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Alfalfa Seed Germination Response to Electrical Treatments¹

Two types of electrical treatment that render impermeable alfalfa seeds permeable to water were tested for effectiveness in lowering hard seed percentages and for effects of the treatments on resulting seedlings and on seed longevity. Several alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) seed lots representing five cultivars were exposed to electrical treatments and tested for effects of the treatments on germination between blotters and on emergence from sand in greenhouse benches. Exposure to either radio-frequency (RF) electric fields or to gas-plasma radiation in an electric glow discharge increased germination of seed lots that contained appreciable quantities of hard seeds. Gas-plasma treatments also accelerated emergence in the greenhouse, but RF treatments that produced increases in germination and emergence equivalent to those of the gas-plasma treatments did not accelerate emergence. Both types of electrical treatment were more effective in increasing germination when applied at low moisture content (2.7%) than at normal moisture content (7.8%). Quality of seed samples exposed at proper levels remained as good as that of untreated samples for up to 12 years in storage after electrical treatment. Thus, the electrical treatments offer a safe means for reducing hard seed percentages in alfalfa seed lots that contain high percentages of hard seed.

Key Words: Dielectric heating • Radiofrequency fields • Gas-plasma radiation • Medicago sativa L.

² Research leader (agricultural engineer), research agronomist, and agricultural engineer, respectively, ARS, USDA, Lincoln, Nebr.; agricultural engineer, ARS, USDA, Knoxville, Tenn.; and agricultural engineer, ARS, USDA, Gainesville, Fla.

Received for publication September 27, 1976.