Seed Dormancy Mechanisms and Germination Requirements of Vicia sativa as a Weed in Cereal Fields

Abstract

Vicia sativa L. (common vetch, Fabaceae) has increasingly established itself as a competitive and problematic weed in winter and spring cereal cropping systems, exploiting its climbing growth habit, early canopy establishment, and robust seed production capacity to interfere with crop development, impede mechanical harvesting operations, and contribute to persistent seedbank accumulation across successive cropping seasons. Despite its dual agronomic identity as both a cultivated forage legume and an emerging arable weed, the seed dormancy mechanisms and germination ecological requirements of weed-associated V. sativa populations remain insufficiently characterized at the population level, limiting the development of precision weed management interventions calibrated to exploit critical vulnerabilities in the species regeneration niche. This study systematically investigated the dormancy mechanisms and germination requirements of V. sativa seeds collected from weed populations established in cereal fields across multiple survey sites. Physical dormancy arising from seed coat impermeability was assessed through scarification treatments including mechanical abrasion, concentrated sulfuric acid scarification, and hot water exposure applied at standardized durations and intensities. Germination responses to a factorial combination of constant and alternating temperature regimes, light and dark conditions, osmotic stress gradients simulating soil moisture deficit, salinity levels, and substrate pH ranges were evaluated under controlled laboratory conditions. Seedbank persistence and burial depth effects on emergence were examined through field burial experiments utilizing mesh burial bags retrieved at defined seasonal intervals. Seasonal after-ripening dynamics and the influence of storage temperature and moisture content on dormancy alleviation were quantified through periodic germination testing of field-collected seed lots. Results demonstrated that physical dormancy constitutes the primary mechanism restricting V.