Qualidade de sementes de arroz produzidas fora do sistema de certificação no Estado do Maranhão

Abstract

The state of Maranhão has rice fields with low average yield, highlighting the need to adopt technologies that allow its increase, among which we can highlight the use of quality seeds. The objective of this study was to determine the quality of saved rice seeds used by small farmers in the state of Maranhão, aiming to detect the possible problems of selection and conservation of the best quality grain portions for use as seeds in the next harvest. The physical, physiological and sanitary qualities of the collected seeds were determined. Analyzes of the physical purity, water content, electrical conductivity, germination, emergence speed index and sanity tests were performed at the Seed Analysis and Plant Pathology laboratories, both at the State University of São Paulo. Maranhão. Of the seeds collected in different municipalities of Maranhão, more than 60 % of the lots analyzed presented physical purity below the allowed, with ideal range of water content for storage. In the vigor analysis 40 % of the lots presented germination value above 80 %, evidencing the low physiological quality of the seeds and all the analyzed lots presented lower or higher intensity of fungus, evidencing the need of seeds treatment by the seeds. farmers