required de treatment scarification with sandpaper before planting to increase emergency. This treatment resulted economic, ecological, fast and safe for the operator, compared to other recommended which includes the use of strong acids such as sulfuric acid.