Seed production technologies of some major field crops

Abstract

A seed is an agricultural commodity that is raised and harvested under optimum conditions and processed with state-of-the-art technologies to maximize its viability and subsequent crop productivity. The seed is the basic ingredient of successful crop production which guarantees the highest yield potential of any crop variety. The use of good-quality seed under high productive systems can increase yields by 5-20%.Every stage of seed production from field selection to harvesting and then processing to seed storage is crucial for the quality management of seed. Seed quality is dictated by its germination and physical (inert matter, chaff, dirt and soil particles) and biological contaminations (presence of weed and other crop seeds, seed-borne diseases and insects). The seed production system of major field crops varies with the mode of reproduction and pollination system, which affects their genetic stability. Agronomic crops are mostly produced through seeds. Pure lines are developed with basic methods of creating variation, selection and stabilization. Single-cross hybrids are not only common in field crops such as maize and sunflower but also an adapted technology in vegetable and floriculture seed production. The pure seed of self-pollinated species, at the same time synthetics and composite seed of cross-pollinated species, is produced under standardized conditions recommended by seed certification department and dictated by the mode of pollination. In vivo and in vitro techniques are used for the production of doubled haploids to achieve homozygosity for rapid filial generation advancement. In planta and in vitro transformation methods are gaining popularity for the production of GMOs. This chapter will provide a compre hensive overview of various production technologies of seed production, production of GMOs, hybrid production methods and various management practices of seed production of agronomic crops in detail.