Abstract

The study was conducted in the Seed Testing laboratory of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training to determine the response of kenaf to different threshing and packaging materials. Experimental design was a 2 × 3 × 4 × 2 factorial arrangement in CRD with 3 replications. The factors were variety, threshing methods, packaging materials and storage environments. The results showed that kenaf seed stored in both Jute bag and muslin cloth under ambient condition recorded germination of 34 and 32.02% higher than other packaging materials after six months in storage, respectively. Similar trend was followed under cold storage. Seed stored under jute bag recorded higher germination percentage of about 47% after six months in storage but not statistically significant from those stored under muslin cloth that recorded about 42% germination.  Rate of seed deterioration was lowest when both varieties were stored using jute bag with values of 18.03 (Cuba 108) and 17.87% (Ifeken 400). This was also followed by muslin cloth which recorded 31.2 (Cuba 108) and 25.6% (Ifeken 400). The result also showed that seed threshed mechanically and stored using jute bag obtained the highest level of germination in six-month.

Key words: Kenaf, threshing method, germination, storage period, packaging material.