An experiment was carried out in order to determine the effect of harvest time on germination and seed vigour of sweet com. The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Santa Maria during the 1984/85 and 1985/86 growing seasons. An open pollinated population, a hybrid and a inbred line were used. Seeds were harvested at 10 dates 23 to 64 days after pollination. Com seeds presented the highest vigour and germination percentage before maximum dry matter content. Time period of maximum germination percentage, vigour and dry matter content varied according genotypes. Hand harvesting could be done at physiological maturity, when the seed moisture is in the is 32.5% - 38.4% range, followed by immediate drying of the seeds.
sweet com; seed production; harvest time; seed quality
