Effect of pre-tanning effluents on seed germination and growth traits in some cereals

This investigation was carried out to study the effects of different dilutions of mixed pre-tanning effluents on seed germination and growth traits of wheat, triticale, barley, and oat. The seeds of the plant materials were planted in a completely randomized block design with three replications and irrigated with different dilutions of pre-tanning effluents (1:10, 1:40 and 1:80), undiluted pre-tanning effluent (1:0) and tap water (control). The data were collected on the numbers of germinated seeds, germination percentage, root length, root weight, shoot length, shoot weight and root+ shoot weight at the end of 15th day after planting. The re- sults showed that the differences among the treatments were significant for all characteristics investigated (P<0.05). The undiluted pre-tanning effluent (1:0) had adverse effects on seed germination and growth traits for every genotype. In some crops, in oat for instance, 1:10 dilution resulted in the highest values of the studied traits.