Claudette Baỷ̮̩̉-Niwah and Pierre Marie Mapongmetsem
Moringa oleifera is commonly used for feeding purposes in the African and Asian communities. Almost all parts of the plant have food interests and socio -economic importance in the agroecological region of far north Cameroon. The domestication of this Moringaceae is essential to its good management in this region. In order to select the best seeds, this study assessed the germination and initial growth depending on the position of the seeds in the pod. The seeds were obtained from 12 localities representative of the agro- ecological region. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with three replications. Treatments correspond to the eight positions in the pod and the experimental unit consisted of 30 seeds. The results show that the weight of the seed depends on its position in the pod (0.0000<0.001). The seeds of the middle part are heavier (263. 21±22.52mg) than those of the distal (214.29±0.86mg) and proximal (250.05±17.86mg) positions. Seed germination also depends on the position of the seed in the pod (p < 0.05). Position 2 seeds, from the proximal extremity, have the best germination rate (79.58 ± 4.2%).
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