What are the 5 steps in seed production?
Step 5: Prepare the seedbed, sow, and incorporate seed into soil. Prepare the seedbed by raking, cultivating, or burning, so that about 50 percent of the soil surface is showing. Removing all dead vegetation is not necessary. Scarify (loosen or stir) the soil surface with rake, thatcher or carefully controlled tiller to a depth of one inch.
What are the advantages to producing seeds?
There are numerous advantages to using hybrid seeds in your garden:
- Hybrid seeds grow alike
- Hybrid seeds are easier and faster to grow
- Hybrid seeds are more vigorous, give higher yields, and store well
What are the techniques of seed production?
What is a seed?
- Open-pollinated. Many people now use this term rather loosely to simply refer to any cultivar that is a non-hybrid. ...
- Self versus Cross-pollinated Crops. Many crops have perfect flowers that contain both male (anthers) and female (pistils) flower parts and therefore self pollinate.
- Pure Line. ...
- Hybrids. ...
What does seed production mean?
Seed propagation is the method of plant propagation (multiplying, reproducing, or breeding new plants) that is done through the use of seeds. Plants that produce seeds are called spermatophytes. Seeds are made up of three separate parts, and when a seed matures in an optimal environment, it will germinate and actively grow.
Why is seed production important?
Summary Seed have several crucial roles in agriculture. They are the most efficient means of propagating crops, and maintaining and transmitting genetic improvements made by plant breeders. Every cultivator has a seed program for selecting and saving the seed he needs for planting the next crop.
How is seed production done?
Seed production takes 18 months and trees take between 2 and 10 years to bear a crop. For some species, seed is collected on nets under trees after the cones naturally shed seeds. For most, cones are harvested and placed on wire benches where the cones air dry and shed seeds in 2 to 8 weeks.
What are the two major types of seed production?
Difference between seed and crop production.Seed production.Crop production.There are two types (major) of seed production ie. Varietal and hybrid.Varietal seed production.Hybrid seed production.
What is seed production planning?
To put in place an effective seed production programme, each State will undertake advance planning and prepare a perspective plan for seed production and distribution over a rolling (five to six year) period. Seed Banks will be set up in nontraditional areas to meet demands for seeds during natural calamities.
What is seed production area?
seed production area. A plantation with known origin or stand of a natural forest with superior phenotypic characters selected on the basis of its maturity and capacity to produce abundant seeds.
What does quality seed production mean?
Page 1. Seed Quality. Seed is a living product and must be grown, harvested and processed correctly to maximize its viability and the subsequent crop productivity. Good quality seed must be sown to realize the yield potential of all varieties. Postharvest Unit, CESD.
What are the requirements for seed production?
Requirements of Certified Seed Production Source of Seed: ... Registration of Seed Plot: ... Land Requirement: ... Isolation Requirement: ... Cultivation Practices and Plants Protection: ... Roughing: ... Field Inspection: ... Harvesting, Threshing, Drying and Sealing of Raw Seed:More items...•
Why is seed production important?
Seed production and dispersal are particularly important for plants that are annual weeds. Initial weed infestation is dependent on seed invasion but continued survival requires on site seed production. Weeds characteristically produce very large numbers of seeds but seed size is variable, striking a balance between large seeds and a high rate of seedlings survival and small seeds with a low seedling survival rate. Weed seed populations usually comprise a mixture of species and ages and the seed bank, the population of seeds in the soil, has a loose relationship to the composition of the weed population in previous years. Weed seed populations are dynamic and are affected by weather, seed predators and cultivation practices. An understanding of weed seed populations is important as this governs how weed are managed of a period of time.
How do perennial weeds reproduce?
Perennial weeds reproduce vegetatively , an unfortunate aspect of weed management. Simple and creeping perennials also reproduce by seed, but the importance of seed production varies. I suppose a good example is water hyacinth, whose pretty flowers produce seed pods with up to 300 seeds that can live 5–15 years submerged in water. Vegetative reproduction alone can double the size of an infestation in open water in 10–15 days ( Leakey, 1981) to produce floating mats weighing up to 200 tons/acre. Transpired water losses from mats of water hyacinth will be three to five times the loss from an open water surface.
What is the advantage of root to seed?
An advantage of the root-to-seed or bulb-to-seed production systems in biennial crops is that there is an opportunity for quality evaluation and roguing at the time that the roots or bulbs are dug and transplanted to the seed production field.
What is roguing in seed production?
An important component of seed production is ensuring the desired genetic identity of the subsequent generation that will be used for propagation. A key practice in maintaining genetic purity is called roguing, where fields are carefully examined and off-type plants removed.
How can seed production be prevented?
seed production can be prevented by cytoplasmic male sterility and by regular harvesting of biomass before flowering;
Why are seeds important for perennials?
For perennials also, the production of seeds provides for new genetic individuals and the possibility of long-distance dispersal. The production of flowers, fruits, and seeds can vary widely between related species, between populations of the same species at different sites, and between years at the same site.
What are the methods of vegetative reproduction?
Many methods of vegetative reproduction are found among weeds. Stolons or creeping aboveground stems are found in creeping bent grass, and yarrow. Rhizomes are found in Bermuda grass, quack grass, red top, hedge bindweed, and field horsetail. Bulbs and aerial bulblets are found in wild onion and wild garlic. Goldenrod has corms: thickened, vertical, underground stems that are reproductive organs. Tubers are produced by yellow and purple nutsedge and Jerusalem artichoke. Vegetative reproduction of simple perennials such as dandelion is from their tap root.
Where are scallop seeds grown?
Now all scallop seed are supplied from natural spat collection in Japan. Until the natural seed production became a mass production stage, many researchers tried to examine the culture seed production in land-based tanks. By the mid-1970s, however, large quantities of cultured seed were available ( Kinoshita et al., 1943; Yamamoto and Nishioka, 1943; Tanaka et al., 1977; Tsubata, 1982 ). The natural spat production enabled mass production of scallop seed for the scallop industry, and its cost is also lower than culturing spat in land-based hatcheries. Natural seed production includes the sequential process from natural spat collection to the intermediate culture stage of seed production.
Why do aquatic plants have less sexual reproduction?
Sexual reproduction tends to be reduced in aquatic plants simply because of the efficacy of clonal and other vegetative reproduction. Some of the most effective competitors and most productive of aquatic plants, such as the cattail ( Typha) and rushes ( Juncus ), combine very intensive clonal continuous growth (see later discussion) with moderate-to-intensive production of seeds for longer-distance dispersal. For example, the emergent rush Juncus effusus can devote as much as <1–7% of its annual production to seed production (several million very small seeds m−2) even though germination and seedling mortality in the immediate vicinity of the mother plants is nearly 100% from autotoxicity from organic compounds released and from shading ( Ervin and Wetzel, 2000 ).
Where does artificial reproduction come from?
Generally, the broodstock used in artificial reproduction will come from the farm. In this way, the farmer can choose and select his fish in view of genetic improvement. The sexes are usually kept separate, and the broodstock feed with a diet optimum for egg production. The size and age of this broodstock will of course vary with the species and geographic location, temperature and the management techniques of a particular farm.
How do fish farmers produce fish?
These fish can come from wild capture. However, there is little or no guarantee that adequate numbers can be captured and stocked in the time corresponding to optimum production conditions. The fish farmer then naturally turns to other means of obtaining his stock. By simulation of the conditions necessary for the reproduction of his fish, the farmer can spawn the fish in captivity. Successful spawning is only the beginning, however, the eggs must hatch, and these reared successfully to fry stage. These stages - spawning, hatching, and early rearing are like a steeple chase which the farmer must win. The race course is well filled with obstacles, for example physico-chemical quality of water such as available dissolved oxygen, feed of the proper nutritive composition and particle size, low resistance to diseases, and so on. A good appreciation of all these factors is needed for successful production of fish.
Can fish reproduce on a farm?
Thus to simulate the conditions needed for natural reproduction, this would mean a complete change in the environment. In general, fish can only be reproduced on the farm if conditions that correspond to natural spawning can be closely approximated. The cost of creating a completely marine habitat or freshwater habitat in the midst of a brackishwater situation would in most cases be prohibitive.
What is the introduction of seed production?
1. Introduction of Seed production Introduction contains the topics 1.Definition and scope of seed and seed technology. 2.Concept of Seed Quality. 3.Categories and classes of seeds. 4.Brief history of its development in India. 5.Relevant organizations in India and abroad.
What is a seed?
2. 10/24/2016 2 What is seed? • A seed, stands for any of the following used for sowing or planting, • i. Seeds of food crops including edible oil seeds and seeds of fruit and vegetables • ii. Cotton seeds • iii. Seeds of cattle fodder • iv. Jute seeds • v. Seedlings, tubers, bulbs, rhizomes, roots, cuttings, all types of grafts and other vegetatively propagated material for food crops or cattle fodder.
What is a nucleus seed?
10/24/2016 18 Nucleus or Basic Seed Nucleus seed (or basic seed) is the original or first seed (= propagating material) of a variety available with the producing breeder or any other recognized breeder of the crop. This seed has 100% genetic and physical purity along with high standards of all other seed quality parameters.
What is the International Seed Testing Association?
International organizations • The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) • Objectives of the Association (a) To develop, adopt and publish standard procedures for sampling and testing seeds, and to promote uniform application of these procedures for evaluation of seeds moving in international trade.
What are the seeds of food crops?
Seeds of food crops including edible oil seeds and seeds of fruit and vegetables • ii. Cotton seeds • iii. Seeds of cattle fodder • iv. Jute seeds • v. Seedlings, tubers, bulbs, rhizomes, roots, cuttings, all types of grafts and other vegetatively propagated material for food crops or cattle fodder.
What is the main concept of seed technology?
5. Concept of seed technology Difference between seed and grain is vital. • The main concept is to harness the potential of embryo , the embedded living portion with in the food storage tissue. Its main work is to protect the biological entity and look after its welfare. • When we deal the second component ,the food storage tissue welfare and quality than we deal the food technology
What is a mature ovule?
A mature ovule consisting of an embryonic plant together with a store of food, all surrounded by a protective coat. 3. Any plant part used for the purpose of further propagation or multiplication.it is also termed as Propagule. 5. Concept of seed technology Difference between seed and grain is vital.
What is the definition of a seed?
One definition of a seed is "an immature plant in an arrested state". Seeds are one of the true wonders of nature because of their desiccation tolerance, small size, storability, ability to sense the surrounding environment, rapid growth, and persistence. Using quality seeds is a prerequisite for successful vegetable production. There are several classifications of seeds that are used to describe how seeds are pollinated.
What is vegetable based on?
Most definitions of vegetables are not botanically based. These definitions are based on usage and are rather arbitrary. A common definition is: A vegetable is a herbaceous plant, or portion of a plant, that is eaten whole or in part, raw or cooked, generally with an entree or in a salad but not as a dessert.
What is open pollination?
Open-pollinated. Many people now use this term rather loosely to simply refer to any cultivar that is a non-hybrid. A stricter definition is: "a heterogeneous variety of a cross-pollinated crop this is allowed to inter-pollinate freely during seed production.".
Why is cutting corners on seed costing so much?
Cutting corners on seed costs will generally end up costing even more because of lost revenues from lower yields. Like so many other areas of agriculture, seed handling practices have changed dramatically over the years. For generations, farmers saved their own vegetable seeds and maintained their own cultivars.
What is a fruit?
By this definition, a fruit is simply a sweet and edible plant structure consisting of a fruit (in the botanical sense) or a false fruit of a flowering plant usually eaten raw or as a dessert. Many true or botanical fruits are not sweet such as tomato, bean etc. and these are the ones commonly referred to as vegetables.
Is lettuce seed open pollinated?
In the case of lettuce, none of these techniques have been har nessed for mass production of hybrid seed so all lettuce seeds are open-pollinated at this time. Most agriculturists recognize it is unwise to cut costs by saving a few dollars on seeds of a substandard cultivar or by purchasing lower quality seeds.
Is rice an agronomic crop?
Wheat, cotton, and rice are all considered agronomic crops. Some crops like Irish potato may be considered as either vegetable or agronomic crops. Some agronomic crops such as tobacco are intensively managed and of high value but are considered agronomic for historical reasons.
What is the process of seed development?
In angiosperms, the process of seed development begins with double fertilization, which involves the fusion of two male gametes with the egg cell and the central cell to form the primary endosperm and the zygote.
What is the process of seed formation?
The formation of the seed is part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm plants. Seeds are the product of the ripened ovule, after fertilization by pollen and some growth within the mother plant.
How does the seed coat work?
peanut) or something more substantial (e.g. thick and hard in honey locust and coconut ), or fleshy as in the sarcotesta of pomegranate. The seed coat helps protect the embryo from mechanical injury, predators, and drying out. Depending on its development, the seed coat is either bitegmic or unitegmic. Bitegmic seeds form a testa from the outer integument and a tegmen from the inner integument while unitegmic seeds have only one integument. Usually, parts of the testa or tegmen form a hard protective mechanical layer. The mechanical layer may prevent water penetration and germination. Amongst the barriers may be the presence of lignified sclereids.
How many parts are in a seed?
A typical seed includes two basic parts:
How many sound pine seeds are there in a 20 year period?
Over a 20-year period, for example, forests composed of loblolly pine and shortleaf pine produced from 0 to nearly 5 million sound pine seeds per hectare. Over this period, there were six bumper, five poor, and nine good seed crops, when evaluated for production of adequate seedlings for natural forest reproduction.
Why do seeds give a plant a faster start?
They usually give a seedling a faster start than a sporeling from a spore, because of the larger food reserves in the seed and the multicellularity of the enclosed embryo.
Where did seeds originate?
Evolution and origin of seeds. The issue of the origin of seed plants remains unsolved. However, more and more data tends to place this origin in the middle Devonian. The description in 2004 of the proto-seed Runcaria heinzelinii in the Givetian of Belgium is an indication of that ancient origin of seed-plants.
What is formal seed?
The formal seed system is the easier to characterize, as it is a deliberately constructed system that involves a chain of activities leading to clear products: certified seed of verified varieties (Louwaars, 1994). The chain usually starts with plant breeding and selection, resulting in different types of varieties, including hybrids, and promotes materials leading to formal variety release and maintenance. Guiding principles in the formal system are to maintain varietal identity and purity and to produce seed of optimal physical, physiological and sanitary quality. Certified seed marketing and distribution take place through a limited number of officially recognized seed outlets, usually for financial sale (Louwaars, 1994: 28). The central premise of the formal system is that there is a clear distinction between "seed" and "grain." This distinction is less clear in the local, farmer seed system.
Where is seed sourced?
Seed might also be sourced from the local foodgrain markets, then cleaned and sorted. The quality of this seed can be highly variable, and relatively few studies have actually analysed farmer seed quality parameters (viz., Scheidegger and Buruchara, 1991; Tripp 1997a; KARI/CIAT, in prep.). Farmers and grain traders may, in some cases, exert considerable effort to distinguish between grain and seed, sorting in the field, in storage and again at sowing time (Longley et al., 2001; S. David, personal communication). Farmers' own standards and indicators, however, tend to be different from those of formal sector producers, suggesting that quality assessments may be relative.
Why is seed important?
Seed is one of the most crucial elements in the livelihoods of agricultural communities. It is the repository of the genetic potential of crop species and their varieties resulting from the continuous improvement and selection over time. The potential benefits of seed to crop productivity and food security can be enormous. In addition, production increases brought about by the use of adapted varieties increases farmers’ income when market linkages exist. Food security is heavily dependent on the seed security of the farming community.
What is a local seed system?
A local seed system is basically what the formal system is not. Activities tend to be integrated and locally organized, and the local system embraces most of the other ways in which farmers themselves produce, disseminate, and access seed: directly from their own harvest; through exchange and barter among friends, neighbours, and relatives; and through local grain markets. Encompassing a wider range of seed system variations, what characterizes the local system most is its flexibility. Varieties may be landraces or mixed races and may be heterogeneous (modified through breeding and use). In addition, the seed is of variable quality (of different purity, and physical and physiological quality) (Almekinders and Louwaars, 1999). The same general steps or processes take place in the local system as in the formal sector (variety choice, variety testing, introduction, seed multiplication, selection, dissemination and storage) but they take place as integral parts of farmers' production systems rather than as discrete activities. While some farmers treat "seed" as special, there is not always necessarily a distinction between "seed" and "grain." The steps do not flow in a linear sequence and they are not monitored or controlled by government policies and regulations. Rather, they are guided by local technical knowledge and standards and by local social structures and norms (McGuire, 2001).
Why is sustainable seed important?
A sustainable seed system will ensure that high quality seeds of a wide range of varieties and crops are produced and fully available in time and affordable to farmers and other stakeholders. However, in many developing countries farmers have not yet been able to fully benefit from the advantages of using quality seed due to a combination of factors, including inefficient seed production, distribution and quality assurance systems, as well as bottlenecks caused by a lack of good seed policy on key issues such as access to credit for inputs. Furthermore, the pressure from the fluctuating food prices and climate change creates additional challenges.
What percentage of seed is used by farmers?
Common figures suggest that somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of the seed that farmer’s access comes from the local seed system (Danagro, 1988; Cooper, 1993; Rabobank, 1994; FAO, 1998), although this varies greatly by crop and region. (For example, the figure is much lower where hybrid maize is grown in southern Africa or, generally, where formal seed is subsidized.) In studies of seed systems, much has been made of the notion that small farmers, especially in vulnerable regions, strive at all costs to save their own seed, and that they get the bulk of what they sow from previous harvests. While this is broadly true, especially in remote or marginal areas, studies that actually quantify seed-source use find increasingly that, within the local seed system, local grain markets are also crucial in meeting seed needs, especially for poor farmers and in difficult times. Again, this varies greatly by crop (see summary of work in Uganda, Rwanda, South Kivu [Zaire] and select regions of Burundi in David and Sperling [1999]). For many farmers, local markets are the second-best bet (after home stocks) as they put on offer the same varieties that farmers routinely sow (Sperling and Loevinsohn, 1993). One study in southern Somalia demonstrates that where grain traders invest in obtaining good-quality "seed" (making a distinction from bulk grain), local markets can be a preferred source of replacement seed (Longley et al., 2001).

Overview
Seed production
Seeds are produced in several related groups of plants, and their manner of production distinguishes the angiosperms ("enclosed seeds") from the gymnosperms ("naked seeds"). Angiosperm seeds are produced in a hard or fleshy structure called a fruit that encloses the seeds for protection in order to secure healthy growth. Some fruits have layers of both hard and fleshy material. In gymnosperms, no special structure develops to enclose the seeds, which begin thei…
History
The first land plants evolved around 468 million years ago, they reproduced using spores. The oldest seed bearing plants were gymnosperms, which had no ovaries to contain the seeds, arising sometime during the late Devonian period (416 million to 358 million years ago) From these early gymnosperms, seed ferns evolved during the Carboniferous period (359 to 299 million years ago); they had ovules that were borne in a cupule, which were groups of enclosing branches likely use…
Development
Angiosperm (flowering plants) seeds consist of three genetically distinct constituents: (1) the embryo formed from the zygote, (2) the endosperm, which is normally triploid, (3) the seed coat from tissue derived from the maternal tissue of the ovule. In angiosperms, the process of seed development begins with double fertilization, which involves the fusion of two male gametes with the egg cell and the central cell to form the primary endosperm and the zygote. Right after fertiliz…
Shape and appearance
A large number of terms are used to describe seed shapes, many of which are largely self-explanatory such as Bean-shaped (reniform) – resembling a kidney, with lobed ends on either side of the hilum, Square or Oblong – angular with all sides more or less equal or longer than wide, Triangular – three sided, broadest below middle, Elliptic or Ovate or Obovate – rounded at both ends, or egg shaped (ovate or obovate, broader at one end), being rounded but either symmetric…
Structure
A typical seed includes two basic parts:
1. an embryo;
2. a seed coat.
In addition, the endosperm forms a supply of nutrients for the embryo in most monocotyledons and the endospermic dicotyledons.
Functions
Seeds serve several functions for the plants that produce them. Key among these functions are nourishment of the embryo, dispersal to a new location, and dormancy during unfavorable conditions. Seeds fundamentally are means of reproduction, and most seeds are the product of sexual reproduction which produces a remixing of genetic material and phenotype variability on which natural selection acts. Plant seeds hold endophytic microorganisms that can perform vario…
Germination
Seed germination is a process by which a seed embryo develops into a seedling. It involves the reactivation of the metabolic pathways that lead to growth and the emergence of the radicle or seed root and plumule or shoot. The emergence of the seedling above the soil surface is the next phase of the plant's growth and is called seedling establishment.
Three fundamental conditions must exist before germination can occur. (1) The embryo must b…