Okuzeka
Agriculture vocabulary · Crop Production

Germination

Meaning in agriculture, with examples

/ˌdʒɜːrmɪˈneɪʃn/nounCommon term

In agriculture, germination means: The process in which a seed starts to grow and sends out a root and a shoot, once it has enough water, warmth and oxygen.

In Turkish: çimlenme

How it is used

Seed labels state the germination rate as a percentage. Agronomists talk about fast, uneven or poor germination, and test seed lots in the lab. The verb is 'germinate'; 'emergence' is when seedlings appear above the soil.

Example sentences

  1. The seed lot has a germination rate of 92 percent.

  2. Cold, wet soil slowed germination of the maize.

Common collocations

  • germination rate
  • germination test
  • poor germination
  • uneven germination
  • seed germination
  • seedThe small part of a plant from which a new plant grows; in farming, also the grain or material kept or bought for sowing.
  • sowTo put seeds in or on the soil so that they will grow into plants, by hand or with a machine.
  • seeding rateThe amount of seed sown per unit of area, given as kilograms per hectare or as number of seeds per square meter or hectare.
  • seedlingA young plant grown from seed, especially one raised in a tray or nursery before being planted out in the field or greenhouse.
  • varietyA named type of a crop plant with particular features, such as yield, quality, earliness or disease resistance, developed by breeders and sold as seed or plants.

More terms: Crop Production

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: