EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL-CONDITIONS ON THE DORMANCY AND GERMINATION OFVOLUNTEER OILSEED RAPE SEED (BRASSICA-NAPUS)

The conditions causing the onset of secondary dormancy in seed of wint er oilseed rape cultivars Falcon and Libravo were investigated in a se ries of laboratory experiments to provide practical guidance on how to minimize the persistence of volunteer oilseed rape seed. The germinat ion of recently harvested oilseed rape seed in moist conditions at 12 C was close to 100% in both darkness and under white light. Imbibition in water stress with an osmotic potential (Ir) of -1,500 kPa at 12 C in far-red light (FR) or dark for more than 5 d induced secondary dorm ancy in both cultivars. Treatment with FR was more effective than dark ness at inducing secondary dormancy. Libravo produced more dormant see d than Falcon. Imbibition in FR and absence of water stress (psi = 0 k Pa) decreased germinability especially at the low temperature (6 C). T hese conditions resulted in 19.4 and 27.2% dormant seed for Libravo an d Falcon, respectively. The results suggest that phytochrome is involv ed in the induction of secondary dormancy in oilseed rape. In practice , much oilseed rape seed is buried by postharvest cultivation in late summer (low hydric conditions) and exposed to water stress and darknes s for some time. To avoid soil seed persistence and subsequent volunte er oilseed rape, seed must be retained at the soil surface when there is adequate moisture available. Therefore, incorporation of seed by ti llage should be avoided or delayed as long as possible.