Start with problem statement sentence (e.g. Increasing population and rapid decline in the forest cover, poor increment, low sustainable yield and increasing demand lead to shortage of timber and fuel-wood in Botswana) Thus a study was carried out to examine the effect of pre-treatment on germination of Guibortia coleosperma and Amblygonocarpus andongensis seeds. The experiment was set up in a completely randomized design involving four replicates. The treatments were 98% concentrated sulphuric acid (H2SO4) for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes; immersion in hot water for 1, 2, 3 minutes and 24 hours; mechanical scarification of the seed coat and control. There were pronounced (statistically significant?) differences between the tree species in germination response for the control and the three germinating pretreatments, (no interpretation of results in Abstract – just state what you found). Mechanical scarification and concentrated sulfuric acid pretreatments effectively improved the germination response of seeds from both tree species. Nicked seeds exhibited the highest significant (? < 0.000) performance for G. coleosperma for all pretreatments, while concentrated sulfuric acid pretreatments exhibited the highest significant (? < 0.000) performance for A. andongensis against other pretreatments. Sulfuric acid pretreatments are recommended for well-equipped centralized nurseries, whereas mechanical scarification is most appropriate for small village nurseries.

Keywords: Scarification; germination percentage; pre-treatment and germination mean time. – arrange keywords alphabetically