ABSTRACT
Information about the effect of herbicides on cowpea seed quality is scarce. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of using chemical desiccants at pre-harvest on the anticipation of harvest and physiological quality of cowpea seeds of the cultivar BRS-Tumucumaque, before and after storage. Two experiments were conducted: experiment 1 was conducted under a randomized block design, with four replications; the treatments consisted of seven herbicides (carfentrazone-ethyl, saflufenacil, glyphosate, paraquat, flumioxazin, glufosinate-ammonium, and diquat) and a control treatment; anticipation of harvest, and seed water content, germination, and vigor were evaluated. The seeds were stored for six months in controlled environment and not-controlled environment rooms and evaluated for water content, germination, and vigor in Experiment 2, which was conducted in a 7^2+1 factorial arrangement, with four replications; the first factor consisted of the seven herbicides, the second factor was the two storage environments, plus a control treatment. The results showed 3 to 9 days of anticipation of harvest relative to the control. The glufosinate -ammonium herbicide negatively affected seed germination and vigor. The glyphosate herbicide decreased seed germination and vigor after storage. The physiological quality of cowpea seeds at the post -harvest period and after six months of storage was not affected by the carfentrazone-ethyl and flumioxazin herbicides. Paraquat and diquat were the most efficient herbicides for the anticipation of harvest (nine days). Glyphosate and glufosinate -ammonium were the most harmful herbicides to seed physiological quality. The controlled environment room was the most adequate environment for seed conservation.
Keywords:
Vigna unguiculata; Desiccation; Germination; Vigor; Storage
Source: INMET (2018).
