कृषि फसलों के बीज उत्पादन क्षेत्र का चयन एवं प्रबंधन
Seed is basic input of agriculture because it decides future in term of growth and yield of every crop. Quality seed production of agricultural crops is need of hour to increase agricultural production and to mitigate stresses to be occur in nearby future due to climate change. Use of quality seeds instead of farm-saved seeds increases production of various agricultural crops from 10 to 35% considering other factors constant.
Seed production technology is a skill required programme and it also needs heavy investment of capital so to make it successful selection and management of seed production area is very critical because it decides future growth of crops. Seed production area is referred to an area with superior plants after removal of weak and undesirable plants through roughing and nurtured for early and abundant seed production.
Criteria of site selection:
First of all, seed production of various variety of various crops should be done in favourable agroclimatic zones for quality seed production and selected area should have capacity to produce quality seeds more than one season.
Selected area also should have favourable conditions for seed storage as well. Areas with high and unpredictable rainfall and high humidity should be discarded for seed production of crops.
Selected area for seed production should have capacity to produce seed yield more than average yield of crop in country. Areas with assured irrigation should be chosen for seed production.The area selected for seed crop must be free from volunteer plants, weed plants and have good soil texture and fertility.
The soil of the seed plot should be comparatively free from soil borne diseases and insects pests.
Suitable seed production area of various crop:
1. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.):
Well drained sandy loam or black soils are preferred for quality seed production of wheat crop. Selected area should be free from weeds and volunteer plants. Soil should not be acidic or alkaline. Selected area should not be sown with wheat crop in previous season to avoid contamination and to re reduce seed borne diseases like Karnal bunt. Wheat is a self-pollinated crop and the seed production plot should be isolated from other wheat field by minimum of 3-meter distance.
2. Rice (Oryza sativa):
Selected land for seed production should be fertile with assured irrigation and drainage facilities. Soil pH should be 6.5. It should be free from volunteer plants so area which is grown with rice in previous season should be avoided for seed production. Summer plough should be done if selected area for seed production was used for rice crop and area should be leave for 10-15 days and after that irrigation should be applied to allow germination of already present seeds in field which should be followed by wet ploughing to kill down all germinated seeds and then should leave this field for five day that should be followed by puddling and laddering.
3. Barley (Hordeum vulgare):
Selected area should be fertile, well levelled and free from water logging conditions with good drainage conditions. Area should be free from volunteer plants. Area should be avoided for seed production which have history of tundu disease infection in previous seasons.Barley crop is sensitive to water and nitrogen hence proper levelling of land using laser land leveller should be done before sowing.
4. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor):
Selected area should be well drained with good drainage facilities to avoid water stagnation. Sandy loam soil is most suitable for seed production. It should be free from volunteer plants so in previous season, other variety should not be cultivated in selected area. Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) should be not present in selected area and within isolation distance.
5. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata):
Previous history of land must be carefully considered before the seed production is carried out. There should not be any occurrence of volunteer plants in the land selected for seed production. Soil of the field must be well fertile with a good pH range of 6- 7.5 and well drained field should be maintained. Cowpea can be grown on well drained soils of heavy to sandy loams. Saline, alkali or water-logged soils should be avoided. Heavy clays soils promote more vegetative growth as compared to seed production.
6. Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum):
Selected area for seed production should be well drained and soil should be well aerated. It should be fertile and should not be grown with same crop in previous season to avoid contamination in quality seed production.
7. Maize (Zea mays):
Selected area for seed production should be free from volunteer plants. Soil should be well aerated and suitable for maize cultivation. Deep loamy soil with high organic matter and plant nutrient with neutral pH is the best soil for maize crop. Soil should be free from alkalinity and water logging conditions.
8. Cotton (Gossypium sp.):
Volunteer plants and diseases especially wilt disease should not be present in land selected for cotton seed production. Cotton is cultivated on all kinds of soils except sandy and saline soil and black soil is most preferred. It is also cultivated in alluvial soil and mixed black and red soil in northern and southern zone, respectively. Water-logged condition should be avoided for high-quality seed production. Soil pH should be between 5.5 and 8.5. There should not be hard pan in sub-surface layer and hard layer of carbonates.
9. Jute (Corchorus capsularis):
Volunteer plants, obnoxious weed plants and soil-borne diseases like stem rot should not be present in land selected for jute seed production. Plain alluvial soil, sandy loam and clay loamy soil favours more jute seed production. Soil pH should be 6.5 to 7.5. Tossa jute can’t grow in standing water condition but white jute can grow in standing water.
10. Linseed (Linumusitatissimum):
Selected soil should be free from volunteer and weed plants. Linseed can stand with wide-ranging pH of soil but pH from 5-7 is more suitable. It requires sufficient moisture and high organic content in soil to grow efficiently. It will grow well in soil that have high water holding capacity. Well-drained loam to clayey loam soils rich in humus favours growth of linseed but it is also grown in black cotton soils (in Maharashtra and MP) having high clay and lime content and in alluvial soil (Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar).
11. Soybean (Glycine max):
Previous history of land must be carefully considered before the seed production is carried out. Land selected for seed production should be liberated from volunteer plants. Soil of the field ought to be well fertile with good drainage.
12.Rapeseed and Mustard (Brassicasp.):
Land selected for seed production should be free from volunteer plants to avoid contamination. It should be deep fertile with high organic content, well-drained and light to medium textured soil. Alluvial soil is best suited for rapeseed-mustard cultivation. Black soil should be avoided for rapeseed-mustard cultivation. Soil pH range from 6 to 7.5 is considered ideal for cultivation but Indian mustard can tolerate wide pH range from 4.3 to 8.3. ESP more than 23-25 in soil is not favourable for ideal seed germination. Rapeseed is also tolerant to salinity condition.
13. Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) and Oats (Avena sativa):
Although forages thrive well on a variety of soils, well drained, medium texture and neutral soils are suited for cultivation of berseem and oats. Berseem seed production programme should be conducted on well-drained clay loam soil, free from acidity and salinity, pH 7 to 8 while oats prefer loam to clay loam soil having pH up to 8.5with high drainage capacity. The land for seed production should be uniform, fertile, approachable and free from volunteer plants, weed species and other plants. Soil should have good irrigation facility and should be well drained.
14. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus):
The land chosen should not have the past history of sunflower crop to maintain a strategic avoidance from the event of volunteer plants. The soil should be well fertile with good drainage facility. Sunflower grows well in deep, loamy soils with light to medium texture. If sunflower is produced in clay soils, then proper care needs to be assured in order to evade the saturation of soil for longer period because it favours damping off seedling disease which may lead to stand loss. Sunflower should not be grown in acidic, saline, alkaline or high boron soils.
15. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius):
The land selected should not have the previous history of safflower crop to avoid the appearance of volunteer plants. The soil should be well fertile with good drainage facility. Crop should be planted on clean land. Land should not be irrigated to avoid the disease hazards.
16. French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.):
A well-drained and fertile loamy soil with soil pH of 6 to 7.5 is best for seed production of French bean. Often clayey soils interrupt seed germination and root growth in small seedling therefore there may not be proper plant growth and development. Hence a sandy loamy soil is best for its cultivation as it is loose textured so it eases the penetration of roots.
17. Pea (Pisum sativum L.):
Pea is cultivated on the broad varieties of soils. Pea grows well where the soil is well drained with the pH range of 6 to 8. To get good yield and quality seed, soil should contain good organic matter.The area selected for the seed production purposes of peas must fulfil the adequate requirement of photoperiod and temperature. The land of the area selected should be devoid of objectionable weed plants, volunteer plants and wild species as well as any other crop plants. Precaution should be taken that same crop in previous season should have not been grown on the selected land. Also, it should be made sure that there is no resting soil-borne diseases and insect pests’ infestation.
18. Cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba):
Cluster bean crop performs well on fertile, light and fine textured, well drained sandy soils with soil pH of 7.0 to 8.5. Deep black heavy soil with high soil salinity and waterlogged conditions significantly reduces nodulation so it should be avoided for seed production.Cluster bean plant is properly acclimatized to desert environment with semi-arid climatic conditions.
19. Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.):
Basically, the land used for its seed production must be free from any volunteer plant. This crop can be cultivated in a broad spectrum of soils except heavy soils with poor drainage and sandy soils having poor water holding capacity are inappropriate for its cultivation. Soils with slightly acidic nature are highly preferred; however, the ideal pH range for its good growth should be in between 5.5 and 7.5.
20. Spinach Beet (Beta vulgaris):
Selected land for seed production should be free from volunteer plants, obnoxious weeds and soil-borne diseases. Palak can be grown on a wide variety of soils having good fertility and proper drainage, however, well drained loamy soil are the most suitable ones. pH of soil should be in the range of 6-6.5, since pH at the lower side will have a deleterious effect on the plant growth and development. It is also able to tolerate slightly alkaline soil.
21 Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum):
Seed production of tomato could bedone on all types of soils ranging from sandy loam to heavy loam soils. Well drained medium black and sandy loams are best suited for the crop.
22. Potato (Solanum tuberosum):
The soil of the selected field should be well drained and contain adequate quantity of organic matter. It cannot be grown in saline or alkaline, or deep clay soils. The crop thrives well with the soil pH ranging from 5-7.
Management of seed production areas
Removal of cut material:
After thinning, it is necessary to remove all cut material that has accumulated on the ground. Removing the residue allows for easier access into the area for management activities, and reduces the potential dangers from pests and wildfires.
Weeding:
If the seed production area is to function efficiently, vegetative growth must be controlled. Weed growth can be controlled by regular hand weeding and/or careful application of herbicides. Seed production areas will require ongoing weed control throughout their working season.
Stand demarcation:
The external boundaries of the seed production area should be marked with large permanent markers. A prominent sign should be constructed to explain the purpose of the stand and the agency responsible for its management.
Protection:
Adequate fire breaks (10 m wide or more) should be established surrounding each seed production area and continually maintained. It may be necessary to fence the area if foraging domestic stock, wildlife or human activities are likely to cause damage to the seed production area.
Record Keeping:
It is important that full records on all aspects of seed production areas are maintained.
Authors:
Nirmal Singh* and Axay Bhuker
Department of Seed Science and Technology
Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana – 125004
*E-mail: