Foundation and Certified Seed Production in Sorghum
Notified Varieties:
Jowar (Kharif): CS-3541, SPV-465, SPV-465, SPV-475, SPV-86, PKV-801.
Jowar (Rabi): M-35-1, Swati, Selection-3.
Land Requirement:
The land selected for seed production of any of these crops should be medium to deep, well drained and have irrigation facility. The land selected for seed production should not have been used for raising same crop during preveious growing season.
Isolation Requirement:
The isolation distance prescribed for seed production of different crops is as under.
|
Crop |
Isolation Distance (m) Foundation |
Isolation Distance (m) Certified |
|
Jowar |
a-200 |
100- For other Jowar Variety |
|
|
b-400 |
400- For Johnson Grass |
|
|
c-400 |
200- For forage sorghum |
Season Sowing Period of Seed Production:
As in other crops, seed production of often cross pollinated crops should be taken during proper season and during optimum period as detailed below:
|
Sr.No |
Crop |
Season |
Optimum Sowing Period |
|
1 |
Jowar |
Kharif |
Immediately after commencement of Monsoon and not later than I week of July. |
|
2 |
Jowar |
Rabi |
II Fortnight of Sept. |
Source of Seed:
Breeders seed and foundation seed should be used for raising foundation and certified seed crops respectively. Before sowing of these breeder seed and foundation seed source verification must be done from seed certification agency.
Production Technology:
Package of practices recommended for cultivation of these crops should be adopted viz, seed rate, spacing, proper sowing , fertilizer , application , Interculturing, weeding, plant protection, irrigation, etc.
|
Sr.No |
Crop |
Major Pests |
Major Disease |
|
1 |
Kharif Jowar |
Shoot fly stem borer |
Grain mold, grain smut. |
|
2 |
Rabi Jowar |
Shoot fly , aphids |
Grain smut, sugary disease. |
|
3 |
Tur |
Pod borer, pod fly |
Pod borer, pod fly, fuserium wilt, and sterility mosaic. |
|
4 |
Cotton |
Bollworms, aphids, red cotton bug, dusky cotton bug |
Alternaria leaf spot, Bacterial leaf blight. |
|
5 |
Safflower |
Aphids |
Alternaria leaf blight. |
Roguing:
Roguing should be carried vigorously from early stage of crop and continued till flowering completed. During rouging, off types, volunteer, other crop plants and diseased plants should be removed from the seed plot and from the areas within isolation distance on all sides. Off types and volunteer plants should be rogue before they come to flowering. Seed plot should fulfill minimum field standards. (Appendix VIII).
Field Inspections:
2 to 3-1 inspection at pre-flowering stage and remaining during flowering to harvest.
Harvesting:
In case of Jowar, tur and safflower when more than 50 percent leaves turn yellow, the seed crop has reached the stage of maturity. In cotton when 30 percent or more balls are fully opened, the crop is ready for picking.
If Jowar seed plot is caught in the rains before or during harvesting, the seed is likely to get affected by grain mold which reduces the germination. In such cases the ear heads of the standing crop be sprayed with Thirum at 1 kg/ha in 500 litres of water.
Drying:
1) The produce brought to the threshing yard is spread in thin layers on threshing floor and exposed to sun drying for 4 to 6 days.
2) In case of cotton, seed cotton should be dried by putting it on gunny bags or tarpaulins so as to avoid contamination with soil and trash.
Threshing:
1) Seed produce of Jowar, is threshed by using tractor or a thresher and the seed is precleaned by winnowing. The raw seed is filled in clean gunny bags with marking sealed by seed certification staff and taken to the recognized seed processing plant with T.C.
Processing:
Steps Involved in Processing:
A) Jowar, Tur, Safflower:
a) Drying if need,
b) Precleaning
c) Cleaning and Grading
d) Seed treatment
e) Release of seed lot
B) Cotton:
a) Drying, if needed
b) Precleaning
c) Ginning,
d) Hand grading or grading followed by delinting (acid or gas)
e) Seed treatment
f) Bagging, tagging and sealing.
Seed Yield (Q/ha):
1) Jowar-30 to 40
2) Tur- 15 to 20