Seed Health Management for Better Productivity - Govind Ballabh ...

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(Seed Health Management for Better Productivity)agronomic practices should be followed to provide conditions for optimal growth and developmentof plant and seeds, which favour production of healthy and vigorous seed. Clean cultivation withproper weed control during seed production makes subsequent cleaning and grading easier.Phosphate and potassium fertilizers are generally more important for seed crops than forcommercial crops and their recommended doses must be applied.9. RoguingRoguing is the removal of Off-type plants. It is an important aspect of seed production tomaintain varietal purity. Any plant which does not conform to the characteristics of the variety iscalled an Off-type. Off-types are generally considered to arise from segregation of residualheterozygosity, out-crossing with varieties, admixtures or natural mutations. Off-types could bedistinct from plants of variety with reference to any character such as plant height, days toflowering, waxiness, pigmentation, ear shape, ear size, ear density, ear colour etc. It is essentialthat Off-types are removed before they flower, particularly in cross-pollinated crops, to avoidcontamination by pollen from Off-type plants. Roguing may need to be carried out several timesduring the crop season. Composite, synthetic and open pollinated varieties of cross-pollinatedcrops generally have broad genetic base and some amount of variability is inevitable. Roguing insuch varieties should not be very rigid so that the varietal gene pool is not disturbed. Only obviousOff-types and diseased plants etc. should be removed.In addition to roguing, all plants that do not conform to the varietal descriptors, inseparableother crops plants, objectionable weeds as well as plants infected with seed-borne diseasesshould also be removed. As a general rule, the Off-types should be removed and taken away fromthe seed production plot and destroyed. The back of the person doing roguing should face sun tofacilitates easier detection of Off-types.In hybrid seed production, some additional operations may be required such asdetasselling in the seed parent rows in maize and removal of pollen shedders from the male-sterilerows in pearls millet, sorghum, sunflower and rice. During flowering period, pollen shedders mustbe removed daily early in the morning before they shed pollen. Certain special techniques likespraying of GA 3 and rope pulling are required in hybrid rice seed production. Supplementarypollination in hybrid seed production of sunflower by putting beehives in close proximity of seedcrop ensure good seed set.10. Inspection of Seed Plots by Certification Agency OfficialsThe production of foundation and certified seed is supervised and approved by the StateSeed Certification Agency. The seed production plots are inspected by the certification staff. Thenumber of inspections vary from a minimum of 2-4. Those plots which conform to field standardsof certification are approved. Breeder seed has been kept out of the purview of certification agencyas it is not meant for public sale. Moreover, its production is done under the direct supervision ofqualified plant breeder. However, breeder seed crop is monitored by a joint inspection team ofplant breeders and officials of State Seed Certification Agency and National Seeds Corporation.11. HarvestingAfter the seed field is approved for field standards, seed crop should be harvested at a timethat will ensure maximum yield and best quality seed. The moisture content is good indicator of the- 108 -
(Seed Health Management for Better Productivity)time to harvest for most seed crops. From stand point of minimizing the seed damage due tomechanical harvesting safe moisture content for wheat is 15-17%, paddy 17-20%, soybean 13-15% and maize 25-30%. The thresher, combine harvester should be properly adjusted so as toavoid damage to the seed.In hybrid seed production where two parents are involved the male parent rows are harvestedfirst and removed from the field. The whole field is then inspected to see any broken or lodged maleplants which are to be removed before harvesting of female parent rows for hybrid seed.The thresher, combines, trailers, threshing floors etc. must be thoroughly cleaned inhandling of different varieties to avoid any mechanical admixture.12. Post Harvest Handlinga) Seed Drying: Seed crop is harvested and threshed usually at high moisture content. In orderto preserve seed viability and vigour it is necessary to dry the seed to a safe moisture contentfor storage and processing. Care should be taken to dry the seed quickly through naturaldrying (sun drying) or through artificial drying (using solar dryer/ fuel dryer). Ensure that nomechanical admixture take place during drying.b) Storage of Raw Seed: After proper drying, the raw seed is filled in new/ neat and clean gunnybags with proper marking of name of variety, plot, lot number etc. The raw seed is stored forshort period before processing in a seed grader machine. The stacks of bags should be kepton wooden racks away from side walls. The height of stacks should not be more than 3-4meter in case of case of cereals, and 2-3 meters in case of other crops. The godown for seedstorage should be dry, cool, clean and sprayed with insecticide (Nuvan/ Deltamethrin) andfumigated, if necessary.c) Processing, Testing and Labelling of Seed: Seed is processed in seed processing/ gradingmachines for removal of physical impurities, over size/ under size seeds and treatment with properfungicide/ seed treatment chemical. After processing, the sample of seed lot is sent to the notifiedseed testing laboratory for analysis and verification of seed standards. If the seed test report issatisfactory and seed meets the prescribed seed standards then the seed lot is approved and thetags and certificate are issued by the Seed Certification Agency to the seed producer. The validityperiod for seed standards (especially germination) is 9 months (6 months for soybean). Validityperiod can be extended to further six months provided the seed lot meets the prescribed standardson retesting. Each class of seed will have of different colour tags which is to be stitched properly onsealed seed bags. The colour and size of tags are as follows:Breeder Seed : Golden yellow (12 x 6 cm)Foundation Seed : White (15 x 7.5 cm)Certified Seed : Blue (Azure blue) (15 x 7.5 cm)Truthfully labelled seed : Opel green (15 x 7.5 cm)Seed Certification standards for Different Crops (at Field Level)CropNumbersof Plants/ear headsper countIsolation distance(in Meter )% of other varietyplants/ ear heads% ofinseparableplants/earObjectionableweed plantsPlants/earaffected by seedborne diseaseMinimuminspectionrequiredRemarksheadsF.S. C.S. F.S. C.S. F.S. C.S. F.S. C.S. F.S. C.S.- 109 -
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potential. An improvement in qualit
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9. Session Arrangement CommitteeDr.
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9. Dr. Pradip Kumar BorahSr. Scient
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TRAININGONANNEXURE-IIISEED HEALTH M
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ANNEXURE-IVCENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDI
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SundayApril 6MondayApril 7TuesdayAp
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TuesdayApril 15WednesdayApril 16Thu
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