Precautions for Maintaining Genetic Purity in Seed Production

Precautions for Maintaining Genetic Purity in Seed Production

a) Control of Seed Source:

Appropriate class of seed purchased from approved source should be used for raising the seed crop. Breeder seed used for raising foundation seed plot and foundation seed used for raising certified seed plot. Seed must purchased from approved sources like Agril University, Agril. Research Station or Maharashtra State Seed Corporation. (MSSC).

b) Crop Requirement:

There should not be same crop in the preveious season to save genetic contamination from volunteer plants. They are unwanted plants of the same crop growing in the seed field from the seeds that remain in the field from preveious year crop.

c) Isolation:

It helps to avoid natural crossing with undesirable plants, as well as to avoid mechanical mixture during sowing and harvesting.

There are two types of isolations.

a) Space Isolation:

Space between seed field and contaminant.

b) Time Isolation:

The flowering of contaminant and seed field should not coincide with each other. In certified seed production programme time isolation is not permitted and space isolation must be followed as per crop standards.

c) Rogueing: 

Removal of undesirable plants from seed production field is called rogueing. It includes removal of 1) Volunter plants 2) Offtypes plants 3) Diseased Plants
4) Other crop plants 5) Objectionable weed plants.

Rogueing is responsibility of seed grower. The rogue plants are removed before they caused contamination for cross pollinated crops every days rougeing during flowering.