The viability, vigour and health of farm-saved soybean seed

This research was conducted in collaboration with smallholder soybean farmers around Gauteng Province of South Africa. The research aimed to investigate the impact of storage practices used by smallholder farmers on soybean seed quality, including seed viability and vigour, seed health, and mycotoxins thereof. This study was a qualitatitive research whereby 22 smallholder farmers were asked questions regarding the storage facilities they use, the type of seed; i.e farm-saved or certified seed they have and they storage periods. Thereafter, seeds samples were collected from the various farmers and taken to the Seed lab of the University of Pretoria where seed quality tests including germination, moisture and vigour tests were conducted. Furthermore, the seed health and mycotoxins associated with the farm-saved seeds were analysed. The data was analysed using SAS and graphpad prism.本研究与南非豪登省周边的大豆种植小农户合作开展。本研究旨在探究种植小农户所采用的储种方式对大豆种子品质的影响，涵盖种子生活力、种子活力、种子健康状况及其关联的真菌毒素等评价指标。本研究属于定性研究，共访谈了22位大豆种植小农户，询问其使用的储种设施、所持种子类型（即自留种或认证种子）以及种子储存时长。随后，研究人员从各受访农户处采集种子样本，并将其送至比勒陀利亚大学种子实验室，开展发芽率、含水量与种子活力等种子品质检测项目。此外，本研究还针对自留种的种子健康状况及其关联的真菌毒素进行了分析。本研究采用SAS（Statistical Analysis System）与GraphPad Prism软件对实验数据进行统计分析。