Factors affecting

Vegetable Seed
Production
Dr. P. Syam Sundar Reddy
Assistant Professor (Hort.)

 The seed production of varieties and

hybrids of vegetables should be carried
out carefully in the region where these
are well adopted.
The climatic factors have direct bearing
on the quality seed production.
These includes, light (duration, intensity
and photoperiod), temperature (low,
moderate, high and very high), rainfall /
snowfall (total as well as distribution)
and wind (direction and velocity).

 The various factors affecting

quality seed production includes,
1.Edaphic factors
2. Climatic factors
3. Production factors
4. Post harvesting handling of seed
5. Seed quality control factors

1. Edaphic factors
Soil for seed production should have optimum
moisture, good texture and structure.
Different vegetables have different soil
requirements and in general, loams are the
best.
Clay soils in high rainfall area become sick
and cause lack of aeration which affects seed
quality. Soil pH should be around 7, as neutral.
The problematic soil like saline soil and acidic
soil are to be avoided for seed production.
pH affects seed production in sensitive plants
like legumes and vegetables .

 Fertile soils are highly preferable for seed

production.
Soil should have adequate macro and micro
nutrients and microbial load for producing
vigorous and viable seeds.
For example Boron deficiency causes black
rot in cole crops particularly cabbage and
cauliflower and hollow heart in garden pea.
Molybdenum causes physiological disorder
like whiptail in crucifers.
Excess nitrogen results more of vegetative
growth that leads to more proneness to
diseases and insects resulting reduction in
seed quality and yield.

 N, P and K in balanced dose increases

seed yield and improves seed quality
and induce resistance.
The seed production should be avoided
under soil moisture stress or poor
drainage conditions.
Ill drained soils causes chlorosis and wilt
diseases.
The soils should be free from soil borne
pathogen and nematodes especially for
seed production in horticultural crops.

 For producing good quality, soil should

free from pathogens.
For example bacterial wilt inoculum
available in most soils infests solanaceous
vegetables tomato, brinjal and chilli.
Fusarium wilt in many vegetables spreads
from seed to soil.
Wilt gets established through planting
material (seeds) and thus spreads further
from the soil.
Soil should also be free from weed seeds.

2. Climatic factors
Before seeds can be produced from
vegetables it is necessary for the crop to
flower.
Flowering is required by the plant for
sexual reproduction and maintenance of
generation.
Some plant species pass from vegetative
phase to the reproductive phase with
special requirement or stimulus, whereas
in others such stimulus is not required.

 Species
which
have
a
special
physiological requirement to pass from
the vegetative phase to reproductive
phase are generally either dependent
on day length (photoperiod) or have a
low
temperature
requirement
(vernalization).
Not only photoperiod and temperature
but some other climatic factors, e.g.
rainfall, wind etc. are also responsible
for best yield of high quality seeds.

 The major environmental

influencing
vegetable
production are :
Photoperiod
Temperature
Rainfall
Humidity
Wind
Cold
Insect activity

factors
seed

A. Photoperiod
Photoperiod influences vegetable seed
production by affecting photosynthesis and
day length.
Within the limits of each crop plant, the
higher the light intensity, the higher will be
the rate of photosynthesis required to
manufacture the important constituents of
the seed.
Different crop plants have different
requirements of photoperiodism.

 Transition from vegetative to the

reproductive phase in some vegetable
crop plants can occur only at the season
when the days are of particular length,
and if the plants are kept in the wrong
day length, they remain in vegetative
phase for longer time.
Plants can be classified into three main
groups according to the specific duration
of light and dark requirement in each 24
hour period or cycle in order to initiate
flower, viz. short-day plants, long-day
plants and day-neutral plants.

 Short-day Plants : This group includes species

which will not flower unless the day light period is
shorter than a particular critical time, which is
between 10 and 12 hours,
Ex. Amaranthus sps, soybean, pepper (some
varieties), kidney bean.
Long-day Plants : These include plants which will
flower only when the light period is greater than a
critical time.
The critical photoperiod for most long-day plants is
between 12 and 14 hours,
Ex. spinach, radish, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli,
turnip etc.
Day-neutral Plants : This group does not have a
specific day length requirement for flowering, for
example, tomato, brinjal, lettuce, cucurbits, carrot
etc.

B. Temperature
Temperature plays a major role in seed
production.
Seed germination, seed crop growth and maturity
of
vegetable
seeds
are
influenced
by
temperature.
Too high temperature during seed crop maturity
brings forced maturity and poor seed quality.
Optimum temperature is required from sowing to
the day of harvest. For e.g. cole crops seed
production requires low temperature (4-10C) at
initial stage and high temperature (15-20C) at
reproductive stage i.e. during seed development
and maturation.

 Higher temperatures and strong winds cause

desiccation of pollen grains and drying of
stigma results in poor seed set and seed
quality.
High temperature adversely affects seed
production due to drying of anthers in lablab; flower shedding in tomato and chillies
and production of higher percentage of hard
seed in leguminous vegetables.
Over wintering (chilling) / vernalization is
needed for cabbage, cauliflower, beets,
carrots, turnips etc, to have shift from
vegetative to reproductive phase which
helps in quality seed production.

 Depending upon the vernalization requirement,

vegetable crops are grouped in to:
Annual : Vegetable species which do not have
vernalization requirements for flower initiation,
such crops produce flower and seed in the first
year, e.g. tropical radish,
Biennial : Biennial plants tend to remain in
vegetative stage in the first year of growth and
they flower and produce seed in the second year,
e.g. beet, carrot, cabbage and biennial radish etc.
Most of the biennial plants require vernalization for
flower initiation.
Perennial : Perennial plants survive for several
years producing flowers and seeds each year. Most
vegetables are, however, annuals and biennials.

 In some vegetables, high temperature inhibits

development of ovules and fruits and causes
shedding of flower buds and young pods / fruits.
Higher temperature results in shriveling of
seeds lower yield and poor seed quality.
Temperature between 24 - 38C is most
favourable for activities of pollinators particularly
bees.
Pollinators are an important component in
vegetable seed production and without these
quality seed production is not possible particularly
in cross and often cross-pollinated vegetables.
These pollinators stop working at low (below 20
C) or high temperature (beyond 38 C), heavy
rains, strong winds which hampers quality seed
production

C. Humidity
Higher RH >90 per cent cause heavy flower
drop and during maturation will lead to
production of blonded seeds (eg peas,) ,RH<
40 per cent leads to production of hard seeds.
Flowering, pollination and seed setting in
temperate vegetable needs low humidity and
dry weather and moderate to low humidity in
sub-temperate
and
tropical
vegetable
varieties.
High humidity and low temperature also
encourages production of diseased seeds.
Slightly warm dry climate is suitable for
production of disease free seed.

D. Rainfall
Excessive rain, apart from affecting pollination,
leads to a higher incidence of diseases
resulting
in
mould
attack
and
seed
discoloration.
It may also results in delayed maturity and at
the time of maturation leads to pregermination or sprouting of seeds in standing
crops (eg. peas, beans).
Strong wind and heavy rainfall at or near
harvest may cause heavy seed losses through
shattering and also complicate the harvesting
operations (e.g. amaranthus).
Rain at physiological maturity affects the initial
quality and storability

E. Wind
Wind is necessary for pollination in wind
pollinated crops. Improves seed setting in highly
cross pollinated crops like onion and crucifers.
At times winds act as a source of contamination
and protection of seed crops has to be done
using barriers.
Heavy winds may carry pollen too far or prevent
deposition on stigma thus reducing seed set.
Dry winds also desiccate pollen resulting in loss
of viability and development of hard seeds in
legumes.
Heavy winds results in lodging and shattering of
seeds / pods.

F. Cold
Temperatures below 10C may not be
suitable for tropical crops.
It
will
affect
anthesis,
pollen
germination, pollen fertility delayed
growth and maturity, incomplete
exertion, reduced filling, choking of
panicle and incidence of pest and
disease.

G. Insect activity
Insects are beneficial as well as harmful in
seed production.
In onion rearing 6 honeybees hives / ha
increases the seed production by 30 per cent.
Similarly the insects acts a source of
contamination and in insect pollinated crops
one kilometer distance is required as isolation.
Insects damage seeds right from the pod stage
till harvest and account for 20-30% of the seed
production losses e.g. in cucurbit red pumpkin
beetle and beetles in pulses are pollen eaters.

3. Production factors
1. Selection of suitable production
environment based on adoptability
Free from volunteer plants, weed plants and
other crop plants.
In the proceeding season the same crop should
have not been grown.
Avoid areas where isolation is a problem.
Having a well distributed rainfall in the cropping
period.
Avoid areas of very high and low rainfall.
Prevalence of cool and dry weather is preferable.
Avoid high temperature and relative humidity
areas where germination is poor.

 Avoid heavy windy areas.

Avoid coastal belts and marshy places and
heavy windy areas.
Avoid areas of endemic diseases and pests.
Select compact areas for hybrid seed
production.
Available of skilled labourers especially in
hybrid seed production of crops.

Near the processing operations with

transporting facilities and marketing
facilities.

 2. Selection of land
Select well leveled field for uniform
maturity.
Select nearest to irrigation sources.
Select fertile fields.
Avoid weedy fields particularly the
presence of abnoxious weeds.
Avoid problem fields like alkaline,
saline and sodic soils.
Avoid sick fields.

3. Selection of season
Proper season for specific kind of crop.
Off season is better to avoid isolation problem.
Selection of crop and varieties
The variety should be adapted to the agro
climatic conditions of the region.
The variety should really be a high yielder.
The variety should be a popular one.
Select varieties having wide adaptability.
Select photo and thermal insensitive varieties,
drought resistant, pest and disease resistant .
Should possess other desirable attributes
namely, earliness of the crop, seed quality etc.

 4. Selection of Seeds
The seed used for raising a seed crop
should
be
of
known
purity,
appropriate
class
(farmers
can
produce certified seed).
Breeder Seed can be produced only
by the university and Foundation
Seed by State Seed Farm / and
invariably
obtained
from
an
authorized official agency.

 5. Preparation of land:
The land for the seed crop must be
prepared well.
Good land preparation helps in
improved
germination,
deep
ploughing results in destruction of
potential weeds.
It also aids in water management
and good uniform irrigation.
Perfect leveling is very important.

 6. Pre-sowing treatment
Seeds should be appropriately treated.
Pre-sowing seed treatments with nutrients. The
following points should be considered.
Duration of soaking
Soaking water to seed ratio.
Old seed or new seed.
Quantity of micro, macro nutrients or growth
regulators.
Seed treatment to break dormancy.
Leaching
Scarification - acid and mechanical, Chemical
treatment
Stratification : Seed hardening with different
chemicals.

 7. Seed rate and nursery

Seed rate should be based on seed lot viability
and vigour.
If not there will be lot of gaps in the field.
Indirect sown crop or seedlings may not be
sufficient to cover the targeted area to
transplant or if high the seed will be wasted.
Line sowing is advisable for seed crop adopting
correct spacing then only we can achieve
required population producing equal opportunity
to each plant to develop and mature which is
not possible in broadcasted crop

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Time of planting
Method of planting / sowing
Depth of sowing
Weeding
Irrigation
Nutritional factors
Roguing
Diseases and pest control
Harvest

4. Post harvest handling of seed

crop

1. Harvesting and threshing

2. Drying and grading
3. Seed treatment
4. Packaging, labelling and
sealing
5. Movement and storage

5. Seed quality control factors

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Seed moisture
Germination per cent
Vigour
Storage life
Seed health
Mechanism of control