2026 Vol-6 Issue-1 | INFLUENCE OF HARVEST MATURITY STAGE AND PACKAGING MATERIAL ON SEED GERMINABILITY AND VIGOUR OF "SHOMBO" PEPPER (Capsicum annuum L.) IN LAPAI, NIGER STATE, SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNAH, NIGERIA

A field and laboratory experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm and Biological Science Laboratory of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State, to determine the influence of harvest maturity stage and packaging material on seed germinability and vigour of “shombo” pepper. Seedlings of “Shombo” were raised in the nursery and transplanted to the field. Tagging of flowers was done as they opened, and the date of opening (termed anthesis) was recorded on each tag. As many flowers as possible were date-tagged for the pepper variety (Shombo). Fruits that developed from the tagged flowers were harvested at the mature green stage at 46 days after anthesis (DAA), mature half red ripe at 49 (DAA) and mature full red ripe at 52 (DAA). The extracted seeds from the harvested fruits were dried to a safe moisture content and packaged separately in labeled aluminium foil and cloth bags and stored at room temperature for a period of 6 months, after which a germination test was conducted. Seed quality characteristics measured were seed leachate electro-conductivity (SLE), seed moisture content (SMC), seed germination index (SGI), seedling plumule length (SPL), and seedling vigour index (SVI). The results from Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that harvest stage significantly influenced all seed quality parameters, with seeds harvested at the mature full red ripe stage (52 DAA) exhibiting optimal quality attributes. Packaging material also had a significant effect, with aluminium foil packaging outperforming cloth bag packaging in maintaining seed quality and viability.