RESEARCH ON SEED CHARACTERISTICS AND SEXUAL PROPAGATION TECHNIQUES OF Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre Ex Laness. IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

Abstract

Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre ex Laness. is a rare and precious species, listed in Appendix II of the CITES Convention and the IUCN Red List since 2004. In Vietnam, D. cochinchinensis was listed in Appendix IIA of the Decree 84/2021/ND-CP and at VU level in the Vietnam Red Book. The study used seeds from 09 mother trees in Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces, 03 trees in each province. The results determined the purity of Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre ex Laness. seeds from 93.9 - 96.6%; The average weight of 1,000 seeds ranged from 27.93 - 29.33g and one kilogram of seeds would have about 35,015 seeds. Seeds collected from mother trees in Gia Lai had the highest similarity and purity. The average germination percentage was 73.9%, the germination rate was about 11.7 days and the average germination energy was 22.8%. Soaking seeds in water at 50⁰C for 10 - 12 hours would give the highest germination percentage, reaching from 71.7 - 74.3%. When storing seeds at -20⁰C, the germination percentage reached 68.3% after 6 months of storage and 58.3% after 12 months. The study also showed that the potting mix consisted of 88% topsoil + 10% organic fertilizer + 02% Fused phosphate, following fertilized with a dose of 0.3% NPK (15g NPK/5 liters of water/50 pots), and shaded 25% resulted the best seedling growth.