Quality seed: A mega factor in enhancing crop productivity.

Full text

Recent Advances in
CROP PHYSIOLOGY
VOLUME 2

The Editor
—————
Dr. Amrit Lal Singh, Principal Scientist, Plant Physiology at the
Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagadh, Gujarat obtained his
M.Sc. (Botany) from BHU, Varanasi and Ph.D. in Botany from Utkal
University, Bhubaneswar. During his Ph.D. Dr. Singh worked on the
biological nitrogen fixation by Azolla and blue green algal biofertilizers
and demonstrated their use in rice. Dr. Singh, joined ICAR as an ARS
Scientist in Plant Physiology, at DGR in Jan. 1985, upgraded to Senior
and Principal Scientists and even as Director of DGR. Last 35 years he
has been working on the various aspects of crop physiology. He is the
life member of more than a dozen of scientific societies and published more than 150 research
papers, 25 reviews and book chapters, and several technology bulletins. He is Fellow of the
Indian Society for Plant Physiology (ISPP), New Delhi and Indian Society for Oilseeds Research,
DOR, Hyderabad, and recipient of the J.J. Chinoy Gold medal award 2011 of the ISPP, New
Delhi. Dr. Singh served as a Vice-President (2012) of the ISPP New Delhi, visited China,
Japan, Tanzania, Turkey and USA and has worked as Referee/Reviewer of the Annals of
Applied Biology, UK, Australian J. of Crop Science, Journal of Plant Nutrition, USA and
Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Germany.

Recent Advances in
CROP PHYSIOLOGY
VOLUME 2
— Editor —
Dr. Amrit Lal Singh
Principal Scientist,
Plant Physiology
Directorate of Groundnut Research,
Junagadh, Gujarat
2015
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Foreword
Agriculture plays a pivotal role for food and nutritional security, and in alleviation
of poverty. But, agriculture sector has been confronted with numerous challenges
linked to food and energy crisis, climate change and natural resources. With beginning
of 21st century, India is being recognized as the global power in the key economic
sectors with high economic growth, but its slow growth in agriculture sector is major
concerns for the future food and nutritional security, as one-third of the country’s
population lives below poverty line, and about 80 per cent of our land mass is highly
vulnerable to drought and floods. Indian agriculture, with only 9 per cent of world’s
arable land, contribute 8 per cent to global agricultural gross domestic product to
support 18 per cent of the world population. Also, India has nearly 8 per cent of the
world’s biodiversity and many of these are crucial for livelihood security of poor and
vulnerable population. Thus, acceleration of agricultural growth along with natural
resources conservation is of supreme importance.
As the Global food demand is expected to be doubled by 2050, world must learn
to produce more food with less land, less water and less labour by devising more
efficient and profitable production systems that are resilient to climate change. Thus,
more than ever, we need to produce more food with less land. Also looking to the
demand of 2050 all the institutions and agricultural universities need to redesign
their research and teaching programmes for harnessing power of science and bringing
excellence in agricultural research and education that ensures food, nutrition and
livelihood security for all.
The ICAR with the help of SAUs has brought green revolution in agriculture in
India through its research and technology development in past and its subsequent
efforts have enabled the country to increase the production of food grains by 4-fold,
horticultural crops by 6-fold since 1950-51 which made a visible impact on the
national food and nutritional security. Using cutting edge technologies, there is

tremendous development in agriculture during the last two decades and it is hoped
that with ingenuity, determination and innovative partnerships among everyone
working in the agricultural sector, we can meet the food needs of 9 billion people by
2050 without irreparably harming our planet. However, all these informations are
scattered and need to be compiled and circulated widely.
This series on “Recent Advances in Crop Physiology” is a timely effort in this
direction, which will act as a reference for directly implementing the available
technologies and to help the researchers for planning their future research programme.
Swapan Kumar Datta
vi

Preface
“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic
access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences
for an active and healthy life.”
Global food demand is expected to be doubled by 2050, while production
environment and natural resources are shrinking and deteriorating. World cereal
production has gone 2525 million tonnes (mt) during 2013-14 and is expected to be
2535 mt in 2014-15. Same time, world cereal utilization which was 2416 mt in 2013-
14 is put 2464 mt in 2014-15. To feed the world in 2050, yields on maize, rice, wheat,
and soybeans will have to rise by 60-110 per cent, but the present projections show an
increase of only 40-65 per cent and most rice and wheat had very low rates of increase
in crop yields. In other places, the trajectories of population growth and food
production are heading in different directions. The rice, is the central to existence in
many nations, feeds the world, and provides more calories to humans than any other
food, and more than a billion people depend on rice cultivation for their livelihoods.
Changes in the price and availability of rice have caused social unrest in developing
countries and in 2008, when rice prices tripled, 100 million people were pushed into
poverty. About 90 per cent of the world’s rice is grown in Asia, on more than 200
million small scale farms (about 1 acre), where additionally 8-10 m t of rice need to be
produced every year to keep prices affordable with population increase. However,
the International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that by 2050 rice prices
may increase 35 per cent because of yield losses due to climate change.
Malnutrition in form of under nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity
imposes unacceptably high economic costs and improving nutrition requires a
multisectoral approach that begins with food and agriculture. A total of 842 million
people in 2011–13, or around one in eight people in the world, are estimated to be
suffering from chronic hunger, regularly not getting enough food for an active life.

The agriculture play its fundamental role in producing food and its processing,
storage, transport and consumption contribute to the eradication of malnutrition.
Because of better agriculture the total number of undernourished during 2013 has
fallen by 17 percent since 1990–92. Agricultural policies and research must continue
to support productivity growth for staple foods with greater attention to nutrient-
dense foods and more sustainable production systems. Traditional and modern
supply chains can enhance the availability of a variety of nutritious foods and reduce
nutrient waste and losses.
Recently the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that
global food production due to climate change will decline 2 per cent per decade for
the remainder of this century compared to food production without climate change
even as food demand increases 14 per cent per decade. In 2007, the panel was hopeful
that gains in agricultural productivity would more than make up for losses due to
climate change. But later research revealed in greater detail the impacts of climate
change on sensitive crops and raised questions about how much elevated carbon
dioxide levels could increase productivity.
The organic material decays without oxygen, in water-logged rice paddies, soil
microbes generate methane, a greenhouse gas with 25 times more warming potential
than CO2. In India, rice methane emission accounts for about 10 per cent of the nation’s
total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Also, nitrous oxide emissions from rice grown
under dryer and aerated conditions, can be as significant as methane emissions
which has about 300 times more warming potential than CO2. It has not yet been
estimated what percentage of nitrous oxide emissions come from rice cultivation in
India, and other rice growing regions in Asia.
If we are unable to double yields on existing cultivated lands, due to food
insecurity pressure, we are likely to clear more land for agriculture leaving
environmental concerns and efficiency measures a side. This will have a ripple effect,
putting additional pressure on already stressed water resources and wildlife habitat,
accelerates climate change. This cycle, left unchecked, can only end with farmers
competing for increasingly scarce water and arable land in the face of ever
more extreme weather – from floods to droughts – brought on by climate change.
These colliding trends indicate that the world must learn to produce more food
with less land, less water and less labour by devising, climate resilient more efficient
and profitable production systems. Thus, more than ever, we need to produce more
food with less land. Farmers must seek out crop production technologies that will be
highly productive and have a smaller impact on water quality and quantity, climate
and habitat. To do this, we have the tools and technologies that reduce the need for
inputs like fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides; innovative irrigation methods that
reduce water demand; and methods that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Using
improved technologies, there has been tremendous development in agriculture and
productivity during the last two decades and it is hoped that with ingenuity,
determination and innovative partnerships among everyone working in the
agricultural sector, we can meet the food needs of 9 billion people by 2050 without
irreparably harming our planet on which we all depend. However, all these
viii

informations are scattered and need to be compiled and circulated widely. This series
on Recent Advances in Crop Physiology is an effort in this direction, which will act
as a reference to the farmers for directly implementing the technologies and also to
help the researchers for planning their future research to improve crop productivity.
This second volume of ‘Recent Advances in Crop Physiology’ encompasses 13
chapters written by the experts in the field describing production physiology, drought
and salinity stresses, nutrient efficiencies particularly P and N, radiotracer and their
use in mineral nutrition, nutritional quality of potato and wheat and role of
bioregulators in increasing productivity through amelioration of abiotic stressed.
Abiotic stresses are the major factors limiting crop productivity worldwide. The
chapter one on ‘Drought management in pulses and their diversification under new
niches’ and chapter seven on ‘Can water deficit be useful in potato? – Some issues’,
widey covers the physiological behavior of these crops under water stresses and how
best the water stress could be managed to increase productivity and quality of pulses
and potato in India. Chapter eight on ‘Bioregulators ameliorate water deficit stress in
wheat’ is an effort on water stress management through bioregulators and new
molecules altogether a different approach.
There are plenty of acid soils and the soil salinity problem is increasing in India
and worldwide due to faulty irrigation and drainage practices. A comprehensive
chapter three on ‘Salinity Management in Vertisols: Physiological Implications’ and
chapter six on ‘Physiological basis of Iron toxicity and its management in crops’
takes care of soil and crop management in saline soil and iron- toxicity in crops in
acid soils and provide a guidelines how to manage these crops under these stresses.
The nutrients and fertilizers are the driving force in increasing the productivity of
any crop, but in recent years there is an indiscriminate use of nitrogen and
phosphorus inspite of the fact that there is limited P sources on the planet. The use of
nutrient efficient crop varieties are the best alternative for managing both deficiencies
and excess of these nutrients and in chapter two on ‘Role of phosphorus efficient
genotypes in increasing crop production’ and chapter 12 on ‘Nitrogen-use efficiency
and productivity of wheat crop’ discuss these issues in depth with solutions.
The precise study of mineral nutrition in crop plants require use of radiotracer
and hence chapter 10 on the ‘Radiotracer use in understanding mineral nutrition of
crop plants’ is fully devoted on the same.
India is emerging as an export hub of several horticultural crops and chapter
four on ‘Physiological basis for maximizing yield potentials in coffee’ extensively
covers the major hurdles and list the ways to increase production and quality of
coffee for domestic consumption as well as export. Similarly the chapter five on
‘Bioregulators improve the productivity and quality of Indian table grapes’ list the
best practices and use of bioregulators to increase the productivity of indian grapes.
The forest cover majority of the geographical areas of India and world and play
an important role in the climate management and environmental protection, but
there are no systematic studies on the productivity of forest. The chapter nine on
‘Phenology and productivity of forest flora of Gujarat’ is an effort in this direction to
highlight the issues how the phenological studies can help to increase forest
ix

productivity of Gujarat and reduce the carbon dioxide concentrations on earth through
carbon sequestration by forest plant species.
Finally, seed, which is the primary requirement for enhancing crop productivity,
plays a vital role in ensuring food security, and a chapter on ‘Quality seed- a mega
factor in enhancing crop productivity’ are well composed by the renowned scientists
in the field.
I would like to express my gratitude to all the stalwarts of agriculture and plant
biology from various disciplines who has contributed in enhancing agricultural
production. Thanks are also due to all the staffs of plant physiology at DGR Junagadh
for their help in the various ways. Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks
to Mr. Prateek Mittal for coming forward to take up the responsibility of publishing
the series and Mr. Anil mittal and the staff of Astral International (P) Ltd, New Delhi
for their care and diligence in producing the book timely.
Dr. Amrit Lal Singh
x

Contents
Foreword v
Preface vii
1. Drought Management in Pulses and their Diversification
under New Niches 1
P.S. Basu and Jagdish Singh
2. Role of Phosphorus Efficient Genotypes in Increasing Crop Production 19
B.C. Ajay, A.L. Singh, Narendra Kumar, M.C. Dagla,
S.K. Bera and R. Abdul Fiyaz
3. Salinity Management in Vertisols: Physiological Implications 51
G. Gururaja Rao
4. Physiological Basis for Maximizing Yield Potentials in Coffee 107
Chandra Gupt Anand and P. Prathima
5. Bioregulators Improve the Productivity and Quality of
Indian Table Grapes 173
S.D. Ramteke
6. Physiological Basis of Iron Toxicity and its Management in Crops 203
K.K. Baruah and Ashmita Bharali
7. Can Water Deficit be Useful in Potato?–Some Issues 225
Devendra Kumar and J.S. Minhas

8. Bioregulators Ameliorate Water Deficit Stress in Wheat 237
Sushmita and Pravin Prakash
9. Phenology and Productivity of Forest Flora of Gujarat 261
R.N. Nakar, B.A. Jadeja and A.L. Singh
10. Radiotracer Use in Understanding Mineral Nutrition of Crop Plants 295
Bhupinder Singh, Prashant Kumar Hanjagi, Manoj Shrivastava,
Achchelal Yadav, Sumedha Ahuja and Rinki
11. Nutritional Quality of Wheat 315
Sewa Ram
12. Nitrogen-use Efficiency and Productivity of Wheat Crop 337
C. Gireesh, B.C. Ajay, R. Abdul Fiyaz, K.T. Ramya and C. Mahadevaiah
13. Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity 357
J.S. Chauhan, A.L. Singh, S. Rajendra Prasad and Satinder Pal
Previous Volume Content 427
Index 429
xii

Chapter 13
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in
Enhancing Crop Productivity
J.S. Chauhan1*, A.L. Singh2, S. Rajendra Prasad3
and Satinder Pal1
1Indian Council of Agricultural Research,
Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi – 110 001
2ICAR-Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagadh – 362 001, Gujarat
3ICAR-Directorate of Seed Research, Mau, Uttar Pradesh
1. Introduction
Agriculture is the mainstay of livelihood worldwide, with majority of rural
households and population being directly or indirectly dependent on it. Presently
agriculture and food security is the topmost policy agendas of the global development.
In a world where 900 million people are undernourished and 2 billion are
micronutrient deficient, ensuring access to nutritious foods is critical to lifting more
than 1 billion poor people out of poverty (IFPRI, 2014). World cereal production in
2014 is predicted to be 2,532 million tonnes (mt). The forecast for world
cereal utilization in 2014-15 is put at 2,465 m t, up by 48 m t (2 per cent) from 2013-14.
The anticipated year-to-year increase mainly reflects greater cereal usage by the
livestock sectors, supported by falling prices. The volume of cereals destined for food
is expected to increase to 1104 m t, 1 per cent up from 2013/14, implying a stable
average global per capita consumption of 153 kg. The FAO’s, at the close of 2015,
forecast 628 m t world cereal stocks, the highest since 2000. As a result, the global
cereal stocks-to-use ratio would hit a 13-year high of 25.2 per cent in 2014-15,
–––––––––
*Corresponding Author: E-mail: adgseedicar@nic.in
Pages 357–356
Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2 (2015) Editor:
Dr. Amrit Lal Singh
Published by: DAYA PUBLISHING HOUSE, NEW DELHI

Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2358 |
suggesting a generally comfortable supply situation for the 2014-15 marketing
season. World cereal trade is forecast to contract by about 17.7 m t in 2014-15, mainly
because of wheat and coarse grains reach 339 m t.
The world population, which was approximately 5 million at the dawn of
agriculture about 10, 000 years ago (8000 B.C.), grew to 200-600 million with a growth
rate of < 0.05 per cent per year over a period of 8,000 year (up to 1 A.D). Further it had
taken around 1800 years to reach one billion. But, tremendous growth occurred with
the industrial revolution and the second billion was achieved in only 130 years
(1930), the third billion in less than 30 years (1959), the fourth billion in 15 years
(1974), and the fifth billion in only 13 years (1987). During 20 th century alone, the
world population has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion. In 1970, there were roughly
half as many people in the world as of there now (7.29 billion as of Jan 2015). Though,
due to declining growth rates, now it will take over 200 years to double it again, the
predicted population will be around 10 billion during 2050 and 11 billion by the end
of this century. Accordingly, to feed the population, we have to increase the
productivity ans the pressure will be more in Asian countries.
In world agriculture the “Green Revolution” during the 1960s and 1970s was
the turning point and introduction of high yielding, semi-dwarf and fertilizer
responsive varieties of wheat and rice led to a dramatic shift from “food scarce” to
“food secure” status in India and many Asian country (Paroda, 2013). The credit
goes to the Indian agriculturist who, keeping the pace with such a huge increase in
population, made a spectacular advancements in agriculture production during the
post-green revolution years, with the country’s food grain production increasing
from 115 m t in 1965 to 265 m t in 2013-14 (Table 13.1) as a result presently India rank
2nd in the world on the basis of agriculture production and we are exporting several
food commodities. As per DGSCIS annual export India’s export of various food
commodities to different countries during 2013-14 was 5,09,665 t of with a value of
3,18,773 lakh Indian rupees (531 million US$).
However, average productivity of many crops in India is still far below the
world’s average. Same time the food availability to all at affordable price is a major
concern.
Achieving food security for all is the main mission of FAO and to make sure
people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active and healthy
lives it has three main goals (FAO 2015):
The eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition;
The elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social
progress for all and
The sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including
land, water, climate and genetic resources for the benefit of present and
future generations
The Indian population is likely to be 1.4 billion by 2030 and the rise in per capita
income is expected to raise further the demand for food grains to over 320 mt by 2030
along with the fact that non-agricultural land uses are increasing and natural resources

| 359
are shrinking and degrading rapidly. Hence, there is an urgent need to increase
productivity and quality in all these crops and devise mechanism to make it available
to all to have both food and nutritional security. This can only be possible by optimising
the yield and quality through improved production technologies and integration of
natural resources for producing healthy food. Use of quality seed is the most important
production factor (Chauhan et al., 2013).
Table 13.1: Food Production in India
Year Food Grain Production Year Food Grain Production
(million tonnes) (million tonnes)
1950-51 51 1960-61 82
1970-71 108 1980-81 129
1990-81 176 2000-01 197
2002-03 175 2003-04 213
2004-05 198 2005-06 209
2006-07 217 2007-08 231
2008-09 235 2009-10 218
2010-11 245 2011-12 259
2012-13 257 2013-14 265
Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI
http://dacnet.nic.in/eands).
Seed is a critical input for enhancing productivity of all agricultural and
horticultural crops and plays a vital role in ensuring food security. It also offers to
integrate production, protection and quality enhancement technologies in a single
entity, in a cost effective way as use of quality seeds alone increases productivity by
15-20 per cent highlighting its importance in agriculture. The response of all other
inputs depends on quality of seeds to a large extent and it can be further raised up to
45 per cent with efficient management of other inputs. Therefore, any attempt to
enhance agricultural productivity will largely depend on higher replacement rate of
quality seeds of high yielding varieties/hybrids of agri-horticultural crops (Chauhan
et al., 2013). In this chapter an effort has been made to highlight the role of quality
seed, its production and availability in enhancing the production of Indian agriculture.
2. Varietal Improvement
Sustained increase in agricultural production and productivity necessarily
requires continuous development of new and improved varieties as well as hybrids
of crops and efficient production system and supply of seeds to farmers. Though
domestication of most of the crops is only a few thousand years old, origin and
speciation of most crops is millions of years old (Chaudhary, 2000; Damania, and
Valkoun, 1997). The conventional breeding is about a hundred years old while the
youngest, yet more powerful of all biotechnology is three decade old. Improved varieties
have made significant impact (Khush, 1995) and the increase is more significant in
and almost all of it has been through the public research.
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2360 |
The Indian Seed Improvement Programme is backed by a strong crop improvement
programme in both the public and private sectors and now the industry is highly
active and well recognized internationally and several developing and neighbouring
countries were benefited from quality seed from India. India’s Seed Programme has a
strong seed production base in terms of diverse and ideal agro-climates spread
throughout the country for producing high quality seeds of several tropical, temperate
and sub-tropical plant varieties in enough quantities at competitive prices. Over the
years, several seed crop zones have evolved with extreme levels of specialization.
There are more than 20,000 seed dealers and seed marketing distributors in the
business.
Genetic yield enhancement is the single most significant technological
intervention introduced and supported by the National Agriculture Research System
(NARS). From 1960, the NARS has been continuously developing new varieties
suitable for different agro-climatic regions and changing production conditions.
Presently 26 crop science and 23 horticulture institutes, 31 crop science and 12
horticulture project coordinators of ICAR and all the state agricultural universities
(SAU’s) are engaged in developing of new varieties/hybrids of different crops and
production of breeder and basic seed to ensure continued varietal improvement. As a
result a total of 3801 varieties of field crops and 718 varieties of horticultural crops
have been developed till September 2013 (Gautam, 2013). The crop-wise number of
varieties and hybrids released during 2009-2013 are given in Table 13.2.
Table 13.2: Varieties and Hybrids of different Crops Released during 2009-2013
Crop Groups Number of Varieties and Hybrids Released during Various Years
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total
Cereals 636831757047354
Oilseeds 24 29 10 19 15 8 105
Pulses 21 29 12 19 8 12 101
Fiber crops 5 15 1 10 3 0 34
Forage crops 7 5 4 1 4 5 26
Sugar crops05256220
Total 120 151 60 129 106 74 640
The NARS has released 706 and 648 varieties of field crops during 10 th and 11th
plan period, respectively with the largest number of varieties (188) released during
the year 2006 (Figure 13.1). Of the total 1354 varieties, 44 per cent were released by
Central Sub-Committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties for
Agricultural Crops. During 2009-2013, 354 varieties of cereals,105 oilseeds, 101 pulses,
34 fibres, 26 forages, 20 sugarcane and 2 of underutilized crops were released. These
varieties are input-responsive, high yielding and show tolerance to the biotic and
abiotic stresses and have shown their impact on the crop production by increasing
their productivity (Table 13.3).

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Table 13.3: Production and Productivity of Selected Crops of India during the Last Decade
Years Production (Million tonnes) Productivity (kg/ha)
Rice Wheat Maize Oilseeds Pulses Rice Wheat Maize Oilseeds Pulses
2002-03 71.8 65.8 11.2 14.8 11.1 1744 2612 1681 691 543
2003-04 88.5 72.2 15.0 25.2 14.9 2078 2713 2041 1064 635
2004-05 83.1 68.6 14.2 24.4 13.1 1984 2602 1907 885 577
2005-06 91.8 69.4 14.7 28.0 13.4 2102 2619 1938 1004 598
2006-07 93.4 75.8 15.1 24.3 14.2 2131 2708 1912 916 612
2007-08 96.7 78.6 19.0 29.8 14.8 2202 2802 2335 1115 625
2008-09 99.2 80.7 19.7 27.7 14.6 2178 2907 2414 1006 659
2009-10 89.1 80.8 16.7 24.9 14.7 2125 2839 2024 958 630
2010-11 96.0 86.9 21.7 32.5 18.2 2239 2989 2540 1193 691
2011-12 105.3 94.9 21.6 30.0 19.1 2393 3177 2476 1133 699
2012-13 105.2 93.5 22.2 30.9 18.3 2462 3117 2566 1168 789
2013-14 106.5 95.9 24.3 32.9 19.3 – – – – –
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2362 |
Seed security is most important prerequisite for food security and in past few
years, a significant stride in this aspect through effective implementation of ICAR
Seed Project and AICRP-NSP (Crops) was made. It is proved that the increase in
quality seed availability has a huge bearing on food grain production. The gene
banks were established for safe keeping the “heritage of human kind”, which is
functioning to large extent.
3. Seed Sectors and Research in India
Indian seed programme includes the participation of Central and State
governments, Indian Council of Agricultural (ICAR), State Agricultural Universities
(SAU) system, Public sector, cooperative sector and private sector institutions. Seed
sector in India consists of two national level corporations i.e. National Seeds
Corporation (NSC) and State Farms Corporation of India (SFCI now merged with
NSC), 15 State Seed Corporations (SSCs) and about 100 major seed companies. The
private sector has started to play a significant role in the production and distribution
of seeds. However, the organized seed sector particularly for food crops cereals
continues to be dominated by the public sector.
Though the seed sector and seed production in India started long back, maximum
development of the Indian seed industry took place only during the last 30 years. The
major re-structuring of the seed industry done by Government of India (GOI) through
the National Seed Project Phase-I (1977-78), Phase-II (1978-79) and Phase-III (1990-
1991) was a turning point in shaping of an organized seed industry in India which
has strengthened the most needed seed infrastructure. Introduction of New Seed
Development Policy (1988-1989) was another mile stone which transformed the Indian
Seed Industry and gave access to Indian farmers of the best of seed and planting
material available anywhere in the world. This policy stimulated appreciable
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Central varieties 37 78 23 73 54 95 46 78 38 75
Sta te va riet ies 66 84 87 115 89 88 75 74 22 57
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
N
o
.
o
f
v
a
r
i
e
t
i
e
s
Figure 13.1: Varieties of Field Crops Released in India
during 2003-2012 (Chauhan et al., 2013).
No. of Varieties

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investments by private individuals, Indian corporate and multinational companies
(MNCs) in the Indian seed sector with strong R and D base for product development
in each of the seed companies with more emphasis on high value hybrids of cereals
and vegetables and hi-tech products such as Bt. Cotton. Today, farmer has a wide
product choice and seed industry is set to work with a ‘farmer centric’ approach and
is market driven.
Basically, the seed sectors in India, comprises of public sector institutions and
private seed companies. The main focus of private seed companies has been on the
high value low volume seeds and market for low value high volume seeds of cereals,
pulses and oilseeds is still dominated by the public sector seed corporations. Public
seed sector includes various organizations, viz., NARS comprising of several crop
research institutes of ICAR, SAUs and deemed universities dealing with crops, All
India Coordinated and Network Projects on each crop and eight zonal project
directorates, NSC established in 1963, SSCs, SFCI. The public sector seed companies/
state governments forecast seed demand for various crops three years in advance
and place requirement for breeder seeds with the Ministry of Agriculture, Government
of India. Using the breeder seeds provided by NARS, the public sector seed companies
produce foundation seeds on government farms or reliable, well-trained contract
farms. The foundation seed is further multiplied in contract farmers’ fields as certified
seed for commercial distribution.
Looking to the demand and importance of quality seed, ICAR upgraded the
National Seed Project into a Directorate of Seed Research as well as launched Mega
Seed project during 10th plan which led to double the breeder seed production in 11th
plan. The ICAR seed project also aimed at creation of infrastructure for quality seed
production, processing, storage and also competence enhancement of the personnel
involved in public seed sector. For seed technology research, presently India has a
national level Directorate at Mau and separate departments in several institute under
ICAR as well as in the State Agricultural Universities. Among them most prominent
one are seed technology division of ICAR-IARI at New Delhi, GBPUAT at Pantnagar
and TNAU Coimbatore. In seed education, nearly 10 SAUs and traditional universities
offers post graduation in seed technology leading to M.Sc. and/Ph.D degree. The
seed industry has three well reputed national level associations apart from several
provincial level groups to take care of the interests of the industry.
Private seed sector also plays equally important role in seed production, but
usually of high value low volume crops such as vegetables and also hybrid corn,
cotton, pearl millet, sunflower, etc. (Hanchinal, 2013). Private seed sector experienced
rapid growth under liberalized government policy particularly under New Policy on
Seed Development (1988) which resulted in establishment of around 500 seed
companies engaged in seed production or seed trade across the country. Private
sector companies have a significant place mainly in the case of maize and sunflower
and cotton. However, in the case of vegetable seeds and planting materials of
horticultural crops, the private sector is the dominant player.
As the private sectors are not interested in entering into seed production of high
volume low margin crops of wheat, paddy, other cereals, oilseeds and pulses, the
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public sector seed corporations will continue to remain dominant in cereals, pulses
and oilseeds for many more years to come. Besides, significant quantities of seeds are
also produced by the State Departments of Agriculture, where the State Seeds
corporations are not in existence. There is an urgent need for the SSCs also to transform
themselves in tune with the industry in terms of infrastructure, technologies, approach
and the management culture to be able to survive in the competitive market and to
enhance their contribution in the national endeavour of increasing food production
to attain food and nutritional security.
Most countries increased their crop productivity during the last two decades,
but there is very poor representations of private sectors. In case of rice till 1996, there
were no known multi-national company and production trend, growth rate for
production and productivity were high enough taking Asia-Pacific region in general
over decades (Chaudhary, 1998, 1999). It is generally argued that IPR and patenting
will assure return in research investment by providing product secrecy. Thus attract
private investment for agricultural researches which are mostly funded by public
sector. Privatisation of public research appears feasible and on the surface offers
bright possibilities. Looking to the importance of seed and its direct relevance to the
farmer, the Govt of India through it DAC upload all the informations on seed under
the report and publications to its web: http://agricoop.nic.in/documentreport.html
Some of the current informations are:
1. Agenda Items for National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign-
2013
2. Annual Report of Gujarat State Seeds Corporation Ltd
3. Annual Report of National Seeds Cooperation
4. Annual Report of PPV and FRA (English)/(Hindi)
5. Annual Report of State Farms Cooperation of India Limited
6. Calendar of Operation for Breeder Seed
7. Details of Tissue culture labs
8. Final breeder seed indent for kharif-2014
9. Government Review on Gujarat State Seeds Corporation
10. Govt Review on SFCI
11. Govt. Review on National Seeds Corporation
12. Govt. Review on PPV and FRA
13. India Minimum Seed Certification Standards : For Comments/Suggestions
from various Stake Holder
14. List of Seed Testing Laboratory in India
15. Minutes of EXIM Committee for export and import of seeds and planting
materials
16. Physical Targets of Certified Seeds in Seed Bank during 2012-13
17. Potato Allocation for Rabi 2013-14
18. Requirement and Availability of Certified/Quality Seed For Kharif-2013

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19. Seed Replacement Rates
20. State Seed Rolling Plan 2013-2014 to 2016-2017
4. Seed Production Systems in India
Seeds are critical basic input for enhancing productivity of agricultural crops. In
India after release of a variety, its seeds have to be multiplied in sufficient
quantity which takes 3-4 generations before it reaches to the farmers for
commercial use. During multiplication cycles, care is taken to maintain the original
characteristics of the variety and avoid degeneration. The Indian seed programme
largely adheres to the limited generations’ system for seed multiplication in a phased
manner. The system recognizes three generations namely breeder, foundation and
certified seeds and provides adequate safeguards for quality assurance in the seed
multiplication chain to maintain the purity of the variety as it flows from the breeder
to the farmer.
Breeder seed is the progeny of nucleus seed of a variety and is produced by the
originating breeder or by a sponsored breeder. Foundation seed is the progeny of
breeder seed and is required to be produced from breeder seed or from foundation
seed which can be clearly traced to breeder seed.
Certified seed is the progeny of foundation seed and must meet the standards of
seed certification prescribed in the Indian minimum seeds certification standards,
1988. In case of self pollinated crops, certified seeds can also be produced from certified
seeds provided it does not go beyond three generations from foundation seed stage-
I. For quality control and certification, there are 22 State Seed Certification Agencies
(SSCAs) and 104 State Seed Testing Laboratories (SSTLs) in India (listed in the
Annexure 1).
The seed production programme is an exhaustive task requiring high
technical skills, financial investments and proper methodology and care. It is expected
that the nucleus/breeder seed should be of high purity, because the genetic purity in
subsequent generation will largely depend upon the quality of nucleus/breeder seed.
Hence, the nucleus and breeder seed are the back-bone of the seed programme.
Nucleus/breeder seed production of crop varieties is coordinated by All India
Coordinated Research Project on the crop through State Agricultural Universities as
per Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) indent under the supervision
of qualified breeders.
In Indian agriculture the seed programme, with its well poised for continued
growth, is now occupying a pivotal place. The NSC is the largest single seed
organization in the country with such a wide product range, pioneered the growth
and development of a sound industry in India. The NSC, SFCI, SSCS and other seed
producing agencies are continuously expanding their activities and products, volume
and value of seeds, level of seed distribution to the remotest areas. During the past
five decades, these seed producing agencies have built up as a competent and
experienced seed producers and seed dealers in various parts of the country and
have adequate level of specialization and competence in handling and managing
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various segments of seed improvement on scientifically sound and commercially
viable terms.
Presently, the Indian seed improvement programme is highly vibrant and
energetic, backed up by a strong crop improvement programme in both the public
and private sectors and is well recognized in the international seed arena. Several
developing and neighbouring countries were benefited from quality seed imports
from India. India’s Seed Programme has a strong seed production base in terms of
diverse and ideal agro-climates spread throughout the country for producing high
quality seeds of several tropical, temperate and sub-tropical plant varieties in enough
quantities at competitive prices.
5. Seed Quality Health, Drying, Storage and Viability
It is essential to properly store the seed of the crop varieties to maintain its
health, a particular percent of viability and assured field germination, especially
during rainy season. The drying and storage methods affect the germinability, seedling
vigour and field emergence, thus require special attention during drying and storage.
The seed of most of the crops after drying is generally stored at ambient condition in
air tight bags. This enables adequate seed germination after a season in most of the
crops. However, in several crops the loss of viability, due to poor storage condition, is
very fast which enables the seed unfit for next season. These seeds need special care
to avoid deterioration. The high relative humidity (RH) and favourable temperature
during rainy season increases seed moisture and activate seed causing further
spoilage. There are many cost affecting methods to store the seed commercially in
various packing material and in cold storage, but the farmer need cheap and on farm
storage technologies. Covering the cereals bags with straw and use of cheap desiccants
such as calcium chloride and silica gel takes care of moisture and high humidity
(RH) during rainy season and well known adopted method by farmers.
The tetrazolium chloride (TTC) test is a well-known method for testing the
viability of most of the seed and it also gives an indication of seed deterioration
(Singh et al., 1987). Groundnut pods with < 7 per cent moisture content stored in a
polyethylene-lined gunny bag with the desiccant CaCl2 maintained seed viability
even after eight months of storage with more than 75 per cent germination due to low
moisture percentage of the seeds during the storage period (Nautiyal and Joshi, 1991;
Nautiyal and Ravindra,1996). The drying by a method developed by Directorate of
Oilseeds Research (DOR) system (a process of heaping and inverting heaps over a 6-
d period), drying in artificial shade and windrow (sun) drying when compared on
viability vigour and the leakage of solutes in 6 Spanish groundnut cultivars, pods
dried in windrows showed a faster rate of moisture loss during drying period as
temperature reached up to 44º C which resulted in rapid loss of viability, while in
pods dried under shade or the DOR system the temp remained below 39ºC, dried
more uniformly, had a slower rate of moisture loss thus maintaining better seed
viability for a longer period (Nautiyal and Zala, 1991). Damage of the seed membrane
was inferred to be greater in seeds dried in windrows because almost double the
amount of solutes was leached out during imbibition compared with seed dried by
the other methods.

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Further studies showed that drying of groundnut pods by the DOR method and
storage in polythene-lined gunny bag with a desiccant (CaCl2 or silica gel) maintained
germinability up to 95 per cent at Bhubaneshwar and 92 per cent at Bargarh, Odisha
even after 6 months of storage (i.e. until sowing during the next summer season). On
the other hand, the seeds dried and stored by the conventional method lost
germinability completely within 6 months of storage (Nautiyal et al., 2004). The drying
of pods under natural field conditions in windrows at high temperatures (about 45º
C) in summer (May-June) adversely affected germination (74 per cent) and lost about
50 per cent after 3 months of storage. However, pods dried by NRCG method, which
protects the pods from the direct exposure of sun by the haulm of the plant in a tripod
structure, retained >80 per cent germination, even after 9 months of storage and also
helped in maintaining the seedling vigour, and seed-coat colouration (Nautiyal and
Zala, 2004).
The field emergence in most of the crop seeds, due to invasion by soil fungus, is
less than laboratory germination. In groundnut this reduction was more pronounced
with large size seeds due to more reserve food and highly prone to infection by soil
borne fungus. High seed weight, efficient utilization of reserve food material,
development of secondary roots and lower SLA are desirable agronomic traits in
crop cultivation, but it varies with crops and genotypes. The graded small (< 6.8 mm
diameter), medium (6.8 to 7.8 mm dia), large (> 7.9 mm dia) and ungraded (mixed)
seeds of six Spanish bunch J 11, X 1720, Girnar 1, SB XI, GG 2, and ICGS 44) and two
Virginia runner GAUG 10 and M 13 groundnut cultivars when studied, germination
was greater with small and medium size seeds than large seeds in most of the cultivars.
Large seeds produced more vigorous plants having more shoot and root biomass at
initial growth stages and more large seeds at harvest than those produced from small
and medium seeds. However, at maturity the plant produced by various seed categories
did not differ in height, pod yields, 100-seed weight and shelling. These suggest that
small and medium seeds, which germinate better and require 50 and 25 per cent
lesser amount of seeds, respectively, than those of large one, should be used for
sowing, the large and handpicked seeds should be used as food or other edible
purposes (Singh et al., 1997; Singh et al., 1998).
However, studies on utilisation of reserve food material in 10 cultivars of different
seed weight indicated that both medium and higher seed-weight groups are efficient
in utilization of reserve food material from cotyledons to establish vigorous seedlings
than that of lower seed-weight group. An inverse relationship (r=-0.71, n=15) between
specific leaf area (SLA) and total seedling biomass was established, i.e., lower the
SLA (thicker leaf) higher the biomass, and higher the SLA (thinner leaf) lower the
biomass.
The soil moisture-deficit stress during different phenophases alters the quality
of seed in term of composition of total sugars, phenolics, protein and fatty acid
(Nautiyal et al., 1991; Chakraborty et al., 2013), but varies with the crops and varieties.
Stress during pod development increased palmitic acid, stearic acid and oleic acid
and protein content in groundnut, but stress during vegetative and flowering phases
reduced the sugar content, however, these changes are governed more by cultivar
and its interaction with the environmental conditions time an intensity of imposed
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soil moisture-deficit stress. Water stress at pod initiation/development phase reduced
germinability, vigour, seed membrane integrity and also affected chlorophyll synthesis
and dehydrogenase activity in cotyledons during germination (Nautiyal et al., 1991).
However, fertilizers and organic manure increases the quality of groundnut seed
(Khatediya et al., 2013).
During storage after a particular time period most of the seed losses their viability
due to loss of membrane integrity. The storage condition further can enhance or
reduce the time period of viability. The loss of viability in groundnut seed is associated
with cell membrane integrity that causes increase in leakage of electrical conductivity,
K+ and sugar contents and leachate (adsorption at 260 nm) taken 48 h after seed
immersion (Nautiyal et al., 1988).
Seedling vigour index (SVI), calculated from germination and root length,
provides the correct interpretation of quality seed for germination. Though it varies
with crops, the crop varieties being grown round the year the germination and SVI
were better in material harvested in Oct-Dec than that in May-June. If the seeds are
not stored properly, high humidity (70-99 per cent) and temperature (30-38ºC) during
rainy season causes quick deterioration and loss of viability (Singh et al., 1987, 1992)
Drying temperatures had a significant effect on both germination immediately after
drying and its subsequent loss of viability during storage. Studies on physiological
and biochemical changes during accelerated ageing in the seeds indicate that
accelerated ageing was associated with a decline in germinability and SVI.
The dormancy in seed is an inherent protection from sprouting and further
deterioration of seed under favourable condition immediately after harvest. However
the seed dormancy varies with crops and genotypes. Seeds of the dormant type
maintain higher germinability, root length and hypocotyl length, and had lower
electrical conductivity of the seed leachate than that of non-dormant type. The genetic
control of seed dormancy in groundnut is considered to be quantitative in nature and
it is regulated mainly by the testa (a maternal tissue) in the Spanish type, but by
cotyledons, and embryonic axis (both zygotic tissue) as well as testa in Virginia types
(Bandyopadhyay et al., 1999).
Fresh-seed dormancy is a desirable seed character in most of the crop and need
to be introduced in the non-dormant crops and varieties to avoid sprouting of seed in
the field due to rain at harvest. If seed has to be used immediately after harvest the
ethrel and ABA are the well known chemical for breaking seed dormancy and
achieving maximum germination. There is remarkable differences in seed dormancy
of many crops varieties such as groundnut. The groundnut cultivars TAG 24, Girnar
1, J 11 and KRG 1 of spanish type are suitable for sowing in drought prone areas and
germplasm accessions viz. NRCG 12752 and 12642 were tolerant to high temperature
during germination and early seedling growth (Nautiyal, 2009). The amount of K
and Ca present in seed also decides the germination quality of several crops as low
seed Ca and K leads to poor germinations (Singh 2002, Singh et al., 2004).
Seed dressing with fungicides is most important and essential to assure better
seed germination and initial crop establishment as there are plenty of soil organisms
which eat or deteriorate seed once it come into contact with soil (Singh et al., 1992,

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1993). Being low in quantity the biofertilizers, biopesticides and fertilizers are often
used to increase the efficacy of these, however some of these fertilizers are toxic to
certain seeds (. In groundnut with soft testa, various micronutrient salts (borax, boric
acid, copper sulphate, copper acetate, copper chloride, ferrous sulphate, ferric chloride,
manganese sulphate, manganese chloride, zinc sulphate and zinc chloride) at 5 kg
ha–1 and macronutrients salts (Calcium chloride, calcium nitrate, potassium
dihydrogen orthophosphate and potassium chloride) at 10 kg ha–1 when compared
as seed dressing and also in soil furrows revealed that, in general, most of the
micronutrient salts and CaCl2 showed their positive response and increased pod
yield and seed size of groundnut. However as seed dressing, only CuSO4, Cu
(CH3COO)2, FeSO4, MnSO4 and CaCl2 could increase the yield and other parameters.
Interestingly, H3BO3, CuCl2, MnCl2, ZnCl2, ZnSO4, FeCl3, Ca (NO3)2, KH2PO4 and KCl
as seed dressing caused damage to seed and reduced field emergence hence should
not be used (Singh, 2001 Singh, 2002).
It is desirable to have seed and crop genotypes with high micronutrient density
as the micronutrient malnutrition is spread worldwide and eating micronutrient
dense crop is the best way to solve the problem. Under harvestplus programme there
is emphasis on the identification and breeding the crops for high micronutrient
particularly of Fe and Zn. Looking to the urgency our top priority should be to
strengthen research on these micronutrient rich varieties with incentive to grow the
same even on the little bit compromise of yield by the farmers. There is an urgent need
to identify high Fe and Zn containing cultivars and germplasm in each and every
crops more particularly of the crop being consumed with less preparation to minimize
the loss of micronutrient.
The seventy groundnut varieties were sorted based on their Zn concentrations
in seed and categorized as low (below 30 mg kg–1), medium (31-50 mg kg–1) and high
(51 mg kg–1 Zn and above) zinc density genotypes. The Zn concentration in seed of
various groundnut genotypes ranged from 11-77 mg kg–1 with a mean value of 45 mg
kg–1. However, the Fe concentration in these ranged from 35-150 mg kg –1 and mean 60
mg kg–1. Of these 12 groundnut cultivars (Tirupati 4, UF 70-103, GG 2, GG 5, GG 7,
ICGV 86590, CSMG 84-1, JL 24, JL 220, CO 1, CO 2 and TMV 2) with more than 45 mg
kg–1 Zn in their seeds, were identified as high Zn density groundnut and 10 cultivars
(M 145, M 335, Tirupati 4, UF 70-103, ICGS (FDRS) 4, GG 2, GG 5, GG 7, Jawan and
ICGV 86590) with more than 85 mg kg–1 Fe in their seeds, were categorized as high Fe-
density groundnut. The GG 2, GG 7, JL 24 and ICGV 86590 are high yielding
commercial cultivars and also good source of Fe and Zn (Singh et al., 2011, 2013). The
identified, high Zn density groundnut genotypes are being recommended for their
cultivation and incorporation in human food to combat the Zn malnutrition in India
(Singh and Chuni Lal, 2007).
There is a now good network of quality control and infrastructure in India as
seed testing has been recognized as an essential aspect of seed quality. Accordingly,
Section 4(2) of the Seeds Act, 1966 empowers the State Government to establish one or
more State Seed Testing Laboratories in the state. There are many state laboratories
and 2 central laboratories in the country. The central laboratories include National
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Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) at Varanasi and the laboratory at Central
Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur (for GM cotton only)
The National Seed Research and Training Centre, Government of India, Ministry
of Agriculture Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Varanasi (U.P.),
periodically organise NSRTC training courses to Indian officials dealing with seed
on ‘Seed Quality Regulation and Seed Health Testings’ and also on ‘Varietal
Identification through in vitro Techniques’. The training are basically designed for
the officials engaged in the seed production, seed quality regulation and testing
programme at Central and State Govt Organizations/Institutions, SAU’s, ICAR
Institutes, public and private seed sectors at national level, with an objective to provide
hands-on experience and up-to-date the knowledge and skills of Seed Analysts, Seed
Testing Officers, Seed Technologists and seed quality regulation personnels of various
agencies and straightened cooperation, uniformity and information exchange in the
field of seed quality control and testing at national level. The main course contents of
training covers:
1. Seed development programme and quality regulation.
2. Seed production, pre and post harvest seed handling techniques.
3. Mixing and dividing techniques for obtaining homogenous representative
sample.
4. Seed sampling and methods.
5. Seed quality determination tests- purity, moisture, germination etc.
6. Germination testing, methods, media and evaluation.
7. Use of tolerance tables, calculation and reporting results.
8. Genetic purity test : GOT, ODV and Molecular marker.
9. Varietal identification through molecular/various in vitro techniques
10. Tetrazolium testing for quick evaluation.
11. Seed Health Test.
12. Seed law enforcement for GM Crops.
13. Seed Law enforcement and seed industry management.
14. ISTA accreditation standard, quality assurance in the laboratory, staff and
infrastructure.
These courses provide general information and hands-on experience in various
techniques for quality regulation and seed health, varietal identification and gives
an overview on the role of seed quality control and seed testing in the seed sector,
rules for sampling and seed testing, principles and practice on seed production
quality, pre and post harvest handling techniques for seeds, the ISTA accreditation
standard establishment and the infrastructure and management of a seed testing
laboratory.
The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) founded in 1924 during the 4th
International Seed Testing Congress held in Cambridge, UK is well known
International body for its service to seed industry globally for lab validation,

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accreditation, trainings and research on tests. With its vision on ‘Uniformity in seed
quality evaluation worldwide’ the ISTA aimed at developing and publishing standard
procedures in the field of seed testing as it is inextricably linked with the history of
seed testing with 202 member laboratories in 77 countries worldwide. The 120 of the
ISTA Member Laboratories are accredited by ISTA and entitled to issue ISTA
International Seed Analysis Certificates. The latest ISTA (2015) International rule for
seed testing has been released and will be effective from 2015.
In hot and humid areas maintenance of seed viability and vigour in most of the
crops, during storage, is a serious problem as there is rapid seed deterioration which
result into poor crop establishment and productivity. Seed priming, under sub-optimal
conditions, invigorate and improve seed vigour by reducing water soluble sugars
and enhanced activities of dehydrogenase, peroxidase, catalase and super oxide
dismutase (Nautiyal et al., 2013). Seeds of chickpea varieties kabuli (Pusa 1108) and
desi (Pusa 5028) treated with turmeric or garlic extract exhibited higher speed of
germination, thiram inhibited nodule formation, while ascorbic acid enhanced
seedling vigour and nodule number. Osmopriming with PEG (-1.5MPa) under sub-
optimal conditions (10-12ºC) in okra varieties, A-4 and Varsha uphar, improved field
emergence and crop stand. Hydro priming (17 h 25ºC) and magneto priming (1000 GI
2 h) enhanced seed germination and field emergence in low vigour seed lots of HQPM-
1 and sweet corn.
Seed coating with commercial polymers Seed coat Red‘ (5ml kg–1 seed) in low
vigour seed lots of maize showed early vegetative growth and higher seed yield.
Paddy seed (PRH-10) treated with pulse electromagenetic field (EMF: 50Hz) for five
days daily for 15 hours showed higher grain yield (4.3 t ha–1). The cereal crops have
tremendous potential to re-mobilize pre-anthesis non-structural carbohydrates (NSC)
stored in stem to the developing grains and wide genetic variation was recorded in
maize, wheat and paddy. The seedling vigour of wheat recombinant inbred lines
(RILs) for drought tolerance traits showed wide variation in initial and final
germination percentage, root and shoot length, and 1000-seed weight and the pre-
anthesis shoot biomass was associated (r=0.50) with root biomass (<10 cm depth). In
efficient maize line Prakash the re-mobilization of NSC enhanced seed quality, harvest
index and 1000-seed wt. Studies are on at Seed Technology Lab of ICAR-IARI to
utilize seed priming potential for enhancing both seed quality and productivity of all
crops and vegetables.
6. Breeder Seeds Production
Breeder seed production is basically the mandate of the ICAR and is being
undertaken with the help of i) ICAR Research Institutions, National Research Centres
and All India Coordinated Research Project of different crops; ii) State Agricultural
Universities (SAUs) with 14 centres established in different states; iii) Sponsored
breeders recognized by selected State Seed Corporations, and iv) Non-government
organizations. ICAR also promotes sponsored breeder seed production programme
through the NSC, SFCI, SSCs, KVKs etc.
The production of breeder seed requires several steps right from placement of
indent of breeder seed with Director of Agriculture by the State Government and State
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Public Seed Producing Agencies, Communication of the screened and compiled
indents by Director of Agriculture of the State to Seed Division of Ministry of
Agriculture, GOI. Seed Association of India forwards the indents of private parties to
Seed Division of this Ministry. Central Agencies such as NSC, SFCI etc. would place
their indents directly with Seed Division of Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi.
Forwarding of compiled indents by Seed Development section, Ministry of Agriculture
(MOA), Government of India (GOI) to the ICAR. Communication of Breeder Seed
Production Plan in BSP-1 by Project Coordinator (Crops) to Seed Development Section,
MOA and ADG (Seeds), ICAR. Communication of the BSP-2 and BSP-3 by the
concerned Breeder to the Seed Development Section of MOA and ADG (Seeds), ICAR.
Communication of the final production figures of breeder seed by the ICAR in BSP-5
to the Seed Development Section, MOA, GOI and Allocation of Breeder seed by Seed
Development section, MOA, GOI to Director of Agriculture to the concerned indenters.
The indents from various seeds producing agencies are collected by the State
Departments of Agriculture and submitted to the DAC, which compiles the whole
information crop wise and sends it to the Project Coordinator/Director of the respective
crops in ICAR for final allocation of production responsibility to different SAUs/
ICAR institutions. The allocation of responsibility for production of breeder seed is
discussed in the workshop in respect of the particular crop and is made to various
centres as per the facilities and capabilities available at the centres and the availability
of nucleus seed of a particular variety. It may be noted that indents are compiled and
forwarded to ICAR at least 18 months in advance. The details of these and deadlines
being regulated are given as a calendar of operation in Table 13.4. These informations
are updated regularly on the web site of DAC (http://dacnet.nic.in/eands).
The monitoring team, consisting of breeder of the variety, the concerned Project
Director or his nominee, representative of NSC have been constituted and reporting
proformas have been devised to make the programme systematic, and for proper
evaluation of the breeder seed production programme. The production of breeder
seed is reviewed every year by ICAR-DAC in the annual seed review meeting.
There has been a steady increase in the production of breeder seed over the
years. The actual production of breeder seed by different centres is intimated to DAC
by ICAR. On receipt of information from ICAR, the available breeder seed is allocated
to all the indenters in an equitable manner. In the case of varieties which are relevant
only to a particular state, the indents for breeder seed are placed by the concerned
Director of Agriculture with the SAUs/ICAR institutions located in the state. The
breeder seed produced is lifted directly by the Director of Agriculture or foundation
seed producing agencies authorized by him.
The breeder seed production increased during the last decade from 30,671 q
during 2002-03 to 1,04,784 q during 2011-12 (242 per cent) (Figure 13.2). During that
period, the indents for breeder seed also rose from 26,140 q during 2002-03 to 94,220
q during 2011-12 (260 per cent increase). The breeder seed indent and production of
various crops during 11th plan was higher by 143 per cent and 101 per cent,
respectively over that of 10th plan. However, the breeder seed production reduced
and during 2012-13 and 2013-14 was 89,437 and 70,704 q, respectively (Table 13.5).

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Table 13.4: Calendar of Operations for Production and Distribution of Breeder Seed
Sl.No. Steps Last Date of Action
Kharif Rabi
1. Placement of Indent of breeder seed with Director of Agriculture by the State Government 15th December of 31st May of year
and State Public Seed Producing Agencies. previous year
2. Communication of the screened and compiled indents by Director of Agriculture of the 1st week of January 7th June
State to Seed Division of Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Government of India (GOI). Seed
Association of India would forward the indents of private parties to Seed Division of this
Ministry. Central Agencies such as NSC, SFCI etc. would place their indents directly with
Seed Division of MOA, New Delhi.
3. Communication of compiled indents by Seed Development section, MOA, GOI to ICAR. 28th February 15th July
4. Communication of Breeder Seed Production Plan in BSP-1 by Project Coordinator (Crop) 15th May 15th October
to Seed Development Section, MOA and ADG (Seeds), ICAR.
5. Communication of the BSP-2 by the concerned Breeder to the Seed Development After 15 days of the After 15 days of the
Section of Ministry of Agriculture and ADG (Seeds), ICAR planting breeder seed planting breeder seed
6. Communication of the BSP-3 by the concerned breeder to the Seed Development Section, After 15 days of After 15 days of
Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India and ADG (Seeds), ICAR. inspection of breeder inspection by the
seed by the team monitoring team
7. Communication of the final production figures of breeder seed by the ICAR in BSP-5 to 15th February 15th July
the Seed Development Section, MOA, GOI.
Groundnut compensatory production. 15th April
Cotton
1. North Zone 15th February
2. Central and South Zone 1st March
Pigeonpea
1. Early and medium duration varieties 7th March
2. Long duration varieties 15th April
3. Toria and Rape seed 31st May
Contd...
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Table 13.4–Contd...
Sl.No. Steps Last Date of Action
Kharif Rabi
8. Allocation of breeder seed by Seed Development section, Ministry of Agriculture, 31st March 15th September
GOI to Director of Agriculture and concerned indentors.
9. Communication of the details of lifting of breeder seed against the GOI allotment to After 15 days of the After 15 days of the
MOA by Director of Agriculture in the performa ‘A’. cut-off-date cut-off-date
10. Communication of details of seed supply to the allottees by the breeder to MOA and After 15 days of the After 15 days of the
ICAR in Performa ‘B’ enclosed with supply plan. cut-off-date cut-off-date

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6.1 Crop-wise Breeder Seed Production
The crop-wise breeder seed indent and the production for the last five year are
given in Table 13.5. During 10 th plan the breeder seed indent of cereal crops increased
from 9,253 in 2002-03 to17,006 q (83.8 per cent increase) in 2006-07. During 11 th plan
it was 25,903q in the first year (2007-08) and 36,831q in 5th year (2011-12) (Figures
13.3a and b) with an increase of 42.2 per cent. But, further it was declined to 27,106 q
in 2012-13 and 25,836 q in 2013-14. Production of breeder seed during 10 th plan rose
from 11,126 in 2002-03 to 20,489 q in 2006-07 (84.2 per cent increase). During 11 th
plan there was an increase of 37 per cent from 32,759 q in 2007-08 to 44,889 q in 2011-
12. During 2012-13 and 2013-14 production was 40,135q and 35,436 q, respectively
(Table 13.5). Overall, an increase of about 146.4 per cent in breeder seed production
during 11th plan was recorded over that of 10th plan.
The breeder seed indent of oilseed crops increased consistently in both 10th and
11th plans (Figures 13.3c and d) from 11,702 in 2002-03) to 21,195q (81.1 per cent
increase), in 2006-07 during 10th plan, while in 11th plan an increase of 83.4 per cent
was observed from 22,577 (2007-08) to 41,404 q (2011-12). The breeder seed production
of oilseed crops increased from 12,431 (2002-03) to 21,767 q (2006-07) and 26,037
(2007-08) to 41,446 q (2011-12), respectively, during 10 th and 11th plan. During last
five years the production increased from 29,417 q (2009-10) to 33,235 q (2012-13) with
an increase of 12 per cent while it was 22,398 in 2013-14 (Table 13.4). Further, the
indents for breeder seed production for the year 2008-09 and 2009-10 were higher
than the actual production. Though the breeder seed production of oilseeds in 11th
plan increased by 64.9 per cent over that of 10th plan there was a short fall of 18 per
cent and 15.2 per cent during 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively.
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
Production in qtls.
Indent (qtls.) Prodn.
(
qtls.
)
Figure 13.2: Breeder Seed Indent and Production of Field Crops during 2003-12.
Indent/Production in qtls.
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Table 13.5: Breeder Seeds Indent and Production (q) of Various Crops during the Last Five Years
Crops 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production
Cereals
Wheat 32,330 35,049 29,692 38,469 28,860 35,745 20,542 27,502 20,050 22,492
Paddy 3,880 5,387 4,604 6,095 5,772 6,828 5,267 11,455 4,745 10,586
Barley 2,496 3,053 1,778 2,900 1,842 1,906 1,029 698 843 1,820
Sorghum 55 221 36 167 113 158 115 375 83 305
Smallmillet 5 24 22 42 18 47 37 109 44 116
Maize 179 243 178 232 211 173 99 109 60 89
Pearlmillet 8 8 1028153217671128
Total 38,954 43,985 36,320 47,934 36,831 44,889 27,106 40,315 25,836 35,436
Oilseeds
Groundnut 22,897 16,407 11,423 15,092 18,115 20,076 13,075 12,014 11,027 12,996
Soybean 11,625 12,517 22,293 18,327 22,973 20,853 24,688 20,718 19,509 8,660
Safflower 10 138 20 51 27 53 28 65 21 331
RM 76 138 75 150 49 151 108 212 95 213
Linseed 38 68 49 97 145 157 96 139 41 99
Sesame 3 9 28 49 42 67 32 41 26 59
Sunflower 14 36 9 36 32 48 5 16 3 15
Castor 17 88 24 202 11 28 9 15 4 15
Niger 6 17 16 10 11 15 10 15 8 10
Total 34,685 29,417 33,937 34,015 41,404 41,446 38,051 33,235 30,734 22,398
Contd...

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Table 13.5–Contd...
Crops 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production
Pulses
Chickpea 9,381 8,850 9,889 10,787 9,915 11,141 9,944 10,452 9,433 8,768
Mungbean 798 1,169 1,059 1,073 1,244 1,343 1,168 703 799 679
Pigeonpea 276 499 475 975 537 1,317 646 787 391 674
Fieldpea 178 1,304 332 997 838 959 774 863 588 631
Lentil 347 516 431 433 644 718 622 916 470 614
Urdbean 501 617 508 805 846 1,031 799 606 518 533
Rajmash 2 5 – – - - - - – –
Cowpea 66 82 30 28 54 42 55 37 39 53
Mothbean 151 113 221 262 213 95 140 63 95 40
Horsegram 1 2 – – 12 11 7 3 8 –
Total 11,700 13,155 12,944 15,360 14,303 16,656 14,153 14,429 12,341 11,992
Forage Crops
Oats 224 371 202 305 1,082 890 1278 611 402 398
Guar 480 389 248 520 277 575 289 431 344 206
Maize 54 72 63 93 75 77 99 109 89 138
Berseem 45 60 69 50 94 84 87 77 35 37
Sorghum 55 221 23 29 34 53 33 74 34 19
Teosnite 4 4 5 10 – – – – – –
Cowpea 8 17 9 16 43 12 29 14 20 10
Bajra 1229665936
Contd...
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Table 13.5–Contd...
Crops 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production Indent Production
Rice Bean33 333234
Lucerene 88661377765
Gobhisarson – – 0 1 1 2 0 2 0.32 0.43
Total 882 1,145 627 1,039 1,627 1,708 1,832 1,336 936 823
Fibre Crops
Cotton 37 102 44 58 32 59 40 107 26 36
Jute 6 8 8 13131511141719
Sunhemp – – – – 10 11 – – – –
Total 42 110 52 71 55 85 51 121 43 55
Grand Total 86,264 87,812 83,880 98,419 94,220 1,04,784 81,193 89,437 69,890 70,704

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The indent for breeder seeds for pulse crops enhanced from 4,696 q in 2002-03 to
7,348 q (56.5 per cent increase) in 2006-07 during 10 th plan, while during 11th plan
9,948 q in 2007-08 to 14,303 q (43.8 per cent increase) in 2011-12 (Figures 13.3 e).
Figure 13.3: Breeder Seed Indent and Production
(a) Cereals; (b) Oilseeds; (c) Pulses, (d) Forage crops
and (e) Fibre Crops during Last Five Years.
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Production of breeder seeds of pulse crops increased from 6,573 (2002-03) to 9,382 q
(2006-07) and 11,234 (2007-08) to 16,656 q (2011-12), registering an increase of 42.8
and 48.3 per cent, respectively in 10th and 11th plan. There was 9.7 per cent increase
from 11,700 (2009-10) to 14,429 q (2012-13) breeder seeds production in last five
years. The breeder seed production showed an increase of 91 per cent in the 11 th plan
as compared to that of 10th plan.
Production and indent of the breeder seed of forage crops showed variable trend.
In 10th plan the indent was 385 q during 2003-04 which increased to 456 q (18.5 per
cent), during 2006-07 while in 11th plan it increased from 931 q during 2007-08 to
1,627 q (75 per cent) during 2011-12. The total production of breeder seed was 3,259
q against the indent of 2,012 q during 10th plan and 6,839 q against the indent of 5,610
q during 11th plan. Its production showed an increase of 159 per cent in 10th plan and
21.8 per cent during 11th plan. There was an increase of 109.8 per cent in breeder seed
production of forage crops in 11th plan over that of 10th plan.
Interestingly, the breeder seed production has reached to its highest during last
5 year with maximum during 2011-2012, with a total production of 10, 478 tonne.
7. Foundation and Certified/Quality Seeds
The breeder seed has to be multiplied to foundation and certified seeds to make
seed production chain effective. The responsibility for production of foundation seed
has been entrusted to the NSC, SFCI, SSCs and State Departments of Agriculture and
private seed producers, who have the necessary infrastructure facilities. Foundation
seed is required to meet the standards of seed certification prescribed in the Indian
Minimum Seeds Certification Standards, both at the field and laboratory testing.
The foundation seed production at the end of 10th plan was just 80,000 q (Figure
13.4), which showed consistent increase during 11th plan varying from 85,000 to
2,23000 q with an increase of 9.7 per cent during the 1st year and 178.9 per cent during
the final year. A total of 7.7 lakh q of foundation seed was produced during 11 th plan.
The increase in foundation seed production during 2011-12 was 162.3 per cent over
that of the year 2007-08.
Figure 13.4: Trend in Foundation Seed Production in India.

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Total quality seed production by public sector during 2003-04 to 2007-08 was
8.09 million tonnes which rose to 15.35 million tonnes during the next 5 years, with
an increase of 89.7 per cent. Similarly, there was an increase of 31.6 per cent during
the 11th plan period (Table 13.5). The percent increase during 10 th plan was 47 per
cent during 2007-08 as compared to that of the year 2003-04. The seed production by
the private sector increased from 0.63 million tonnes during 2003-04 to 1.67 million
tonnes during 2012-13 showing an increase of 165.1 per cent during the last 10 years.
The contribution of public sector reached up to 61.1 per cent in the year 2009-10 but
declined thereafter and during 2012-13 it was only 49.1 per cent (Table 13.6). During
the same period, the contribution of private sector showed marginal decline from
42.6 per cent during 2007-08 until 2009-10 but registered an increase since then and
reached up to 50.9 per cent. Private seed sector dominates in quality seed production
of hybrids of maize, pearl millet, sorghum, sunflower and cotton and 90 per cent of
vegetable seed production comes from this sector only.
Table 13.6: Quality Seed Production by Public and Private Sectors
and their Contributions
Year Certified/Quality Seed Produced by Seed Produced by
Seed Production/ Public Sector Private Sector
Availability
(million tonnes, Quantity Share Quantity Share
m t) (m t) (per cent) (m t) (per cent)
2003-04 1.32 0.70 52.5 0.63 47.5
2004-05 1.41 0.77 55.0 0.63 45.0
2005-06 1.48 0.79 53.2 0.69 46.8
2006-07 1.94 1.15 59.0 0.80 41.0
2007-08 1.94 1.12 57.4 0.83 42.6
2008-09 2.50 1.51 60.2 1.0 39.8
2009-10 2.80 1.71 61.1 1.09 38.9
2010-11 3.22 1.66 51.6 1.56 48.4
2011-12 3.54 1.81 51.1 1.73 48.9
2012-13 3.29 1.61 49.1 1.67 50.9
During the last 10 years availability of certified/quality seed showed a consistent
increase till 2011-12, but declined marginally (8 per cent) during 2012-13 over the
highest value achieved in 2011-12. Nevertheless, the production of quality/certified
seeds was always higher than the required quantity (Table 13.7). The requirement for
quality seed consistently increased from 1.8 million tonnes (m t) during 2007-08 to
3.32 m t in 2013-14 showing an increase of 84 per cent. The requirement of quality
seed was marginally reduced, by 4.5 per cent, during the year 2012-13 over that of the
year 2011-12. But availability of quality seeds varied from 1.94 (2007-08) to 3.44 m t
(2013-14), registering an increase of 77 per cent. However, the highest increase of 82
per cent in availability of quality seeds was achieved during 2011-12 over that of
2007-08 which narrowed down the gap between demand and availability up to 3.6
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Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2382 |
per cent. Therefore, there is a need for strengthening the quality seed production
programme in the country.
Table 13.7: Demand and Availability of Certified/Quality Seeds in India
Year Quantity (million tonnes)
Availability Demand Difference (per cent)
2007-2008 1.94 1.80 7.7
2008-2009 2.50 2.07 20.8
2009-2010 2.79 2.49 12.0
2010-2011 3.21 2.90 10.7
2011-2012 3.54 3.30 7.3
2012-2013 3.29 3.15 4.4
2013-2014 3.44 3.32 3.6
The production and distribution of quality/certified seeds is primarily the
responsibility of the State Governments. Certified seed production is organized
through SSCs, Departmental Agricultural Farms, Cooperatives etc. The distribution
of seeds is undertaken through a number of channels such as departmental outlets at
block and village level, cooperatives, outlets of seed corporations, private dealers etc.
The efforts of the State Governments are being supplemented by NSC and SFCI which
produce varieties of national importance. NSC markets its seeds through its own
marketing network and also through its dealer network. SFCI markets its seeds mainly
through the State Departments of Agriculture and the SSCs. The production of certified
seed by NSC and SSCs is mainly organized through contract growing arrangements
with progressive farmers. The SFCI undertakes seed production in its own farms
which is now as it is merged with NSC. The private sector has also started playing an
important role in the supply of quality seeds of vegetables and crops like hybrid
maize, sorghum, bajra, cotton, castor, sunflower, paddy etc. Preparation of state seed
rolling plan and strategy are tied up with seed production agencies (Selvaraj 2013).
State Governments assess requirement of certified/quality seeds, on the basis of
the area sown under different crop varieties, area covered by hybrid and self-pollinated
crop varieties as well as the seed replacement rate achieved. On the basis of the
production of seed in government farms, SSCs and other agencies, the availability of
seed is ascertained by the State Departments of Agriculture. The Government of India
periodically assesses the requirement and availability of seeds through detailed
interaction with State Governments and seed producing agencies in the bi-annual
Zonal Seed Review Meetings and the National Kharif and Rabi Conferences. The
Department of Agriculture and Cooperation facilitates tie-up arrangements with seed
producing agencies to ensure that the requirement of seeds is met to the maximum
extent possible. As an example the Zonal seed review meeting for Kharif 2013 reported
all India total availability of certified/quality seed for Kharif 15.4 lakh t against the
requirement of 13.99 lakh t (Crop -wise and state-wise availability of certified/quality
seed for Kharif 2013 against the requirement are given in Tables 13.8 and 13.9).

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Table 13.8: Crop-wise Requirements and Availabilities of
Certified/Quality Seeds in India
Crops Quantity (Quintals) for Kharif 2013
Requiremen t Availability Deficit/Surplus
Paddy 6254264 6923320 669056
Maize 779459 742633 –36826
Bajra 231119 317380 86261
Jowar 164610 242243 77633
Ragi 29984 31163 1179
Little Millet 40 49 9
Banyard Millet 315 25 –290
Kodo Millet 472 1149 677
Italian Millet 330 0 3300 0
Total Cerals 7463563 8261262 797699
Arhar 255623 246598 –9025
Urd 147057 249314 102257
Moong 168470 189145 20675
Cowpea 22079 18781 –3298
Moth Bean 20900 16648 –4252
Horse Gram 4785 4789 4
Rajma 510 510 0
Peas/Others 75 75 0
Total Pulses 619498 725859 106361
Groundnut 2086881 2176047 89166
Soybean 3299968 3694733 394765
Sesame 20737 22334 1597
Sunflower 17269 19538 2269
Castor 62576 72782 10206
Niger 3104 2803 –301
Total Oilseeds 5490535 5988237 497702
Cotton 215158 239885 24727
Jute 32208 14451 –17757
Roselle 8 14 6
Total Fibre 247374 254350 6977
Bajra Napier 115 115 0
Ricebean 150 150 0
Dhaincha 71350 70850 –500
Sunnhemp 20622 24850 4228
Guar 74700 68616 –6084
Total others 166937 164581 –2356
Grand Total 13987907 15394290 1406383
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All State Governments and seed producing agencies assess all crops seed
production in that particular season and take remedial measures to increase the seed
yield per unit area including organizing contingency seed production in Rabi and
Summer seasons (Maize for Bihar, Jharkhand and U.P., paddy, urd, moong, cowpea
and groundnut for TN, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha)
Table 13.9: State-wise Requirement and Availability of
Certified/Quality Seeds in India
States Quantity (Quintals) for Kharif 2013
Requiremen t Availability Deficit/Surplus
Andhra Pradesh 2832712 3243129 410417
Karnataka 1061998 1038580 –23418
Kerala 40000 40000 0
Tamilnadu 375141 400586 25445
Pondicherry 1215 1253 38
Maharashtra 1999076 2022818 23742
Gujarat 566064 581943 15879
Chhattisgarh 707040 902907 195867
Madhya Pradesh 1721344 1951462 230118
Rajasthan 681179 828770 147591
Goa 4622 4622 0
Punjab 214405 265329 50924
Haryana 104700 225595 120895
Uttar Pradesh 957810 698908 –258902
Uttrakhand 26726 54411 27685
Himachal Pradesh 44427 44427 0
Jammu & Kashmir 57647 57647 0
Bihar 503910 597366 93456
Jhark hand 198751 229129 30378
Odisha 687056 718050 30994
West Bengal 508230 793238 285008
Sikkim 3094 3094 0
Nagaland 46056 46056
Arunachal Pradesh 8402 8402 0
Assam 583644 583644 0
Mizoram 13818 13818 0
Manipur 6130 6130 0
Meghalaya 14870 14870 0
Tripura 17840 18105 265
Grand total 13987907 15394290 1406383

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and advance tie up arrangement to procure required seeds so as to enable the state to
meet seed demand. The State Governments implement seed village, strengthening
the seed infrastructure facilities and seed components available under various Crop
Development Programmes/schemes effectively. The total quality seed production
increased from 2.4 lakh quintals at the time of inception of the mega seed project
(2005-06) to 6.9 lakh quintals during 2011-12. Total quality seed availability in India
during 2013-14 was 3.44 million tonnes (m t) as compared to 2.50 m t in 2008-09
which increased availability of quality seeds to the farmers.
8. Seed Multiplication and Replacement Rates and Ratio
The seed multiplication ratio (SMR) is basically the number of seeds to be
produced from a single seed when it is sown and harvested. But in agricultural crops
it is difficult to measure such ratio as the seed rates vary with seed size of particular
crop variety and cropping season. However, keeping in view constant seed wt for
both produce and seed sown, the ratio of quantity of yield achieved to the quantity of
seed sown is taken as the criterion of SMR (SMR = Seed Yield/Seed Rate). Thus the
SMR, is the ratio of quantity of yield to the seed sown and increasing in most of the
crops since last one decade. Taking into consideration the yield level of 2010-11 and
constant seed rate the SMR of various crops has been calculated (Table 13.10). However
the SMR of hybrid seed in foundation and certified seed vary (Table 13.11).
The Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) is basically percent of old seed replaced with
the new one It is calculated as the percentage of area sown out of total area of crop
planted in the season by using certified/quality seeds other than the farm saved
seeds.
SRR = (X/Y)x 100
where,
X is quantity of farmer saved seed and Y is quantity of quality seeds of a particular
variety reported to cover a given area.
The SRR of important crops in India during the decade from 2001-2011 are given
in Table 13.12. The SRR in 2010 as compared to that of 2007, increased from 25.2 to
32.6 per cent in wheat, 25.9 to 37.5 per cent in paddy, 44.2 to 54.1 per cent in maize,
19.9 to 25.9 per cent in sorghum, 48.5 to 61.4 per cent in pearl millet, 21.8 to 26.7 per
cent in green gram and 14.3 to 24.5 per cent in groundnut (Table 13.12).
This is essential for maintaining genetic purity and quality seed production.
The seed replacement rate gives an idea about the quantity of the quality seeds used
by the farmers.
The state-wise, 5 yearly seed replacement rate (per cent) of important crops from
2001-2011 are given in Table 13.13. Based on the SRR the physical targets are fixed
for quality seed production for achieving maximum SRR (Table 13.14). Also the price
of breeder seed are fixed to encourage promotion of new varieties with quality seeds.
Presently, availability of quality seed is more than the requirement due to coordinated
efforts of entire seed sector resulted into high SRR in major cereal, oilseed and pulse
crops. Analysis of data in rice revealed that quality seed availability with the present
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Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2386 |
Table 13.10: Crop-wise Seed Rate, Yield (during 2010-11) and
their Multiplication Rate in India
Sl.No. Crops Seed Rate (kg/ha) Seed Yield (kg/ha) Multiplication Ratio 1:
1. Jute 5 2329 466
2. Mesta 12.5 1115 90
3. Sunhemp 25 750 30
4. Cotton mcu-5 12.5 499 40
5. Arhar 10 655 66
6. Moong 15 600 40
7. Urd 12.5 500 40
8. Cowpea 15 600 40
9. Castor 12.5 1534 123
10. Soybean 62.5 1327 41
11. Groundnut 100-150 1411 14
12. Til 5 429 86
13. Guar 12.5 500 40
14. Cowpea fodder 12.5 500 40
15. Sorghum 12 949 80
16. Foragze sorghum
MP chari 5 500 100
Pc- 6 10 1000 100
Pc-23 5 500 100
17. Berseem 20 200 10
18. Lucern 7.5 200 27
19. Oat 62.5 900 15
20. Lentil 25 800 32
21. Peas 100 3517 35
22. Gram l-550 58 895 16
23. L-144 75 750 10
24. Mustard/toria 5 1185 237
25. Lathurus 25 500 20
26. Paddy 30 2239 75
27. Wheat 100 2989 30
28. Maize 20 2540 127
29. Bajra 5 1079 216
30. Potato 3000 42339 14
31. Safflower 12 617 52
32. Moth 15 600 40
33. Horse gram 12.5 500 40
34. French bean 60 500 9
35. Linseed 25 408 17
36. Sunflower 20 701 36

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rate of basic seed production is sufficient for even 100 per cent SRR, provided breeder
seed conversion in seed multiplication chain is streamlined. Similarly, concerning
wheat, the present level of basic seed can suffice for the gross cropped area at 50 per
cent SRR. But the current SRR figures in rice and wheat are 37.5 per cent and 32.6 per
cent, respectively. Main reasons for low to moderate seed replacement rates in majority
of the crops are due to problems in seed multiplication chain and outreach activities.
The SRR has a strong positive relationship with the crop productivity, hence to
achieve desired productivity levels and for attaining sustained food security levels,
Table 13.11: Seed Rate, Yield and their Multiplication Ratio in Foundation
and Certified Seeds of Hybrid Crops in India
Sl.No. Crops and Seeds Seed Rate Seed Yield Multiplication
(kg/ha) (kg/ha) Ratio 1:
1. MAIZE
1. Foundation II to Certified
a) Seed Parent 11 2200 (1100) 200 (100)
b) Male Parent 5 N.A 100
c) Composite 18 1800 100
2. Foundation I to Foundation II
a) Female Line 10 1000 100
b) Male Line 5 N.A 200
c) Line Increase 15 500 33
2. SORGHUM
1. Foundation II to Certified
a) Seed Parent 7.5 750 100
b) Male Parent 5 N.A. 150
c) Varieties 10 1000 100
2. Foundation I to Foundation II
a) Female Line 7.50 750 100
b) Male Line (B) 5 N.A. 150
c) Restorer Line 10 1000 100
d) Varieties 10 1000 100
3. BAJRA
1. Foundation II to Certified
a) Seed Parent 2.5 500 200
b) Male Parent 1.25 N.A 400
2. Foundation Seed Production
a) Female Line 2.5 500 200
b) Male Line (B)maintenance 1.25 N.A. 400
c) Restorer Line 3.75 750 200
d) Fline 3.75 750 200
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Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2388 |
Table 13.12: Seed Replacement Rate (per cent) of Important Crops in India during Decade 2001-2011
Year Wheat Paddy Maize Jowar Bajra Gram Urd Moong Arhar G.Nut R/M Soya- Sunflower Cotton Jute
Hyb Hyb Hyb bean Hyb
2001 13.0 19.2 20.9 18.4 45.9 4.2 16.6 13.5 8.7 5.2 38.4 12.4 13.7 21.2 29
2002 13 19.3 21.4 18.8 48.5 4.2 17.1 13.8 8.8 5.5 44.6 12.5 15.6 21.8 30
2003 13 19.2 24.4 26.7 51.0 7.1 20.5 19.5 13.6 11 66.9 15.6 19.6 19.8 27
2004 16.5 16.3 31.5 19.3 44.9 9.9 17.2 12.3 9.8 7.1 58.5 27 60.2 20.7 26
2005 17.6 21.3 35.4 19.0 55.4 9.4 15.7 12.5 10.5 6.9 55.4 28.9 67.7 21.8 26
2006 21.8 22.4 43.8 19.4 55.1 9.0 13.7 19.9 11.6 9.8 60.7 28.4 66.9 19.8 35
2007 25.2 25.9 44.2 19.9 48.5 11.9 23.9 21.8 16.1 14.3 58.6 33.4 62.9 15.3 33
2008 26.8 30.1 48.5 26.2 62.9 14.4 26.3 21.9 16.0 17.0 52.7 35.1 43.6 12.1 35
2009 31.8 33.6 46.8 26.4 48.9 22.0 30.9 23.0 27.8 22.9 74.8 38.9 51.5 11.7 33
2010 32.6 37.5 54.1 25.9 61.4 18.4 29.2 26.7 17.5 24.5 63.6 35.9 61.2 10.4 36
2011 32.6 40.4 56.6 23.9 60.4 19.4 34.4 30.3 22.2 22.5 78.9 52.8 32.5 33 42

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Table 13.13: State-wise, 5 Yearly Seed Replacement Rate (per cent) of Important Crops from 2001-2011
States Year Wheat Paddy Maize Jowar Bajra Gram Urd Moong Arhar G.Nut R/M Soya- Sunflo- Cotton Jute
Hyb Hyb H yb bean wer Hyb Hyb
A. Pradesh 2001 – 42.0 48 91 44.0 3.00 18.0 22.7 12.5 6.00 – 77.0 81 13 –
2006 60.0 87 63 67 49.0 27.0 32.0 37.0 25.0 – 100 0 0 –
2011 87.2 – 62.6 – 85.0 59.2 50.9 78.0 62.1 100 0 – –
Karnataka 2001 6 22.0 – 13 26.0 5.00 7.00 7.00 8.00 2.50 – 16.0 18.0 6.0 –
2006 26 34.0 – 26 29 16.0 20.0 15.0 15.0 13.0 – 48.0 25 22
2011 41.0 – 29.5 41.9 31.4 36.3 21.0 13.0 28.8 89.0 30.4 36.4
Tamil Nadu 2001 – 17.0 8.0 6.0 6.0 0.5 17.5 13.7 6.00 5.00 – 20.0 50.0 15.0 –
2006 56.0 2 6 5.5 11.9 8.40 5.00 3.18 – – 8.25 15 –
2011 68.0 – 16.4 3.7 89.7 46.7 21.5 94.8 12.0 – – 36.6 87.9 –
Kerala 2001–10.0––––––20.010.0–––––
2006 31.2––––––20.010.0–––––
2011 74.7–––––––––––––
Gujarat 2001 20 18.2 – 33 – 3.42 14.4 22.2 10.4 1.16 71.4 – – 31.0 –
2006 24.8 21.6 – – – 16.1 34.2 18.8 21.8 1.88 60.3 – – 23.4 –
2011 26.5 38.1 – – 25.2 38.8 35.3 30.8 4.07 100 – – 65.0 –
Maharashtra 2001 25.0 18.0 53 15 72.0 6.00 44.0 26.0 13.0 2.00 – 33.0 28.0 80.0 –
2006 41.0 24.0 75 10 75 9.00 45.0 3.00 15.0 3.00 – 45.0 30 85 –
2011 45.9 93 13.5 98.6 50.8 35.1 30.7 2.69 57.7 60.9 –
Rajasthan 2001 11.2 4.41 1.70 1.43 32.9 6.64 3.08 8.67 14.3 0.75 68.9 4.37 – 61.6 –
2006 19.1 7.61 19.8 7.50 46.2 3.91 5.16 9.12 8.8 2.15 60.0 10.9 – 3.8 –
2011 30.5 7.34 52.6 21.8 57.2 12.5 6.94 18.3 21.7 6.05 85.1 28.3 – 58.3 –
Contd...
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Table 13.13–Contd...
States Year Wheat Paddy Maize Jowar Bajra Gram Urd Moong Arhar G.Nut R/M Soya- Sunflo- Cotton Jute
Hyb Hyb H yb bean wer Hyb Hyb
MP 2001 5.64 3.3 8.05 5.99 35.1 1.29 1.39 2.47 2.78 0.03 7.15 6.35 15.0 3.40 –
2006 13.1 3.96 12.9 14.2 55.3 2.15 1.17 7.58 6 0.33 21.4 15.8 0.35
2011 30.3 16.9 47.5 20.9 73.2 9.94 10.3 21.2 17.2 0.97 42.8 30.2
UP 2001 15.3 14.3 6.57 5.35 13.8 4.13 7.24 13.8 12.0 1.04 26.8 7.11 36.0 71 –
2006 24.1 22.7 19.8 11.6 51.8 14.3 12.2 20.7 18.8 4.41 58.3 41.3 61.9 66
2011 40.9 31.6 30.4 24.2 71.0 16.5 20.8 25.4 18.5 63.8 45.1 73 73
Haryana 2001 17.9 11.3 5.00 – 64.3 6.3 46.6 – 48.6 – 46.4 –
2006 23.3 17.5 57.5 10.5 69 72 42
2011 33.8 30.5
Punjab 2001 7 11 42.0 – – 22 11 – 26 – 26 – –
2006 13 21 95 – – 56 38 – – – 58 95
2011 38.8 52.8 99.1 – – 77.0 – – – – 63.8 106
HP 2001 16.7 11.6 0.3 – – 3.47 18.3 – – – – 20 – – –
2006 13.7 14.3 0.07 – – 3.47 16.6 – – 25 – – –
2011 26.9 96.9 33.7 – – 95.2 93.7 77.5 – – 83.3 28.5 – – –
J&K 200110.03.532.03––19.1–15.6–––––––
2006 10.7 6.81 5.66 – – 3.07 0.07 – – 40.8 – – – –
2011 26.1 22.4 18.1 0.66 – – 42.8 – – – 41.8 – – – –
Odisha 2001 40.4 9.59 8.04 – – 7.72 2.3 1.52 – 20.2 18.5 – 54.2 42.2 98
2011 39.0 21.7 13.2 – – 5.68 3.52 2.41 4.75 32.4 32.4 – 64.0 65.6 28
Contd...

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Table 13.13–Contd...
States Year Wheat Paddy Maize Jowar Bajra Gram Urd Moong Arhar G.Nut R/M Soya- Sunflo- Cotton Jute
Hyb Hyb H yb bean wer Hyb Hyb
W. Bengal 2001 30.0 22.0 15.0 – – 15.0 24.0 24.0 33.0 30.0 30.0 – – – 70
2006 37 26 22 – – 22 28.5 29 40 35 38 – – – 72
2011 43.4 33.7 29.0 – – 26.9 35.6 33.6 45 40.3 41.4 – – – 79
Bihar 20018.436.3321.1––––––––––––
2006 11 12 60 – – 8 – – – – 40 – – – –
2011 34.8 38.0 100 – – 15.7 18.5 20.2 11.2 47.3 – – – –
Chattisgarh 2006 9 8.50 11 – – 7.8 5 6.75 12 2 9.8 26 42 – –
2011 33.7 34.3 21.2 – – 15.9 8.05 3.65 20.7 3.37 24.7 64.4 – – –
Assam 2006 34.8 10.7 0.62 15.7
2011 46.8 22.1 79.7 107.1 35.5 26.1 51
Uttarakhand 2006 20 15 3.35 9.7
2010 36.9 10.8 10.4 43.6 71.4 42.1 36.1
Jharkhand 2006 9 7 3 7
2011 31.9 17.1 7.27 1.29 6.98 21.2 23.5 20.5
Tripura 2006 100 35.0 40.0 39.0 30.0 29.0 96.0
2010 69.5 33.8 58.0 67.2 38.5 43.3 56.1 69.3 34
Manipur 2006 35.7 64.8
2010 59.5 10.0 99.8 99.5 100 35.0 23.6
Sikkim 2006 39.7 11.9 15.4 9.58 63.1 16.3
2011 40.0 20.0 14.0 75.0 6.00
Contd...
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

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Table 13.13–Contd...
States Year Wheat Paddy Maize Jowar Bajra Gram Urd Moong Arhar G.Nut R/M Soya- Sunflo- Cotton Jute
Hyb Hyb H yb bean wer Hyb Hyb
Mizoram 2006 10.8 76.5 85.7 42.6
2010 28.0 44.0 80.0 30.0
Meghalaya 2006 4.26 11.3 6.12 63.3 18.0 28.4 19
2010 17.0 53.4 97.2
Nagaland 2006 13.8 1.00 25.0 18.0 5.00 8.50 2.00
2010 17.7 37.0 83.3 20.8 45.2 21.9 3.7
Arunachl Prad. 2006 12.0 6.8 12.8 44.0 44.0 65.0 47.0 33.0 54.4 74.0
2011 28.4 7.4 12.9 38.9 51.4 79.7 70.0 36.3 67.5 93.3

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anomalies, viz., skewed SRR and varietal replacement rates (VRR) should be
addressed appropriately. With the adoption of quality seed of improved varieties
coupled with appropriate production technologies and enabling environment, there
was appreciable increase in the production of oilseeds (21.4 per cent), rice (12.7 per
cent), wheat (25.1 per cent) and pulses (20.4 per cent) in 2011-12 over that of 2006-07
(Table 13.3) and India achieved an all time high food production of 265 million
tonnes during 2013-14. The yield increased during 2011-12 over that of 2002-03 were
37.3 per cent in rice, 21.6 per cent in wheat, 47.3 per cent in maize, 64 per cent in
oilseeds and 28.7 per cent in pulses in India (Table 13.3).
Guidelines to Improve the SMR and SRR
All the states prepare seed plan for the specific plan period (presently for 2013-
14 to 2016-17) season and crop wise depicting targeted SRR, variety-wise requirement
of certified seeds, for agriculture production under normal as well as contingent
situations like droughts floods, cyclones etc. State wise seed plan are discussed under
the chairmanship of Secretary (A and C) and are implemented as per the following
guidelines:
The State Department of Agriculture provide variety-wise seed production
plan based on the seed plan prepared by them to all the seed producers,
viz, State Department of Agriculture, SSF, SSC, SAUs , NSC, SFCI, Co-operative
and private seed industries etc. to take up certified seed production as per
the plan (see Table 13.14 as an example).
States execute MOUs with seed producers for supply of the required amount
of certified seeds crop, season and year wise 12th plan i.e. 2016-17, so as to
ensure their timely availability.
States chalk out breeder seed and foundation seed requirements as per the
seed plan and place requisitions to the concerned organisation, accordingly.
States should ensure that the seed produced under the MOUs is purchased
by them, subject to fulfilment of quality standards.
All the states should monitor and periodically review seed production at
the field level and take follow up action.
States must review contingent situations arising in the state objectively
and accordingly plan seed requirements in the seed plan and seed bank.
Due cognizance may be given for fodder and green manure crops in
contingent planning.
All states must make efforts to produce seed within the state through credible
seed producers having technical competence, sufficient seed infrastructure
facilities and experience in seed production.
States should ensure increase in SRR and VRR of crops.
States which do not take up seed production as per the seed plan and
which do not purchase the contracted quantity of seed from the seed
producers as per MOU will face reduction in allocation/release of fund
under various crop development programme.
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Table 13.14: Physical Targets of Certified Seeds in Seed Bank during 2012-13 (Qty. in qtls.)
Crops APS BR GS HS KS MS MPS N SC S F O S PS RS UPS UKS WBS KSS J ha r- Chan - T N Total
SDC BN SC DC SC SC SDC CI SC SC SC DC and SC DA khand di-
TDC (K+R) garh
Kharif
Paddy 8200 1200 500 2000 6000 8500 1430 30000 7000 5100 500 4000 2500 3300 4000 1000 5000 4300 94530
Sorghum 350 1000 20 1000 2370
Bajra 400 200 500 200 150 1450
Maize 550 120 100 200 970
Urd 1400 500 500 50 450 60 3000 1500 700 500 100 220 200 500 9680
Moong 500 400 1000 500 2000 1200 500 500 100 200 200 7100
Arhar 550 100 300 500 145 4000 600 100 150 6445
G.Nut 3500 700 2000 4000 1600 100 800 600 13300
Soyabean 500 4000 6000 2000 1000 150 13650
Sunflower 50 50
Moth 200 200
Cowpea 150 125 275
Ragi 1000 1000
Guar 200 100 300 200 800
Castor 300 1000 100 1400
Sesamum 100 500 50 250 150 350 1400
T. Targets 14000 2650 5650 3050 8300 14650 7775 44650 14600 7900 500 2275 4850 2750 4670 4000 1750 5000 5600 154620
Contd...

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Table 13.14–Contd...
Crops APS BR GS HS KS MS MPS N SC S F O S PS RS UPS UKS WBS KSS J ha r- Ch an - TN Total
SDC BN SC DC SC SC SDC CI SC SC SC DC and SC DA khand di-
TDC (K+R) garh
Rabi
Wheat 2200 5650 4000 1500 6500 5000 10500 15000 2000 3250 4850 5000 700 66150
Sorghum 1700500 2200
Gram 1000 250 1100 1000 4500 4500 2500 4000 14000 500 200 300 33850
Barley 1000 50 100 5000 300 6450
Lentil 330 200 145 2000 300 200 25 300 3500
Cowpea 500 500
Pea 110 1000 200 200 1510
Mustard/Toria 1100 250 1250 45 500 1900 100 500 200 150 800 500 7295
Lin seed 30 30
safflower 1000 100 1100
Taramira 550 100 650
T. Targets 1000 4430 7000 7450 7700 12500 7880 18700 36500 100 2000 4550 5650 5175 1100 0 1500 123235
G.T. (R+Kh)15000 7080 12650 10500 16000 27150 15655 63350 51100 8000 2500 6825 10500 7925 5770 4000 3250 5000 5600 277855
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

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Table 13.15: Sale Price of Breeder Seed during 2005-06 to 2014-15
Sl.No. Crop Variety/Hybrid/Line 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Cereals
1. Paddy
Coarse varieties 2000 2000 2000 2400 2400 3400 3570 3700 3800 3800
Medium varieties 2400 2400 2400 2800 2800 3600 3780 3900 4000 4100
Pusa-44 2400 2400 2400 2800 2800 6000
Basmati Varieties 3800 3800 3800 4500 5000 6300 6500 6500 6700
Paddy hybrid
A Line 12500 12500 12500 13750 14000 17500 17500 19000 19000 20000
B Line 3000 3000 3000 3300 3300 3600 3600 3900 3900 4000
R Line 3000 3000 3000 3300 3300 3600 3600 3900 3900 4000
2. Maize
Inbred Lines 9000 9000 9000 9900 10500 13000 13650 14300 14300 14700
Varieties and Compos 3000 3000 3000 3300 3300 3500 3670 3800 3800 4000
3. Sorghum hybrid
A Line 9000 9000 9000 9900 10000 13000 13650 14000 14500 14500
B Line 7500 7500 7500 8200 8200 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000
R Line 6000 6000 6000 8250 8250 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000
Varieties and Compos 3800 3800 3800 5062 5062 6000 6300 6500 6500 6500
4. Bajra hybrid
A Line 13000 13000 13000 14300 14300 16000 16800 19000 19000 23000
B Line 6600 6600 6600 7260 7260 8000 8000 8000 8000 8000
R Line 5500 5500 5500 6050 6050 8000 8000 8000 8000 8000
Varieties and Compos 5500 5500 5500 6050 6050 7000 7350 8000 8000 8000
Contd...

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Table 13.5–Contd...
Sl.No. Crop Variety/Hybrid/Line 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
5. Wheat
Varieties-Bread Wheat 2000 2000 2000 3000 3000 3800 4000 4100 4200 4200
Durum/Dicocc um 2150 2150 2150 3150 3150 3800 4000 4500 4600 4700
Desi 2500 2500 3500 3500 4200 4400 4500 4600 4700
6. Barley
Barley 1600 1600 1600 1760 1760 2200 4000 4100 4100 4100
Malt Barley 1800 1800 1800 1980 1980 2400 4200 4600 4600 4600
7. Small Millets
Ragi 1800 1800 1800 1980 1980 2400 2520 3000 3500 3600
Foxtail Millet 1800 1800 1800 1980 1980 2400 2520 3000 3000 3000
Kodo Millet 1800 1800 1800 1980 1980 2400 2520 3000 3000 3000
Proso Millet 1800 1800 1800 1980 1980 2400 2520 3000 3000 3000
Little Millet 1800 1800 1800 1980 1980 2400 2520 3000 3000 3000
8. Pulses
Moong 5000 5000 5000 6000 6000 9000 9900 11000 12000 12000
Urd 5000 5000 5000 6000 6000 9000 9900 11000 12000 12000
Arhar (Pigeon pea) 5500 5500 5500 6500 6500 9000 9000 10000 11000 11000
Arhar A Line 13000 13000 13000 13000 13000
Arhar B and R line 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000
Cowpea 4500 4500 4500 4950 4950 7000 7000 7500 7500 7500
Gram (Kabuli) 5000 5000 5000 6000 6100 9000 9000 11000 11000 11000
Gram (Desi) 4100 4100 4100 5100 5100 6500 7000 8000 8000 8000
Contd...
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2398 |
Table 13.5–Contd...
Sl.No. Crop Variety/Hybrid/Line 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Lentil 4100 4100 4100 5100 5100 6500 7150 8500 8500 8500
Peas 3600 3600 3600 4600 4600 5000 5000 5500 5500 5600
Moth 3500 3500 4000 5000 5000 6000 8000 8000 8000 8500
Rajmash 5400 5400 5400 6400 6400 7000 7000 8000 8000 8000
Horse gram 4000 4000 4000
9. Fibre crops
Jute 7000 7000 7000 7500 8000 10000 10500 12500 12500 12700
Mesta 4700 4700 4700 5170 5200 7000 5000 6000 6000 6000
Sunhemp 2000 2000 2000 2200 2300 3000 1850 3500 3500 6000
10. Cotton hybrid
Female Parent 40000* 40000* 40000* 44000 44000 48000 48000 53000 53000 55000
Male Parent 40000* 40000* 40000* 44000 44000 48000 48000 53000 53000 55000
Varieties 12500* 12500* 12500* 13750 13750 15000 15000 15000 15000 15000
G. Hirsutam 16500 16500 17000
G. Barbadens 20000 20000 22000
Male Sterlity Syst A Line 50000* 50000* 50000* 55000 55000 60000 60000 66000 66000 60000
Based Hybrid R Line 50000* 50000* 50000* 55000 55000 60000 60000 66000 66000 60000
B Line
11. Fodder crops
Guar 3000 3000 3200 3520 3520 4500 4700 35000 14500 12000
Teosinite 1800 1800 1800 1980 1980 2400 2500 2500 2500 2500
Lucerne 20000 20000 20000 25000 25000 27000 27000 30000 30000 31000
Contd...

| 399
Table 13.5–Contd...
Sl.No. Crop Variety/Hybrid/Line 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Berseem 18000 18000 18000 22000 22000 24000 24000 26000 26000 26000
Oat 2500 2500 2500 3500 3500 3850 4000 4200 4200 4200
Cowpea 4500 4500 4500 4950 4950 7000 7000 7500 7500 7500
Maize 3000 3000 3000 3300 3300 3500 3670 4000 4000 4000
Jowar 3800 3800 3800 4180 4180 6000 6300 8000 8000 8000a
12000b
Bajra fodder 5500 5500 5500 6050 6050 7000 7350 7500 7500 7500
Dhaincha 5000 5000
12. Oilseeds
Groundnut 4500 4500 4500 5000 5000 6000 6300 7200 9000 10000
Soyabean 4500 4500 4500 5000 5000 6000 6300 6800 7000 7500
Sunflower
A Line 20000 21000 21000 22000 23000 27000 29700 30000 30000 31000
B Line 10000 10000 10000 11000 11000 13000 14850 15000 15000 15000
R Line 10000 10000 10000 11000 11000 13000 14850 15000 15000 15000
Varieties 6000 6000 6000 7000 7000 8000 8800 9000 9000 9000
Castor
Female Parent(A Line) 20000 20000 21000 22000 22000 25000 27500 30000 30000 30000
Male Parent(B and R Line) 7500 7500 7500 8000 8000 9000 10000 11000 11000 11000
Varieties 5000 5000 5000 6000 6000 7000 7700 8400 8400 8500
Sesamum 10000 10000 10000 11000 11000 12000 12000 12000 12000 13500
Niger 6000 6000 6000 6600 6600 6600 6600 7000 7000 8000
Contd...
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Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2400 |
Table 13.5–Contd...
Sl.No. Crop Variety/Hybrid/Line 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Rapeseed/Mustard
A Line 15000 15000 15000
B Line 7000 7000 7000
R Line 7000 7000 7000
Varieties 4600 4600 4600 5400 5400 6500 6800 7000 7000 7500
Toria 7000 7000 7000
Taramira 7000 7000 7000
Safflower
Varieties 4000 4000 4000 4400 4400 5000 5250 5500 5500 5500
Female Parent(H) 10000 10000 10000 11000 11000 12000 12000 12600 12600 12600
Male Parent (H) 4000 4000 4000 4400 4400 5000 5000 5500 5500 5500
Linseed 3500 3500 3500 3850 3850 4000 4200 4600 4600 4600

| 401
States should take up certified seed production of the latest varieties/hybrids
as and when released and notified.
All states are advised to initiate action for procuring seeds immediately
after harvest of the crop to avoid non-supply of seeds by the producing
farmers/organisations in the event of increase in the price of the crop in the
market.
States which are not availing the facilities provided under Seed Village
Programme may make full use of the programme.
NFSM, RKVY, Accelerated Pulses Production Programme (A3P) clusters
may be used for seed production to meet the seed requirement of the
designated crop under the scheme.
During the last five years, certified/quality seed production has doubled
but the certification staff has not increased, for which all the states may
take appropriate action to make good the shortages in staff designated for
seed certification.
States should also focus on crops, in which production was impacted during
the current year due to deficiency in rainfall as demand for seed of such
crop in the succeeding year could be high.
7. Seed Certification
Seed certification is a legally sanctioned system for quality control of seed
multiplication and production. It is a process designed to maintain and make available
to the general public continuous supply of high quality seeds and propagating
materials of notified kinds and varieties of crops, so grown and distributed to ensure
the physical identity and genetic purity.
The main objective of the Seed Certification is to ensure the acceptable standards
of seed viability, vigour, purity and seed health. The concept of seed certification
dates back to the earlier part of the 20th century which grew out of the increased
concern for the rapid loss of identity of varieties during production cycles. The Swedish
were the first to initiate the process of field evaluation of the seed crops, with the visits
of agronomists and plant breeders to the fields of progressive farmers who grew
seeds of new varieties. This was primarily to educate them on seed production,
followed by field inspection and later on found to be very helpful in keeping varieties
pure in the production chain. But, in process other problems appeared, to overcome
which scientists from USA and Canada met in Chicago, Illinois in 1919 and formed
an International Crop Improvement Association (ICIA), which in 1969, by paving the
way for modern day seed certification, changed its name to Association of Official
Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA).
Some of the milestones in the Indian seed sectors are:
Establishment of Central Seed Testing Laboratory at IARI, New Delhi (1955).
Establishment of the National Seed Corporation (NSC) in 1963, the main
agency for production, distribution and certification of foundation and
certified seeds.
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Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2402 |
State Seed Corporations and State Seed Certification Agencies were also
established.
World bank assisted National Seeds Project (NSP) paved the way for further
growth of seed sector of the country (1976).
New Policy on the Seed Development (1988) and the New Industrial Policy
(1991) that opened doors for the foreign investors in the Indian seed industry.
Since then, a number of multinational companies have entered in the seed
market.
The seed certification in India, through field evaluation, started with the
establishment of National Seeds Corporation in 1963 and legal status was given to
seed certification with the enactment of first Indian Seed Act in the year 1966 and
formulation of Seed Rules in 1968. The Seed Act of 1966 provided the required impetus
for the establishment of official Seed Certification Agencies (SCAs) by the states.
Accordingly, Maharashtra first established an official SCAs during 1970 as a part of
the Department of Agriculture, however, Karnataka established the SCA as an
autonomous body during 1974. At present 22 states in the country have their own
SCAs established under the Seed Act, 1966. For India a comprehensive list of the
minimum standard of seed certification for various crops has been prepared by Trivedi
and Gunasekharan (2013) and put on the wed of the DAC under seed section for
reference, use, modification and suggestion. However all these standards are subject
to change based on the requirements of the farmers.
In great majority of the countries in the world, including India, seed certification
is voluntary and labelling is compulsory. The organizational set up of the certification
agency includes board of directors, technical and other staff for operating the
programme. Seed certification agency may have its own seed testing laboratory or it
may get its seed samples tested through seed testing laboratories. A well organized
seed certification should help in accomplishing the following three primary objectives:
The systematic increase of superior varieties.
The identification of new varieties and their rapid increase under
appropriate and generally accepted names.
Provision for continuous supply of comparable material by careful
maintenance.
Any variety to become eligible for seed certification should meet the following
requirements:
Should be a notified variety under Section-5 of the Indian Seed Act, 1966.
Should be in the production chain and its pedigree should be traceable.
Should meet the field standards (selection of site, isolation requirements,
spacing, planting ratio, border rows etc).
Presence of off-types in any seed crop, pollen-shedders in sorghum, bajra,
sunflower etc., shedding tassels in maize crosses, disease affected plants,
objectionable weed plants etc., should be within the maximum permissible
levels.

| 403
Broad Principles of Seed Certification Agencies
The seed certification agencies are essential and established in each state as per
the Seeds Act, 1966 and function on the following guidelines:
Seed certification agency should be an autonomous body and should not
involve itself in the production and marketing of seeds.
Uniform seed certification standards and procedures throughout the
country.
Close linkage with the technical and other related institutions.
Its long-term objective should be to operate on no-profit no-loss basis.
Adequate staff trained in seed certification should be maintained.
Provision for creating adequate facilities for ensuring timely and thorough
inspections.
It should serve the interests of seed producers, farmers and users.
Seed certification is carried out in following six broad phases:
Verification of seed source, class and other requirements of the seed used
for raising the seed crop.
Receipt and scrutiny of application.
Inspection of the seed crop in the field to verify its conformity to the prescribed
field standards.
Supervision at post-harvest stages including processing and packing.
Drawing of samples and arranging for analysis to verify conformity to the
seed standards.
Grant of certificate, issue of certification tags, labelling, sealing etc.
Control Measures
Organization and establishment of a seed certification agency need careful
planning taking into consideration the anticipated acreage for certification of various
crops and varieties, area of operation, farm sizes etc. Following control measures are
taken by seed certification agencies:
Origin of the propagating material: The first step of seed certification programme
is to verify source of seed, and unless the seed is from approved source and of
designated class, certification agency will not accept the seed field for certification,
thereby ensuring the use of high quality true type seed for sowing of seed crops.
Field inspection : The crop variety grown in the field is evaluated for varietal
purity, isolation of seed crop to prevent out-cross, physical admixtures, disease
dissemination and also ensure crop condition as regards to the spread of designated
diseases and the presence of objectionable weed plants etc.
Sample inspection: The certification agency draws representative samples from
the seeds produced under certification programme and assess the planting value of
the seeds by germination and other purity tests required for conforming to varietal
purity.
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Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2404 |
Bulk inspection: To know the genuinity of lot and sample, provision has been
made for bulk inspection under certification programme. The lot is evaluated for
checking homogeneity of the bulk seed produced as compared with the standard
sample.
Control plot testing: To compare the samples drawn from the source and final
seed produced are grown side by side along with the standard samples of the variety
in question and determined whether the varietal purity and health of the produced
seed are equal to the results based on field inspection.
Grow-out test: The samples drawn from the lots are grown in the field along
with the standard checks and evaluated for their genuineness to species or varieties
or seed borne infection as it helps in the varietal purity and elimination of the sub-
standard seed lots.
Seed Quality Control
There are adequate provisions under existing seed legislations (Seed Act, 1966
and Seed Rules, 1968) to regulate the quality of seeds keeping in view the federal
structure of the country. State Governments have powers to appoint Seed Analysts
and Seed Inspectors. Seed Inspectors are vested with adequate powers for quality
control viz. to draw the sample; enter and search; examine records, registers and
documents; seize the stock and issue ‘Stop Sale’ order in case the commodities under
reference contravene provisions of law. Inspectors are authorized to take punitive
action/launch proceedings against dealers found to be selling sub-standard seeds.
The seed in respect of which the contravention has been committed can be forfeited
under Section 20 of the Seeds Act. Penalties are provided under Section 19 of the Act.
State Governments have the powers of enforcement and implementations,
however, uniformity and consistency is maintained through standards for
certification, labelling etc. prescribed by Government of India (GOI). The Joint Secretary
(Seeds), GOI is the Controller of seeds for the country as a whole. Also, the Government
of India can give directions under Section 23 of the Act to the States. The Central Seed
Certification Board and the Central Seed Committee advise the Central and State
Governments on various aspects of seed.
The Seeds Act/Rules are applicable to notified seeds while Seeds (Control) order
(1983) to both notified non-notified varieties. Seed Act (1966) under Section 5
prescribes the notification of varieties, but it is voluntary. When notified variety is
sold in the market, it should be labelled as prescribed under section 6 (a) of the Seeds
Act, 1966 that deals with the standard of germination and physical purity and section
6(b) that deals with color, content and size of the label. Export and import of seed of
any notified kind or variety is subject to conditions such as conforming to the minimum
limits of germination and physical purity etc. Exemption under Section 24 from the
provisions of the Act covers farmers’ seeds. The Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 brought
seed under the ambit of Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and made it mandatory that
the business of selling, exporting and importing seeds can be carried out only under
a license issued by the State government. The dealers can also be directed to distribute
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books and accounts and display the stock position and its price. A dealer’s license is
liable to be suspended/cancelled for contravention and the penalties are imposed as
per the Essential commodities Act, 1955. Seed testing has been recognized as an
essential aspect of seed quality. Accordingly, Section 4(2) of the Seeds Act, 1966
empowers the State Government to establish one or more State Seed Testing
Laboratories in the State.
8. Export and Import of Seed
The Export and Import (EXIM) Policy, 2002-07 (revised 2009-14) framed by Govt.
of India governs the export and import of seeds and planting materials. To encourage
export of seeds in the interest of farmers, the procedure for export of seeds has been
simplified. Seeds of various crops have been placed under the Open General License
(OGL) except the seeds of wild varieties, germplasms, breeder seeds and upon seeds
which are on restricted list under the new Export and Import Policy 2002-07 and
2009-2014. There is no restrictions on export of seeds of cultivated varieties w.e.f.
01.04.2002 except a few. The export of the seeds of following is restricted and is only
allowed on case-to-case basis under licence issued by Director General, Foreign Trade
on the basis of the recommendations of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation:
Breeder or foundation seeds or wild varieties
Onion, berseem, cashew, nux vomica, rubber, pepper cuttings, sandalwood,
saffron, neem, forestry species and wild ornamental plants such as Red
sanders, Russa Grass, tufts and Seeds of tufts
Export of niger is canalized through TRIFED, NAFED, etc.
Export of groundnuts is subjected to compulsory registration of contract
with APEDA
The provisions regarding import of seeds and planting material are as under:
Import of seeds/tubers/bulbs/cuttings/saplings of vegetables, flowers and
fruits is allowed without a licence in accordance with import permit granted
under Plant Quarantine (Order), 2003 and amendment made therein.
Import of seeds, planting materials and living plants by ICAR, etc. is allowed
without a licence in accordance with conditions specified by the Ministry
of Agriculture.
Import of seeds/tubers of potato, garlic, fennel, coriander, cumin, etc. is
allowed in accordance with import permit granted under PQ Order, 2003.
Import of seeds of wheat, rye, barley, oat, maize, rice, millet, jowar, bajra,
ragi, other cereals, soybean, groundnut, linseed, palm nut, cotton, castor,
sesamum, mustard, safflower, clover, jojoba, etc. is allowed without licence
subject to the New Policy on seed development, 1988 and in accordance
with import permit granted under PQ Order, 2003.
All imports of seeds and planting material is regulated under the Plant
Quarantine Order 2003. Import licences are granted by DGFT only on the
recommendations of DAC. On receipt of applications for commercial import, DAC
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considers the trial/evaluation report on the performance of the seed and their
resistance to seed/soil borne diseases. DAC is required to either reject or recommend
the application to DGFT for grant of import licence within 30 days of receipt. All
importers have to make available a small specified quantity of the imported seeds to
the ICAR at cost price for testing/accession to the gene bank of National Bureau of
Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR). The import of seeds has to be cleared/rejected by
Plant Protection Adviser (PPA) after quarantine checks within three weeks and the
rejected consignment has to be destroyed. During quarantine, the imported
consignment is kept in a bonded warehouse at the cost of the importer. While importing
seeds and plating material, there is absolutely no compromise on plant quarantine
procedures and each and every effort is made to prevent the entry of exotic pests,
diseases and weeds into India, that are detrimental to the interests of the farmers.
An EXIM Committee constituted in the seeds division deals with application for
exports/imports of seeds and planting materials in accordance with the New Policy
on Seed Development and EXIM regulations. Exporters/importers are required to
submit 20 copies of applications for export/import in the prescribed formats. The
Committee meets every month, subject to tendency of proposals analyzes applications
and gives recommendations to PPA/DGFT for issuing of the licence for import/
export of seeds and planting material. The minutes of the EXIM Committee are posted
on the Seednet portal (http://seednet.gov.in).
The statistics of world seed trade indicate that India has 6th largest size of
domestic seed market of about 1300 million dollars in the world but, it’s share in
global trade in seeds (import and export) is only about 37 million dollars.
Under the EXIM policy 2009-14 the new initiatives are:
Scheme for Promotion of Seed Export in sub-Mission of Seed and Planting
Material under National Mission on Agricultural Extension and
Technology (NMAET).
Encourage the export of seed by providing incentives to the exporters
The new policy for import of seeds and planting materials are aimed at:
To provide the best planting materials available anywhere in the world to
Indian farmers to increase the farm productivity.
All imports of seeds and planting materials etc. are allowed freely subject
to EXIM Policy, 2009-2014, New Policy on Seed Development, 1988 and
Plant Quarantine (Regulation of import into India) Order, 2003.
The New Policy on Seed Development (NPSD), of 1988 contains :
The NPSD 1988 heralded a new era of private enterprise.
Vegetable, flower and ornamental seeds could be imported freely under
OGL.
Seeds of oilseeds, pulses, fodder and coarse cereals like maize, sorghum
and other millet could be imported for two years by companies which had
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with companies abroad and also subject to the condition that initially a
small quantity of seeds will be imported and tested in ICAR’s multilocation
trials.
The bulk import was also allowed subject to the provision that the foreign
supplier agreed to supply parent line seed or breeder seeds to the Indian
company within two years of the date of first commercial consignment.
Import of items on the restricted list is allowed on case to case basis under
import permit issued by Plant Protection Advisor to the Government of
India, who issues import permits on the basis of recommendations from
the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.
The Policy on Seed Development, 1988 was revised on 27.6.2011 to allow import
of specifie quantity of seeds of wheat and paddy initially for trial and evaluation
purpose. Based on the results of trial for one crop season, the company may be allowed
to import bulk quantity of seeds of wheat and paddy for a period not exceeding two
years subject to the conditions. The trial and evaluation of imported seeds will be
conducted by ICAR in their Research Stations or in the farms which are accredited by
them.
FDI Policy on Seed Sector 2011
FDI is permitted up to 100 per cent under the automatic route in development
and production of seeds and planting materials subject to certain conditions.
The permission for FDI up to 100 per cent would encourage infusion of
foreign investment into the seed sector and would also facilitate indigenous
seed companies for strengthening of Research and Development activities
for development of seeds of better varieties.
About 38 companies have been cleared for FDI for seed related activities.
OECD Varietal Certification
The OECD seed scheme is one of the International frameworks available for
certification of agricultural seeds moving in international trade with an objective to
encourage use of seeds of consistently high quality in participating countries. The
schemes were established in 1958 driven by a combination of factors including a fast-
growing seed trade, regulatory harmonization in Europe, the development of off-
season production, the seed breeding and production potential of large exporting
countries in America (North and South) and Europe and the support of private
industry. Membership of the schemes is voluntary and participation varies.
To give a boost to seed export, India is participating in OECD seed schemes for
the following categories of crops:
Grasses and legumes
Crucifers and other oil or fiber species
Cereals
Maize and sorghum
Vegetables
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The OECD seed scheme authorizes use of labels and certificates for seed produced
and processed for international trade according to agreed principles. The Joint
Secretary (Seeds) in the DAC is the National Designated Authority. Further, heads of
seed certification agencies in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and Assam have been
nominated as the Designated Authorities under the scheme to undertake certification
work under OECD Seed Schemes.
9. Policies, Regulations and Legislative Framework
The Seeds Act, 1966 provides for the legislative framework for regulation of
quality control of seeds sold in the country. The Central Seed Committee (CSC) and
the Central Seed Certification Board (CSCB) are apex agencies set up under the Act to
deal with all matters relating to administration of the Act and quality control of
seeds.
The Government of India has taken following important policy initiatives in
seed sector:
Enactment of the Seeds Act (1966)
Seed Review Team-SRT (1968)
National Commission on Agriculture’s Seed Group (1972)
Launching of the world bank aided National Seeds Programme (1975-85)
in three phases leading to the creation of State Seeds Corporations, State
Seed Certification Agencies, State Seed Testing Laboratories, Breeder Seed
Programmes etc
Seed Control Order (1983)
Creation of the Technology Mission on Oilseeds and Pulses (TMOP) in
1986, lateron Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize
(ISOPOM) and National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP)
Production and Distribution Subsidy
Distribution of Seed Mini-kits
Seed Transport Subsidy Scheme (1987)
New Policy on Seed Development (1988)
Seed Bank Scheme (2000)
National Seeds Policy (2002)
The Seeds Bill (2004)
Formulation of National Seed Plan (2005)
National Food Security Mission (2007)
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (2007)
Some of the highlights of the Seeds Act, 1966 and the Seed Rules, 1968 are:
The Seeds Act and rules are applicable to notified seeds
Notification of kind/varieties of seeds under Section 5 of the Act

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Minimum limits for germination, physical and genetic purity of varieties/
hybrids for crops have been prescribed.
Labelling of seed is compulsory as per the Seeds Act.
State Governments appoints seed Analysts and seed Inspectors.
Seed Inspectors are vested with powers for quality control viz. to draw the
sample; enter and search; examine records, registers, and documents; seize
the stock and issue ‘Stop Sale’ order in case the commodities under reference
contravene provisions of law.
Inspectors are authorized to take punitive action and launch proceedings
against dealers found to be selling sub-standard seeds.
The seed in respect of which the contravention has been committed can be
forfeited under Section 20 of the Seeds Act.
The notified variety sold in the market should be labelled with the standard
of germination and physical purity (under section 6 a) colour, content and
size of the label (section 6 b) and here is penal provision if a person breaching
these, the Seed Inspector is empowered to prosecute him (section 13) with a
fine of Rs. 50/- the first offence (upto Rs. 1000/if repeated) or imprisonment
for six months or with both.
The highlights of Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 are:
Applicable to notified and non-notified seeds.
Issued in exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Essential
Commodities Act, 1955.
State Governments appoints Seed Inspectors who are vested with powers
for quality control viz. to draw the sample; enter and search; examine records,
registers, and documents; seize the stock and issue ‘Stop Sale’ order in case
the commodities under reference breach provisions of law.
Inspectors are authorized to take punitive action and launch proceedings
against dealers found to be selling sub-standard seeds.
The business of selling, exporting and importing seeds can be carried out
only under a license issued by the State government.
A dealer’s license is liable to be suspended/cancelled for contravention.
Seed dealers are required to maintain books and accounts and display the
stock position and its price.
The dealers can also be directed to distribute seeds in specified manner in
public interest.
The penalties are provided under Essential commodities Act, 1955.
The standards notified under section 6 of the Seeds Act are equally
applicable.
Seed inspectors (Clause 12) are empowered to draw the samples of seed,
whether it is notified or non-notified under Clause 13 of the said order,
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meant for sale, export and import and to send the same to a laboratory
notified under the Seeds Act.
GM crops which are mostly non-notified are covered under this provisions.
The National Seeds Policy, 2002 was created:
To achieve the food production targets and enhances the SRR of various
crops.
To create conducive climate for growth of the competitive and localized
seed industry, encouragement of import of useful germless and boosting of
export.
To evolve a long term policy for export of seed with a view to raise India’s
share of global seed export from the present level of less than 1 per cent to
10 per cent by the year 2020.
To establish and strengthen seeds export promotion Zones and Customise
Production of seed for export.
Create a data bank to provide information on International market for Indian
varieties in different parts of the world and establishment of seed testing/
certification facilities in conformity with International requirements.
The major thrust areas of National Seeds Policy, 2002 are: variety development,
plant variety protection, seed production, quality assurance, seed distribution and
marketing, infrastructure facilities, transgenic plant varieties, import of seeds and
planting materials, seed exports, promotion of domestic private sector seed industry
and strengthening of the monitoring systems.
The salient features of Seeds Bill, 2004 are:
Registration of kinds and varieties of seeds etc.
Evaluation of performance
Compensation to farmers
Registration of Seed producers and Processing units
Seed dealers to be registered
Regulation of seed certification and its sale
Seed analysis and testing
Export and import of seeds and planting material
Offences and punishment.
From the year 2005-06, the Seed Division department has launched a Central
Sector Scheme “Development and Strengthening of Infrastructure Facilities for
Production and Distribution of Quality Seeds”. The main components of which are
quality control arrangements on seeds, transport subsidy on movement of seeds to
North-East and other hilly areas, establishment and maintenance of Seed Bank, Seed
Village Scheme, assistance for creation of infrastructure facilities, assistance for
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assistance for seed export, propagation of application of biotechnology in agriculture,
promotion of use of hybrid seeds of rice and evaluation/review.
Variety Registration Procedures
In India each variety has to pass through three phases of evaluation (local, IET/
PYT and AVT). The best entries of the Breeders on the basis of their evaluation in local
programmes are contributed for testing in the Initial Yield Evaluation Trial (IET) or
Preliminary Yield Trial (PYT) organized by project coordinator (crops) in selected
number of places in each crop zone. The Pathologists and Entomologist
simultaneously also study their reaction to important diseases and pests. The entries
qualifying from yield, disease and quality point of view in IET/PYT are further tested
in the Uniform Regional Trials (URT) which are also called Advanced Varietal Trials
(AVT) or Coordinated Varietal Trials (CVT) which are organized at a very large
number of locations in each zone and the plot size is larger than that in IET. During
the tests, reaction to various diseases, pests and quality traits are also studied. Entries
found suitable in the second phase are again evaluated in the URT and simultaneously
supplied to Pathologists, Entomologists, Nematologists, Agronomists and Quality
Evaluation Groups to study the entries comprehensively for important factors. Actual
measurements are also made on other parameters. Agronomy group evaluates these
entries for their adaptability to varied range of agronomic variables such as sowing
dates, levels of fertilizers and number of irrigations etc. These tests are followed by a
critical discussion in a crop workshop.
A special multi-disciplinary committee of scientists is constituted at the workshop
to consider the proposals for identification of the varieties for release. Varieties evolved
by the SAUs and Government Research Institutes are tested within the concerned
states at limited locations. Central Seed Committee (CSC) pointed out in 1982 that
varieties of state importance might also be tested in the concerned All India Crop
Improvement Project. Simultaneous testing of all state varieties along with the Central
varieties provides exposure to the state varieties to a wide range of environments.
This will help to identify the varieties which are highly prone to diseases and pests
and release of which may cause problems in some other states.
To derive the benefit of identified superior genotypes by public, it is essential to
maintain a system to have quantities of promising genotypes made available for
commercial production. This process is referred to as release of the varieties. The
purpose of release system is to introduce newly evolved varieties to the public for
general cultivation in the suitable regions. It serves as a guideline in the choice of
varieties for cultivation in any region. The practice of official release of varieties
started in October, 1964 with the formation of the Central Variety Release Committee
(CVRC) at the central level and State Variety Release Committee (SARC) at state
level. The CVRC functioned up to November, 1969 when its functions were taken
over by the CSC established Seeds Act, 1966. The CSC constituted a Central Sub-
committee on crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties (CSC on CS, N
and RV). The sub-committee discharges the functions of release and notification of
varieties at Central level, while State Seed Sub-Committees (SSSCs) discharge similar
function at state level. The CSC and its Sub-committee have due representation for all
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the agencies involved in seed research, production and quality control namely State
Governments, SCAs, SAUs, ICAR Institutes, Seed producing agencies in public and
private sectors and seed farmers.
The PPVFRA suggested that nomenclature of varieties is very critical as
denominations of the varieties as per notification have to be maintained in protection
of varieties as per PPV and FRA rules and guidelines. However, in the 70th meeting of
CVRC in 2014, guidelines were issued for the nomenclature of all centrally released
varieties ccording to the recently approved guidelines of AICRPs in following manner:
For all the released varieties by CVRC the prefix of each variety would be
central variety followed by the name of the crop. For example : Central
Wheat
The proposed name by the university, institute/university centres will be
maintained along with above mentioned prefix. For example: Central Wheat
PBW 343
Nomenclature of the varieties on name of individuals, god/goddess and
political personalities is not acceptable.
PCs/PDs will ensure following these guidelines on nomenclature at the
time of VIC Meeting.
However, there are still debates going on these proposed names of centrally
released varieties.
Varietal Protection in India
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has at least half a dozen of
intergovernmental agreements that directly affect agriculture. The WTO member
countries must provide patent protection for any invention, whether product or
process, in all fields of technology and India is the signatory of WTO. In order to fulfil
the obligations under Article 27(3) b of Trade Related Aspects of the Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of the WTO, India has ratified, the Legislation for
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV and FR) and enacted in year
2001. Barton and Siebeck (1992) has clearly highlighted the prospects and
consequences of IPR issues. Sui Generis is not a system but a French adjective meaning
“distinctive” or “specific” and hence its meaning depend on place, people, and time.
A number of forms and their combinations will include sui generis forms of IPR. So
India will be an osterich if she hides behind sui generis, without being specific. A
number of systems could pass as sui generis, as alternative to IPR as many argue
(RAFI-UNDP 1999).
As per TRIPS the member states are allowed to “exclude from patentability inter
alia plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological process
for production of plants and animals other than non-biological and microbiological
process; however, members are required to provide protection to plant varieties either
by patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof”.
Developing economies and least developed economies are allowed a grace period of
four and ten years, respectively to implement these provisions failing that conventional
IPR will be enforced, which may.

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Undermine the efforts to implement the convention's new regime on control
over genetic resources;
Would not ensure benefit sharing; and
Limit in situ conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR) as it restricts
local and informal exchange of germplasm.
Under the TRIPS Agreement Article 27(3) (b), resulted from the negotiations of
the Uruguay Round, it is essential to protect plant varieties either by patents or by an
effective ‘sui generis’ system of protection or by a combination of both these systems. The
legislation provides for the establishment of an effective system for protection of
plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders and to encourage the
development of new varieties of plants. Finally India established Protection of Plant
Varieties and Farmers Rights (PPV and FR) Authority, under the Protection of Plant
Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001, which become operative from 11 th Nov. 2005
with the following objectives:
Establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, the
rights of farmers and plant breeders and to encourage development of new
varieties of plants.
Recognition and protection of the rights of farmers for their contribution in
conserving, improving and making the available plant genetic resources
for development of new varieties.
Accelerated agricultural development by stimulation of investment for
research and development both in public and private sectors.
Facilitate growth of seed industry to ensure availability of quality seeds
and planting material to the farmers.
The authority is in process of registration of plant varieties of 14 selected crops.
The national draft guidelines for the conduct of tests for distinctiveness, uniformity
and stability (DUS) for selected 35 crops have been finalized. The scheme provides
financial support for functioning of PPV and FR Authority and for developing DUS test
guidelines for crops and strengthening and equipping the DUS centres and identified
institutions. In 11th plan, the scheme had 12 components with an outlay of Rs.120
crores for implementation of PPV and FR Act with a target of setting up of two branch
offices of the authority and establishment of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Appellate
Tribunal besides other projections during the plan.
Under this provision, any of the following can make an application to the PPV
and FRA for registration of a variety:
Any person claimed to be a breeder of a variety.
Any person being the assignee of the breeder of a variety.
Any farmer or group of farmers or community claiming to be the breeder of
a variety.
Any university or publicly funded agricultural institution claiming to be
breeder of a variety.
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The Certificate of Registration shall confer an exclusive right on the breeder, his
successor, his agent or licensee the right to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or
export the variety. A National Register of plant varieties will be maintain by the PPV
and FR Authority. The Certificate of Registration shall be valid for 9 years in the case
of trees and vines and 6 years in case of other crops. The total period of variety shall
not exceed 18 years for trees and vines and 15 years for extant varieties notified under
Seeds Act and for other crops. The PPV and FR Authority shall invite claims for
beneficiary of any registered variety on the basis of following:
The extent and nature of the use of genetic material of the claimant.
Commercial utility and demand in market of the variety relating to which
benefit has been claimed.
The benefit determined by the PPV and FR Authority shall be deposited by the
breeder with the ‘National Gene Fund’ and the amount of benefit sharing shall be
recoverable as area of land revenue.
Farmer who has developed or bred a new variety shall be entitled for registration
as a breeder of a variety. Farmer shall be deemed to be entitled to save, use, sow, re-
sow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected
under this Act in the same manner as he was entitled before coming into force of this
Act provided that the farmer shall not be entitled to sell branded seed of a variety
protected under this Act. Farmers’ variety shall be entitled for registration.
Farmer who is engaged in the conservation of genetic resources of land basis
and wild relatives of economic plans and their improvement and preservation shall
be entitled to recognition and reward from the Gene Fund provided the material so
selected and preserved has been used as a donor of genes in varieties registerable
under the PPV and FR Act. Any person or group of persons (whether actively engaged
in farming or not) or any other government or non-government organization may
stake a claim on behalf of the village or local community.
There is a provision for compulsory licensing to meet the reasonable requirement
of the public for seed or other propagating materials. The PPV and FR Authority has
official website: www.plantauthority.gov.in for further informations and update.
7. Summary and Conclusions
Seed, with its inherent genetic potential, is an important component of production
technology of any crop and variety. Now-a days, seed security is a prerequisite for
achieving food security as use of quality seeds alone increases 15-20 per cent crop
productivity besides enhancing the efficacy of all other inputs. Successful quality
seed programme encompasses production of sufficient quantity of seed with
appropriate research back-up on seed production, maintenance, certification, quality
assurance, processing, storage, seed protection and quality enhancement. A
systematic, strong and vibrant seed production system is essential for future agriculture
growth of the country and finally food security.
The Indian seed improvement programme is backed by a strong crop improvement
programme in both the public and private sectors and now the industry is highly

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active and well recognized internationally and several developing and neighbouring
countries are benefited from quality seed from India. Indian seed sector consists of
public sector institutions such as ICAR institutes, SAU’s, NSC, SSCs and SFCIs and
private seed companies. The ICAR institutes and SAU’s are engaged in developing
new varieties and hybrids of different crops and production of breeder and basic
seeds.
The Seed Programme, which is now occupying a pivotal place in Indian
agriculture and is well poised for continued growth, has evolved, seed quality
specifications of international standards over the years and adopted by both public
and private sectors. India has a strong rigorous mechanism for seed quality control
through voluntary seed certificate and compulsory labelling monitored by provincial
level seed law enforcement agencies. The Indian seed processing/conditioning
industry has also perfected the post harvest handing techniques of quality up-
gradation and maintenance to ensure high standards of physical condition and
quality. By virtue of the diverse agro-climates several geographical zones in the country
emerged as ideal seed storage locations under ambient conditions.
India’s Seed Programme has a strong seed production base in terms of diverse
and ideal agro-climates spread throughout the country for producing high quality
seeds of several tropical, temperate and sub-tropical plant varieties in enough
quantities at competitive prices. The seed industry has three well reputed national
level associations apart from several provincial level groups to take care of the interests
of the industry. The NSC is the single largest seed organization in the country with a
wide product range, pioneered the growth and development of a sound industry in
India. The NSC, SFCI, SSCs and other seed producing agencies are continuously and
gradually expanding all their activities, product range, volume and value of seed
handled and level of seed distribution to the un-reached areas, etc. Over the years,
several seed crop zones have evolved with extreme levels of specialization. There are
more than 20,000 seed dealers and seed marketing distributors in the business.
For seed technology research, presently India has a national level Directorate at
Mau and separate departments in several ICAR institutions as well as SAUs with
seed technology division of ICAR-IARI at New Delhi the most prominent one. In seed
education, nearly 10 state agricultural and traditional universities offer post
graduation in seed technology.
A total of 706 and 648 varieties of field crops were released during X and XI plan,
respectively. The seed supply system in India can be divided into formal and informal
systems. The formal seed supply is from public sector organizations and private seed
companies. Informal seed supply deals with farmer saved seed and exchange/sharing
within farming community which comprises about 60 per cent of seed availability.
Public sector produces bulk of self pollinated crops/high volume low value crops
such as rice and wheat accounting for about 60 per cent. Private seed sector deals
mostly in seed production of hybrids, vegetables and flowers contributing almost 50
per cent to the total quality seed production.
During 10th plan with launch of a mega seed project and upgradation of National
Seed Project into a Directorate of Seed Research, ICAR led double the breeder seed
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2416 |
production from 2.2 lakhs q in 10th plan to 4.4 lakh q in 11th plan. Creation of
infrastructures for seed production, processing, storage by ICAR seed project resulted
in competence enhancement of the personnel involved in public seed sector and
finally resulted in increase of the quality seed production from 2.4 lakh q in 2005-06
(at the inception of project) to 6.9 lakh qu during 2011-12. The availability of total
quality seed during 2013-14 to the farmers in India was 3.44 m t as compared to 2.50
m t in 2008-09.
There has been a tremendous increase in the SRR of various crops during the
last decade which improved production and India achieved an all time high food
production of 265 million tonnes during 2013 whic led to increased export of several
crop commodities. During 2011 the achieved SRR were 33 per cent in wheat, 40 per
cent in paddy, 57 per cent in hybrid maize, 24 per cent in sorghum, 60 per cent in
pearl millet, 30 per cent in moong and 24 per cent in groundnut. The adoption of
quality seeds of improved varieties and hybrids appreciably increased the production
of oilseeds by 21 per cent, rice by 13 per cent, wheat by 25 per cent and pulses by 20
per cent in 2011-12 over that of 2006-07.
Sustained increase in agricultural production and productivity necessarily
requires continuous development of new and improved varieties as well as hybrids
of crops and efficient system of production and supply of seeds to farmers. As seed is
a critical input for enhancing productivity of all agricultural and horticultural crops,
some of the priority areas which require research and developments are listed below:
All the states should give more attention for production and distribution of
Quality seed of various crops.
All the varieties of field crops released during X, XI and XII plans may be
multiplied.
All the crop varieties released recently may be got registered under PPV
and FR act.
Release of crop varieties for specific nitches i.e. acid, calcareous and saline
soils.
Rapid multiplication of recently released varieties from breeder to
foundation seeds.
Encourage potential varieties through quality seed production.
Discourage multiplication of low yielding old varieties, but encourage
multiplication of nutrient efficient potential old varieties with consistent
yield.
The quality seed may be determined based on germination and survival,
not on the size.
Systematic and meticulous field evaluation and seed certification.
Seed policy may be implemented to the best of its benefit to farmer.
The emphasis needed on the release of nutrient efficient crop varieties.
There is an urgent need for the SSCs to transform themselves in tune with
the industry in terms of infrastructure, technologies, approach and the

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management culture to be able to survive in the competitive market and to
enhance their contribution in the national endeavour of increasing food
production to attain food and nutritional security.
Enabling the resource poor farmers with quality seed and its production
technology is still an imminent challenge and needs to be focused upon.
Streamline seed research system to deliver commercially viable technologies
on production, storage and processing, seed quality enhancement and
control etc.
As 60 per cent of farmers use farm saved seeds, technological intervention
for up-gradation of such seed requires immediate attention. Village-based
seed banks may serve as an alternative to help farmers become self-reliant.
Participatory seed production involving farmers, seed village scheme,
community seed banks is effective strategy to make available quality seed
of improved varieties hybrids at appropriate time and affordable price
enabling partnership with private sector; self help groups, non-government
organizations and community based organizations.
Capacity building with focus on skill intensification, technology
dissemination needs to be further strengthened. This would require
organized communities, institutional technical backstopping and
continued interaction between various institutions, policymakers and
stakeholders to strengthen local seed systems to enhance seed productivity
and availabilty thereby enabling food security.
Similarly, for post harvest handing, the Indian seed processing/
conditioning industry has perfected the techniques of quality up-gradation
and maintenance to ensure high standards of physical condition and
quality. By virtue of the diverse agro-climates several geographical zones
in the country have emerged as ideal seed storage locations under ambient
conditions. In terms of seed marketing and distribution, more than about
20000 seed dealers and distributors are in the business.
Organization and establishment of a seed certification agency need careful
planning taking into consideration the anticipated acreage for certification
of various crops and varieties, area of operation, farm sizes etc.
There is a need for strengthening the quality seed production programme
in the country.
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Annexure 1
State-wise List of Seed Testing Laboratories
and Certification Agencies in India
Andhra Pradesh
1 Seed Testing Laboratory, 1561-A, Smith Road, Cuddapha.
2. A. P. State Seed Development Corporation, Quality Control Laboratory,
Hyderabad.
3. Seed Testing Laboratory, Dist. West Godavari, Tadapaligudam – 534101.
4. National Seeds Corporation Ltd., Quality Control Lab (South), 17-11,
Tukaramgate, North Lallaguda, Secunderabad – 500017
5. Seed Testing Laboratory, Vijaywada.
6. A.P. State Seed Certifn Agy, Mini Seed Testing Lab, Govt. Farm, Amravati,
Guntur.
7. A.P. State Seed Certifn Agency, Seed Testing Lab, Rajendra Nagar,
Hyderabad 500030.
Bihar
8. Seed Testing Laboratory, Purvi Champaran.
9. Regional Seed Testing Laboratory, Combind Building, Agriculture
Department, Dumka.
10. Regional Seed Testing Laboratory, Bharat Krishi Mahavidyalya, Dholo,
Dist. Muzaffarnagar.
11. Regional Seed Testing Laboratory, Krishi Bhawan, Sahabaganj.
12. Seed Testing Laboratory, Mithapur Farm, Patna.
13. Regional Seed Testing Laboratory, Laharia Sarai, Dist. Darbhanga.
14. Seed Testing Laboratory, Patna Seed Certification, Krishi Bhawan, Mithapur,
Patna.
Delhi
15. National Seeds Corporation Ltd., Quality Control Laboratory, Beej Bhawan,
Pusa. Complex, New Delhi – 110012.
16. Seed Testing Laboratory, Development Department, Govt. of Delhi, Barawala
Complex, Barawala, New Delhi – 110039.
17. Seed Testing Laboratory, Mori Gate, Delhi.
Assam
18. Seed Testing Laboratory, Chandmari Road, Silchar, Distt. Cachar.
19. Seed Testing Laboratory, Assam State Seed Certification Agency, Ulubari,
Guwahati – 781 007.
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2422 |
20. Seed Testing Lab, Assam State Seed Certification Agency, Jail Road,
Barbheta, Jorhat.
21. Seed Testing Officer, Assam State Seed Certification Agency, Barapura Main
Road, Bonganigaon – 783380.
Gujarat
22. Seed Testing Laboratory, Mini Krishi Bhawan, Nilam Baug, Junagadh –
362 001.
23. Seed Testing Laboratory, Sector-15, Gandhinagar – 361 001.
24. Seed Testing Laboratory, University Campus, Navsari, Dist. Valsad.
Goa
25. Seed Testing Laboratory, Agriculture and Horticulture Research Station,
Ela, Old Goa.
Haryana
26. Seed Testing Laboratory, IADP, C/o Deputy Director of Agriculture, Uchani,
Karnal.
27. Seed Testing Unit, Department of Plant Breeding, HAU, Hissar.
28. Seed Testing Laboratory, Haryana State Seed Certification Agency, Beej
Pramanikaran, Bhawan, Bay 11-12, Sector – 14, Panchkula – 134109.
Himachal Pradesh
29. Seed Testing Lab, Holta at Palampur, O/O DDA, Palampur-176 061,
Himachal Pradesh.
30. Seed Testing Lab, Solan at Chambaghat, O/O DDA, Solan – 173 213,
Himachal Pradesh.
Jammu and Kashmir
31. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Lalmandi, Srinagar.
32. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Talab Tilloo, Jammu –
180 002.
Jharkhand
33. Regional Seed Testing Laboratory, Krishi Golpahari, Tatanagar,
Jamshedpur.
34. Seed Testing Laboratory, Ranchi.
Karnataka
35. Seed Testing Laboratory, Dy. Director of Horticulture, Lalbagh,Bangalore –
560 004.
36. Seed Testing Laboratory,Opposite Pepsi Factory, Belgaum Road,Dharwad
– 580008.

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37. Seed Testing laboratory,Karnataka State Seed Certification Agency, Opposite
Baptist Hospital, KAIC Compound, Bellary Road, Hebbal, Bangalore –
560024.
38. Seed Testing Laboratory, Davanagere
39. Seed Testing Laboratory, Gangavathi
40. Seed Testing Laboratory, UAS, Bangalore – 560 024.
41. Seed Testing Laboratory, UAS, Dharwad – 580 008.
Kerala
42. Seed Testing Laboratory, Parattukonam, Thiruvannthapuram.
43. Seed Testing Laboratory, Kalarcode, P.O. Alleppyy – 688003.
44. Seed Testing Laboratory, Pattambi.
Chhattisgarh
45. Seed Testing Laboratory, Krishak Nagar, Raipur.
Maharashtra
46. Seed Testing Laboratory, Opposite Institute of Science, Maharaj bagh Square,
Civil Lines, Nagpur – 440001.
47. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, New Modha, Parbhani
– 431401.
48. Quality Control laboratory, Maharashtra State Seeds Corporation Ltd.,
Parbhani.
49. Seed Testing Lab, Dept of Agriculture, Ashirwad Building, Rautwadi, Akola
– 444005.
50. Seed Testing Lab, Department of Agriculture, Agri. Engg. Workshop
Premises, Dargah Road, Aurangabad – 431005.
51. Seed Testing Lab, Dept of Agriculture, Krishi Bhawan, Shivaji Nagar, Pune
– 411 005.
52. Quality Control Lab, Maharashtra State Seed Corpn., Plot No. 8, Shastri
Nagar, Akola.
Madhya Pradesh
53. Seed Testing Lab, M.P. State Seed Certification Agency, Krishi Nagar,
Adhartal, Jabalpur.
54. Seed Testing Laboratory, Veterinary Campus, M.O.G. Lines, Mhow
Naka,Indore.
55. M.P. Fodder Seed Production and Distribution Proj.19-M.P. Nagar, Zone-
II, Bhopal 462001.
NEH
56. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Manipur,
Mantirpukhri, Imphal – 795 003.
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Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2424 |
57. Seed Testing Laboratory, Dept of Agr, Fruit Garden, East Khasi Hills,
Shillong- 793 003.
58. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Mizoram, Aizawal.
59. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Majitar– 737 135.
Sikkim
60. Seed Testing laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Arundherti Nagar,
Agartala, Tripura
Odisha
59. Seed Testing Laboratory, Rayadada, (DAO, Office Campus), Dist. Rayagada
– 765 001.
60. Seed Testing Laboratory, Bargarh, At/Ekamra Chhack, Post Sarasara,
bargarh – 768 028.
61. Seed Testing Laboratory, At – P.O. Balia, Distt. Balasore.
62. Seed Testing Laboratory, Odisha State Seed Certification Agency, At
Samantarapur, PO – Bhubaneswar, District – Khurdha – 751 002.
63. Seed Testing Laboratory, Odisha State Seed Certification Agency, Palaapalli
64. Seed Testing Laboratory, Odisha State Seed Certification Agency, Sambalpur
Pudducherry
65. Seed Testing Laboratory, Krishi Vigyan Kendra Campus, Lyyankutti-
palayam, Pondicherry- 605 009.
Punjab
66. Seed Testing Laboratory, Punjab Agricultural University Campus,
Ludhiana.
67. Seed Testing Laboratory, Gurdaspur.
68. Seed Testing Laboratory, Chief Agricultural Officer, Faridkot.
Rajasthan
69. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Durgapura, Jaipur.
70. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Sriganganagar.
71. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Karkhaw Bagh, Kota.
72. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, 24, Paota, Jodhapur.
73. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Alwar.
74. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Chittorgarh.
Tamil Nadu
76. Seed Testing Laboratory, Directorate of Seed certification, Coimbatore –
641003.
77. Seed Testing Laboratory, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Dept of Seed
Science and Technology, Coimbatore – 641 003.

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78. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Seed Certification, Alwar Nagar,
Nagamalai Pundu Kottai, Madurai – 625 019.
79. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Seed Certification, Dharampuri –
636 705.
80. Seed Testing Lab, Dept. of Seed Cert, South Street, Manarpuram, Trichirapalli
– 620 020.
81. Seed Testing Lab, Dept. of Seed Cert, Kattihottam Mariamman, Kali,
Thanjavaur- 631 001.
82. Seed Testing Laboratory, Nirubar Colony, Palayam Kattai, Tirunelveli –
627 002.
83. Seed Testing Lab, Dept. of Seed Certification, Panjepettai, Kancheepuram –
613 502.
84. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Seed Certification, Erode.
85. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Seed Certification, Salem.
Uttar Pradesh
87. Regional Agriculture Seed Testing and Demonstration Station, Dept of Agric,
Barabanki.
88. Regional Agriculture Seed Testing and Demonstration Station, Department
of Agriculture, 9515, Civil Line, Jhansi, U.P.
89. Regional Agriculture Seed Testing and Demonstration Station, Dept of Agric,
Meerut.
90. Seed Testing Laboratory, U.P. Seed Development Corporation C-973/74 B,
Faizabad Road, Mahanagar, Lucknow – 226 006.
91. Regional Agriculture Seed Testing and Demonstration Station, Dept. of
Agric, Azamgarh.
92. Seed Testing Lab, U.P. State Seed Certification Agency, 35-C/6, Rampur
Bagh, Bareilly.
93. Regional Agricultural Testing and Demonstration Station (R.A.T.D.S.), Post
– Industrial Estate, Varanasi – 221 106.
94. Regional Agriculture Seed Testing and Demonstration Center, Department
of Agriculture, 32/8, Civil Line, Mathura.
95. Regional Agriculture Seed Testing and Demonstration Center, Department
of Agriculture, Station Road, Bardoi.
96. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Seed Technology, C.S. Azad
University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur.
Uttarakhand
97. Regional Agric Seed Testing and Demonstration Center, Dept. Agri
Haldwani, Nainital.
98. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College
of Agriculture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
Pantnagar – 263 145.
Quality Seed: A Mega Factor in Enhancing Crop Productivity

Recent Advances in Crop Physiology Vol. 2426 |
99. Seed Testing Laboratory, Uttaranchal Seeds and Tarai Development
Corporation Ltd., Pantnagar, P.O. Haldi, District- Udham Singh Nagar –
263 146.
100. Seed Testing Laboratory, Uttarakhand State Seed Certification Agency, 12/
II, Vasant Vihar, Dehradun – 248 006.
101. Seed Testing Laboratory, Rudrapur.
West Bengal
102. Seed Testing Lab, Dept of Agric, Malda Gaur Road, P.O. – Mukdumpur,
Dist Malda.
103. Seed Testing Laboratory, State Agriculture Research Institute (SARI),
Department of Agriculture. 230-A, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Road,
Tollygunge, Kolkata –700 040.
104. Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Kolkata
105. Seed Testing Lab, Dept of Agri, Makdoompur.
Central Seed Testing Laboratory
106. Central Seed Testing Laboratory, (For testing of all seeds except Bt. Cotton
Seed), National Seed Research and Training Centre, G.T. Road, Collectry
Farm, Varanasi – 221 106, U.P.
107. Central Seed Testing Laboratory, (Only for testing Bt. Cotton Seed) Central
Institute of Cotton Research, (ICAR), Nagpur.
List of ISTA Accredited Lab
1. Bejo Sheetal Seeds Pvt. Ltd. Bejo Sheetal Corner, Mantha Road Jalna –
431203, MS.
2. Indo-American Hybrid Seeds (India) Pvt Ltd., Seed Lab, 7th km,
Banashankari, Kengeri Link Rd, Uttarahalli Hobli, Channasandra,
SubramanyaPura, Bangalore 560 061.
3. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd. Quality Assurance Laboratory
Jalna- Aurangabad Road, Dawalwadi, Badnapur Tq P.O.Box 76, Jalna –
431 203 (M.S.)
4. Namdhari Seeds Pvt. Ltd., Seed Production and Testing 119, 9th Main,
Ideal Homes Townships, Rajarajeshwari Nagar 560 098, Bangalore.