Seed Quality Enhancement

With the expansion of precision and intensive agriculture, seed quality, which alone could contribute up to 15-20 per cent in terms of crop productivity, has assumed greater importance. Every care is taken not only to produce high-quality seeds and maintain the same through various stages of production, from growing conditions of the seed crop to pre-harvest, harvest, processing and storage activities, but also to adopt certain technologies to further improve the performance of seeds upon sowing of the crop under a wide range of environments. These technologies, collectively known as ‘enhancement’, cover a variety of methods applicable to different crop species and aimed at meeting specific requirements, such as unfavourable growing conditions of hard/acidic/sodic soil, high or low temperature, excess or deficient rainfall, etc., as well as the stress imposed by the presence of pests and diseases that affect crop performance, particularly during the early vegetative stage resulting in poor seed emergence, crop establishment and vegetative growth. Selection of the appropriate and costeffective technologies is important in accruing the best results from seed enhancement.