ISHS Acta Horticulturae 782: IV International Symposium on Seed, Transplant and Stand Establishment of Horticultural Crops; Translating Seed and Seedling Physiology into Technology
USING THE SEED VIGOR IMAGING SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING STAND ESTABLISHMENT |
| Authors: | M.B. McDonald, A.F. Evans, M.A. Bennett, K. Fujimura, Y. Sako, L. Xu, A. Hoffmaster |
| Keywords: | lettuce, Lactuca sativa, soybean, Glycine max, maize, Zea mays, vigor testing, computer imaging, software, seed quality |
| Abstract:
Seed vigor testing provides valuable information for assessing seed lot quality. However, vigor testing has not experienced widespread use because it is labor intensive, high in cost, and test results are often variable from laboratory to laboratory. An automated seed vigor assessment system is presented for lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) and maize (Zea mays L.) that is objective, economical, and easy to perform. The system interfaces a flat bed scanner that captures digital images of germinating seedlings to a computer. The images are processed by a computer to generate numerical values (vigor index) that collectively represent the quality of a seed lot based on various statistics acquired from morphological features of the imaged seedlings. These statistics include the sample mean of hypocotyl and radicle lengths, and sample standard deviation of the hypocotyl length, radicle length, total length (hypocotyl length plus radicle length), and radicle-to-hypocotyl-length ratio that indicate speed and uniformity of seedling development. The system was tested on lettuce, soybean and maize seedlings grown for three days in the dark. The results indicated that the imaging system accurately quantified those parameters to yield reproducible, objective vigor assessments. | |
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