Abstract
seed vigor testing provides valuable information for assessing seed lot quality. However, most vigor tests have not experienced widespread use because of their subjectivity, high cost and variability in test results from laboratory to laboratory. This report presents a system for automated seed vigor assessment that is objective, economical and easy to perform. The system interfaces an inverted flatbed scanner that captures digital images of germinating seedlings to a computer. The images are processed by the computer to generate numerical values that collectively represent the quality of a seed lot (vigor index) based on sample mean of various statistics acquired from morphological features of the imaged seedlings. The system was tested on lettuce seedlings grown for three days in the dark. The results indicated that the imaging system accurately quantified seed vigor to yield reproducible, objective vigor assessments.