1 SEED TREATMENT Dr.T.K.Maity Department of Vegetable Crops, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India.

Many pests during the absence or dormancy of the host perpetuate in the seed or preparative organs till the new host is found. Hence the treatment of seeds to get rid of infection and to secure healthy plant materials constitutes one of the major measures of cop production. Advantage of seed treatment 1. Prevention of spread of plant diseases. 2. Seed treatment protects seed from seed rot and seedling blight. 3. Improves germination. 4. Provides protection from storage insects. 5. Controlling soil insect. Types of seed treatment 1. Seed disinfection - It refers to the eradication of fungal spores that have become established within the seed coat or in more deep - seated tissues. 2. Seed disinfestation - It refers to the destruction of the surface borne organisms that have contaminated the seed surface but not infected the seed surface. 3. Seed protection - The purpose is to protect the seed and young seedling from organisms in the soil which might otherwise cause decay of the seed before germination. Conditions under which seed must be treated 1. Injured seeds. 2. Diseases seeds. 3. Undesirable soil planting conditions. 4. Disease free seed Method of application of seed treating chemicals Chemicals are usually applied to seed as i) Dry or dust treatment. ii) Slurry treatment. iii) Liquid treatment. ----iv) Spay treatment ---Liquid treatment v) Mist treatment ----Vegetable Crops Dosage per 100 kg seed Chemical Quantity of Quantity of recommended chemical water (% a.i.) (g) (litre) Thiram 75 Dust 250 Captan 75 Dust 250 Thiram 75 Dust 250 Thiram 75 Dust 250 Thiram 75 WDP 100 0.5 Thiram 75 Dust 250 Captan 75 WDP 100 0.5 Thiram 75 Dust 250 Thiram 75 Dust 250 Captan 75 Dust 250 250 Thiram 75 Dust 250 Thiram 75 WDP 100 0.5 Captan 75 Dust 250 Method of treatment

Brinjal Carrot Chilli Cluster bean Cole crops Cow pea Cucurbits Onion Okra

Dry dressing Dry dressing Dry dressing Dry dressing Slurry treat Dry dressing Slurry treat Dry dressing Dry dressing Dry dressing Dry dressing Slurry treat Dry dressing

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Tomato Turnip Beans Beet Agarwal and Nene (1987) Thiram 75 Dust Thiram 75 Dust Captan 75 WDP Thiram 75 Dust Thiram 75 Dust 250 250 100 250 250 0.5 Dry dressing Dry dressing Slurry treat Dry dressing Dry dressing

Harvesting of Vegetable Seed Crops Harvesting of vegetable seed crops need to be made at appropriate time and stage that will allow both the maximum yield and the best quality seed. Premature harvesting ultimately results in shriveled light seeds on drying, poor viability and germination. It harvesting is delayed. There may be shattering, splitting in wet weather leading to loose in quality, poor viability, germination or sprouting, excessive development of pathogens and ultimate reduction in seed yield. The optimum time of harvest a seed crop is at a stage when the seed is fully matured, when weather damage has just began and the seed is easily harvested and cleaned resulting in minimum harvest losses. However, the exact time and stage of harvesting the seed crop is difficult to assess and needs thorough knowledge of the crop growth for seed purpose. Several plant and environmental factors influence they yield and quality of the harvested product. Factors favouring high yields includes: i) Good and uniform plant stand. ii) High rates of pollination and fertilization leading to a good fruit set. iii) Seed ripening during a limited but not too short a period. iv) Seed ripening during high temperature, low soil moisture and low relative humidity which shortens the maturity period. Therefore, for any individual seed crop, the ideal harvesting time is immediately before the loss of mature seeds exceeds the amount of seeds yet to reach maturity. The maturity indices, number and time of harvesting for different vegetable seed crops are given in table. In general, the later the crop is harvested, the greater will be the seed yield. In several crops, before bulk of the crop is ready to harvest, the earlier ripened seed may be lost. Delayed harvesting in such causes may cause heavy crop losses. Harvesting at an early stage makes combining difficult and relative losses due to threshing and cleaning are greater. Thus the length of time that a seed crop will remain at the proper stage of harvesting varies with the prevailing climatic conditions and the nature of the crop. Several studies clearly indicated that time of harvest had effects on seed germinability. Seed moisture can form the most important indication of a crops fitness for harvesting. From the standpoint of minimising mechanical seed damage harvesting must be limited to moisture content below 20%. Thus, the optimum time of harvest for a given seed crop is the point beyond which losses will be greater than the potential seed yield which requires further ripening. George (1980) divided vegetable seed crops into three broad groups, depending on the state of seed at harvest time. 1) Dry seed: The seed is usually dried on the plant before harvesting, e.g., brassicas, lettuce, peas, beans, beet and onion. 2) Fleshy fruits: The ripened fruits are picked from the plants and dried first. The dried fruits are then opened later to remove the dried sees, e.g., chilli, okra, gourds and pumpkin, etc. 3) Wet fleshy fruits: In fruits containing a high level of moisture, the seed has a gelatinous or mucilaginous coating adhering to it. This has to be removed after seed extraction by a fermentation process or treatment with dilute acids. Such fruits are harvested when they mature and ripen e.g. tomato, cucumber, watermelon and muskmelon. Harvesting methods: The harvesting methods commonly in use are manual and mechanical. 1) Manual or hand picking: Although this method is labour intensive, they allow plants to be harvested individually or even at several stages of crop growth. It provides more protection and the maximum potential seed yield per unit area when compared with the mechanical harvesting.

3 2) Mechanical harvesting: Vegetable seed crops may be harvested by employing a suitable mechanical harvester, especially in the large scale commercial seed producing farms where the manual labour is costly. Precautions must be taken to adjust the harvest/combine properly so as to keep various losses and the mechanical injury to seeds during combining at a minimum. Maturity indices, number and time of harvesting in vegetable seed crops.
Crop Maturity indices Harvesting Number Time 1-2 1-2 Morning Morning Remarks A. Dry Seeds Amaranthus General brown yellowing of infloresence indicates seed maturity Onion Seed become black and ripening in silvery coloured capsules. Ten percent heads expose black seeds Garden beet Seed ball at the bases on inflorescence beet leaf side shoots mature and colour turns green to brown transversely the seed ball if milky unripe and mealy it is ripe Carrot Secondary and 3rd order heads turn brown Spinach Later ripening plants start to become yellow Cole crops On ripening, plants start dry out and become brown in colour. Oldest pod will become brown first Radish Turnip Cucumber

Prove to shattering Prove to shattering

1-2

Morning

1-2 1 2-3

Brown pods and parchment like when 1 the seeds are near maturing Plants turns to brown parchment colour 1-2 Fruit develops external ripening colour, 1 stalk adjacent to the fruit withers Dull sound of the ripening fruit. Skin touching the soil will be pale yellow. withering of tendril in the fruit axil. Fruit tend to separate (full slip) from stem Rind becomes hard and its colour changes from green to yellow, orange and yellow golden to straw colour Turning of fruit colour is yellow/straw Skin colour changes to red and softness of fruit 1-2

Takes 3-4 days, avoid shattering to dry according to air temp. & rainfall Morning Shattering on delay harvesting Morning Shattering on delay harvesting Morning Considerable shattering loss by birds. Strong tendency to siliqua shattering Daytime Do not shatter easily Morning Prone to shattering Day time Seed extraction is done by scooping, acid/alkali and fermentation method Day time Seed extraction is done by scooping, acid/alkali and fermentation method Day time Melon seed is not fermented Day time

Water melon

Musk melon Pumpkin Squashes Brinjal Tomato

1-2 1-2

2-3 2-3

Day time

Bitter gourd True potato seed Celery

Lettuce Garden peas

Fruits become yellow and seed 1 become red Berries of potato becomes green to 1-2 straw colour and soft Plant show sign of senility & majority 1 seeds on the major inflorescence have become a gray-brown colour Pappers is fully developed and dry and 1 feathering at 50% heads mature Majority of pods have become 1 parchment like

Seed extraction by fermentation Day time Acid/alkali or white juice /pulp separation wet seed extraction day time Hard seed separated, washed Day time Morning Notorious for shattering

Morning Day time

Prone to shattering Do not shatter easily

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Fenugreek Beans Pods turn brown and leaves get dry Earliest pods dry and parchment like and remainder have turned yellow Pods, become gray or brown, hard according to cultivar 1 1 Day time Delay in harvesting cause shattering Day time Over maturity leads to shattering and cotyledon cracking Day time Sequential ripening of pods and a tendency to split on ripening Day time Day time Dry method of seed extraction Dry methods of seed extraction

Okra

1-2

B. Fleshy fruits Chillies Turning of fruit colour, green to red, 2-3 yellow or brown Bottle gourd Ring becomes hard and colour changes 1 sponge gourd to light brown or yellow ridge gourd C. Wet fleshy fruits Capsicum Fruit colour changes to red or yellow 1-2 Tinda Rind become very hard and fibrous 1

Day time Day time

Wet method of seed extraction Wet method of seed extraction

Seed Processing Processing of vegetable seed is an important operation to achieve the prescribed physical seed standards for maintaining seed quality in seed industry. Seed material received after harvesting/extraction either from the field or warehouse (threshing floor) having some unwanted matters and has to be processed cleaned to remove contaminants to size grade for better plantability to enhance the quality of supply chemical protectants before labels for easer in transit and storage. It includes drying, cleaning, grading, treating seeds with suitable chemicals and bagging. The objectives of vegetable seed processing are: To concentrate the desired vegetable species. To remove all undesirable materials from raw seed produce to prevent choking seed drills while sowing and regulate more uniform sowing seed rate. For better germination by eliminating immature, shriveled, broken and light seeds from planting seed. To obtain homogenous bulk (even sized and uniformly shaped seed mass) by grading the seed material for ease in mechanical sowing. Improving appearance of processed/graded seed which increases both price and sale appeal. Preventing spread of obnoxious weeds, removing objectionable weed seeds from main vegetable seed. Improving vegetable crop quality by removing seeds of other crops from pure seed. Reducing seed losses by removing high moisture, foreign material and drying seeds which are too high in moisture. Protecting vegetable seed crops from insects and diseases by applying chemical protectants before packaging and storage. To transport and market a neat and clean product in a less bulk economy. Supplying the vegetable growers best quality of seeds from various outlets. SEED DRYING Seeds contain varying amounts of moisture at harvest, and if they are to be stored for subsequent planting it is essential that their moisture content is reduced to a safe level. Thus, drying is a process which involves removal of excess moisture from seeds. The rate of moisture elimination from the seed depends on temperature, relative humidity and physical structure, chemical composition and seed coat permeability of the seed. Need for seed drying

5 It is inevitable because of the following reasons. Threshing is easier when the plants are dry. The drying of impurities makes it easier to remove them from the mixture. Reduction of seed moisture to a safe level increases the longevity of the stored seed. High moisture content reduces the viability of the seed due to increased respiration, causes seed to heat up during storage, especially in lightly packed seed lots, allows the activity of storage moulds, and encourages storage pests such as mites, weevils, etc. Mechanical damage is minimum when seeds are threshed or combined within a safe moisture level, e.g. peas and beans at 14 to 20%. Seed ripening is usually associated with significant loss of moisture in favour of food reserves. The moisture content of most seeds at harvest may be less than about 50%. After the seed is detached from the mother plant, its moisture content is a function of relative humidity, and it is equilibrium with that of the surrounding air. Seeds of fleshy fruits such as tomato, watermelon and cucumber have much higher moisture content at harvest, and may absorb more water during their wet extraction process. On the contrary, seeds formed in fruits which become desiccated during the ripening are relatively dry at the time of harvest, e.g. onion, amaranths, brassicas, etc. Different kinds of seeds vary greatly in their moisture content at a given relative humidity. Since oil does not absorb moisture, seeds of brassicas have relatively low moisture content. Also starch and protein are relatively more hygroscopic than cellulose. The safe moisture level for open storage of starchy seeds is 12%, for open storage of oily seeds is 9% and for seeds to be stored under seal is 6 to 8%. The approximate moisture content of some vegetable seeds in equilibrium with air at different relative humidity at 25oC is presented in table. Seeds Relative humidity (%) 15 30 45 Moisture content, per cent on wet basis French bean 5.0 6.5 8.5 Beet 5.0 6.0 7.5 Okra 7.5 8.0 9.5 Egg plant 4.7 7.Cabbage & 3.5 4.5 6.0 cauliflower Chilli 6.0 7.0 8.0 Carrot 5.0 6.0 7.0 Cucumber 6.0 7.0 7.5 Lettuce 4.0 5.0 6.0 Onion 6.0 7.0 8.5 Pea 5.0 7.0 8.5 Spinach 7.0 8.0 9.5 Tomato 6.0 7.0 8.0 Watermelon 6.0 7.0 8.5 60 11.0 9.5 11.0 7.0 9.0 9.0 8.0 7.0 10.0 11.0 11.0 9.0 9.0 75 14.0 12.5 13.0 9.0 11.0 11.5 9.5 9.0 12.0 14.0 13.0 11.0 10.5

When moisture is removed from seed, it will be removed first from the outer layers resulting in a moisture gradient from center to periphery. If this gradient is too great, internal stresses will cause cracking, resulting loss of storability and germination. The higher the initial moisture content or larger the size of the seed, the greater the stress will be. Larger seeds, particularly when wet are dried in two stages, allowing 24 hours to elapse between stages. Maximum recommended air temperature for seed drying 40oC is the temperature for drying. There are various method of seed drying viz., 1) Natural drying, 2) Sun drying and 3) Artificial drying.

6 In natural drying help from human beings is not need and the seeds lose moisture naturally, for example loss of water from seed crop in the field. The extent of natural drying is controlled principally by weather and maturity at harvest. In sun drying, seeds are normally dried by spreading them on the floor under diffused sunlight or under shade. Frequent stirring of the seeds is required to facilitate rapid drying. As increased quantities of seeds are produced, natural drying and sun drying become inadequate and artificial drying must be considered. Many methods and systems exist for artificial drying, and the choice depends on the size and type of seeds to be dried, environment and cost of drying system. Three types of artificial drying systems available are: Continuous flow dryers (horizontal or vertical). Seeds may also be dried with desiccants. Calcium chloride and calcium oxide have been used to dry seeds. One of the safest and frequently used desiccants is silica gel. However, drying large quantities of high moisture seeds with desiccant is neither economical nor practical. The amount of water in a seed is its moisture content, which is measured on a dry or wet weight basis with respect to the seed weight. When seed moisture content is given on the wet weight basis, the amount of water in the seed is a percentage of the seed weight before the water is removed. When the seed moisture content is expressed on the dry weight basis, it is a percentage of the seed weight after the water is removed. THRESHING Seeds before or after drying require threshing which involves beating or rubbing the plant material to detach the seed from its pod or fruit. Seeds may be threshed by Traditional method Mechanical method Wet seed extraction In India, threshing is usually carried out on a smooth floor, seed separation being achieved either by manually beating the stems and inflorescences with a stick or by tampling by animals and driving a rubber-tiered vehicle or a stone roller over the material. For mechanical threshing, various types of threshing machines with adjustable cylinder speeds are available for extraction of vegetable seeds. Dry seeds are generally more brittle and more prone to damage during threshing operations, especially in those machines which handle sieving, screening or blowing operations. Every care must be taken to avoid damage to the seed during mechanical threshing. All wet extraction processes should be completed as quickly as possible in order to reduce the possibility of reducing seed quality caused by loss of seed vigour or viability owing to the possible deterioration by micro-organisms. All utensils, sieves and other apparatus used during seed extraction processes should be cleaned thoroughly between each seed batch to avoid admixture of seed lots and to maintain high mechanical seed purity. Legislation in most countries does not allow such impurities beyond a certain level. CLEANING AND GRADING The seed from threshing floor is mixed with seeds of other crops and of weeds, pieces of straw, gravel, soil, etc. Separation of inert matters, weed seeds and seeds of other crops from the seed is known as cleaning. This operation is performed by hand, using the natural breeze or by blowing to remove plant debris. Sophisticated winnowing machines having hand and mechanically operated blowers are also used to process the seed on commercial scale. Further, the seeds are not of uniform size but contain seeds of several sizes some of which are undersized, shriveled and unfit for use differ in size, shape, weight, specific gravity, surface smoothness, colour, electrical properties, stickiness, etc. Machines are available that separate seeds on the basis of one or the other of the characteristics listed above. In India, air and screen machine is extensively used in cleaning and grading of seeds. SEED STORAGE AND PACKAGING The purpose of seed storage is to minimize the loss of viability and vigour of seeds. In practice, our concern is not the longevity of an individual seed, but that of a quantity or lot of seeds of one species of cultivars. The aging of seed-lots is not uniform. If the lot is homogeneous, the drop in

7 germination may be steep, if the lot is heterogeneous, the decline may be very gradual. The loss in vigour precedes the loss in germination. Seed storage is inevitable because of the following reasons. 1. Seeds are to be stored for about 6 months from one harvest to next planting season. 2. Seeds may also be stored for 18-36 months to insure against a following crop of poor yield and low quality, fluctuations in price and market demand against shortages during outbreak of war and when produce could not be sold in the current year. 3. Long term storage of 5 to 50 years of germplasm and breeder seeds. Seeds can be divided into two major groups according to the viability characteristics. Orthodox seed: The period of viability increases with the decrease in seed moisture. Vegetable seeds and other crop seeds belong to this group and can be kept viable for one to many years depending upon storage. Recalcitrant seed: The period of viability decreases with decrease in seed moisture. Normally they have short-viability periods under ambient conditions. Seed moisture and storage temperature play a major role in seed deterioration. Hence, control of these two factors considerably increases storage life. The following methods are useful for increasing seed longevity and can be used depending upon nature and duration of preservation. Storage with desiccant: This is useful for short term preservation. Seeds in this method are stored in a jar or suitable container along with a chemical desiccant like silica gel or calcium chloride. These chemicals are inexpensive and easily available and extend seed longevity through reduction in seed moisture. Sealed storage: In this method, well drained seeds are stored in different containers of paper, cloth, metal, polythene, laminated foils or glass, etc. This will maintain safe moisture level during storage. Such types of packets are commonly observed in seed market. In long-term preservation such moisture-proof containers are hermetically sealed and stored at low temperature. Cold storage: This is widely used for short, medium and long-term preservation of seed at different storage temperatures. Here, seeds are stored at 20oC, 5oC and 18oC depending upon duration of storage. However, humidity is to be lowered at non-freezing temperatures for longer storage. It is essential to store the dry seed at very low temperature, otherwise freezing of moisture kills the seeds. Even at freezing temperature, moisture-proof containers like metal can, glass, laminates are used. At very low temperature (-18oC) seed life will be preserved for several years. In several gene banks, seeds are being stored at 18oC for conservation of genetic wealth. Vacuum storage: Many times refrigeration facility is not available. Under such circumstances seed can be stored under vacuum or with inert gases, like nitrogen, CO2, etc. for preservation. Here, the respiration rate is minimum in absence of oxygen and thus helps in extending storage life. It has practical implication under uncontrolled conditions. Suggested conditions for storing breeders seed and germplasm (Agrawal, 1994). Duration of storage (yrs) Temperature (oC) Relative humidity (%) 5-7 15-20 45-50 20-25 2-4 40-45 50 or more -10 40-45 Safe seed-moisture level for vegetable seeds for packing in moisture vapour-proof containers for storage at ambient temperature (Agrawal, 1994). Moisture % 4.0 5.0 6.0

Pepper, onion, cabbage, Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, Watermelon, Cauliflower, Radish Brinjal, Muskmelon, Carrot, Celery, Turnip Pumpkin, Squash Pea, Spinach If any other kind of seed is to be stored in moisture vapour-proof containers, seed moisture may be kept at 5.0%. Some other methods like use of antioxidants, germination inhibitors and organic solvents are under initial stages and need more time to evolve suitable technology for storage.

8 In the process of seed deterioration the activity of enzymes is decreased and certain toxic substances are accumulated during metabolic process, which affects seed germination. Hydration dehydration method of seed treatment during mid storage is quite useful to remove these substances and restore the viability and vigour of the seeds. In this method seeds are soaked for 2-3 hours, followed by drying it to its original weight. While soaking in water is quite effective, soaking in dilute solutions of chemicals such as sodium phosphate (dibasic, 10-4-103 M), show further improvement in viability as well as their subsequent field performance. Seedlings from such treated seeds are able to withstand drought, salinity, heat or frost better than those arising from untreated seeds. The treatment is not effective in harvest-fresh seeds, but when given to medium vigour seeds in mid-storage it gives better results.