Abstract:
Kiribadu (Ipomoea mauritiana) is an important medicinal herb in Ayurvedic medicine
and used to treat a variety of human diseases.and disorders Kiribadu yams have great
demand in indigenous medicine and commercial cultivation of Kiribadu can generate a
greater income. Although plant can be propagated through seeds germination is very
poor under natural condition and as a result availability of Ipomoea mauritiana seeds is
much less. Therefore, development of simple and cost effective seed propagation
method is very important.
For this purpose, an experiment was set up to identify the most appropriate seed
treatment for Ipomoea mauritiana seed germination. Research study was conducted at
Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna. Five
different seed treatments with five replicates were used and twenty five seeds were used
for each replicate. Seeds were dipped in concentrated sulphuric acid for 1 min, lime
juice for 15 min, 1% H20 2 for 15 min, KM n04 for 15 min and water for 18 hours were
assigned as different treatments. Number of germinated seeds was counted daily to
determine germination % and time taken for germination of seeds was also recorded.
Results revealed that, significantly higher germination percentage (93%) was observed
in seeds treated with 1% H20 2 for 15 min (P < 0.05). Therefore, seeds treated with 1%
H20 2 for 15 min appeared to be the most promising treatment to obtain rapid and
highest germination percentage of Ipomoea mauritiana (Kiribadu) seeds.
