Beneficiamento e armazenamento de sementes de mamoeira (Ricinus communis L.).

Abstract

Castor seeds {Ricinus communis L.) to cultivate BRS - 149 (Nordestina), produced in the agricultural year of 1999/2000 by Embrapa Algodao, in the municipal district of Missao Velha - CE, were appraised as for her Humidity, Germination, First Counting (FC), Index of Germination Speed (IGS), Index of Emergency Speed in Field (IESF) and Emergency in Field (EF). The statistician design employed was a factorial arrangement 3 x 3 x 4 , with four repetitions, being the factors: improvement (seeds without improvement, benefitted manually and mechanically); packing (paper, braided plastic and black polyethylene) and storage periods (0, 3, 6 and 9 months) in environmental conditions of Campina Grande - PB. The degree of humidity of the seeds varied for more and for less along the storage in function of the climatic variations, of the improvement types and packing used, however not interfering in the quality of the same ones. The packing of black polyethylene was the most appropriate for the storage of the castor seeds. Those seeds presented increments in her germination and in his vigor (FC and IGS) at the end of the storage, however, with decreases in field conditions. Still in field conditions (IESF and EF) it was observed that the seeds no benefitted had a better performance. To cultivate BRS - 149 (Nordestina) it was shown of good quality by presenting a high germination index to the end of the experiment.