Foundation and Certified Seed Production in Bajara

Foundation and Certified Seed Production in Bajara

WCC-75, ICTP- 8203, ICMV-870901, RHR-1 (SANGAM) , I.C.M.S. 7703

Land Requirement:

The land selected for seed production of any of the cross pollinated crop varieties should not have same crop grown in the preveious season or year. In case of castor and sunflower, preveious crop should not have been grown in two successive seasons unless the preveious crop was grown from certified seed of the same variety.

The land should be medium, levelled and well drained. If the seed production of sunflower is taken on deep soils then crop is likely to be affected heavily by the disease, Rhizoctonia wilt. In case of castor, it will produce more vegetative grown on heavy soils.

Isolation Requirement:

In case of cross pollinated crops, pollination is mainly carried through wind and by honey bees, it is therefore necessary to observe isolation requirement more scrupulously.

Season:

Seed production of Bajara, Maize and Sunflower can be taken during Kharif, Rabi, as well as summer seasons. However, seed production should not be taken during summer seasons as high temperatures creates problem of poor seed setting in Maize and Sunflower. In areas where late rains are received in September when Sunflower crop is in flowering stage sunflower seed production should not undertaken during Kharif season, because late heavy rains during flowering helps in development of the disease, Rhizoctonia wilt which kill almost all sunflower plants standing in the field. Optimum period for sowing of seed plots of Bajara, is upto 15 th July in Kharif season.

Source of Seed:

Breeder seed and certified foundation seed be used for production of foundation and certified seed of those crops respectively.

Cultivation Practices:

Recommended package of practices viz. seed rate, spacing, fertilizer application , plant protection, irrigation, weeding, hoeing should be carried timely so as to get maximum seed yield.

Roguing:

Roguing should be started from Pre-flowering stage and continued vigorously during flowering. During Roguing off types, volunteer plants, other crop plants, tall weed plants should be removed before they come to flowering from the seed plot as well as from areas within isolation distance on all sides of the seed plot.

Field Inspections:

In case of maize, sunflower and castor varieties, minimum two field inspections are carried out while in Bajara seed plots are subjected to three field inspections. First inspection is carried before flowering for checking source of seed, isolation and remaining inspections during flowering when isolation, off types etc. are checked.

Harvesting, Drying, Threshing :

When more than 50 percent of leaves turn yellow, the crop has reached to the stage of maturity. After seeking the permission of seed certification officer, the cobs of maize ear heads of Bajara are cut and brought to threshing yard where they are spread in thin layers for drying. In case of castor , plants are cut and brought to threshing yards in bundles.

The seed produce is exposed to sun for drying for 5 to 6 days. The cobs of maize are shelled by using maize Sheller while seed produce of sunflower and Bajara is threshed by thresher. In case of castor threshing is done by beating with sticks. The threshed produce is cleaned by winnowing and raw but clean seed produce is filled in clean gunny bags, sealed and are transported to seed processing plant for processing.

Seed Processing:

Steps involved in processing of the seed of Bajara, Maize, Sunflower, and Castor are

a) Pre-drying if needed
b) Precleaning and Grading
c) Seed Treatement
d) Bagging, tagging, and Sealing

Seed Yields (Q/ha) :

Bajara: 10 to 15 q/ha.