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India is famous as the ‘Land of Spices’ world over. Spices are nature’s gift to humankind for flavoring our food. They are also used as preservative and in pharmaceuticals. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of seed spices and their value added products. About 63 different spice crops are cultivated in the country. Among them, seed spices are annual herbs, whose dried seeds or fruits are used as spices. These crops share 21.87% in terms of quantity and 7.42 % in terms of value to total spices export in the country. The country grows a wide variety of seed spices like coriander, cumin, fenugreek and fennel as major crop, while, dill, nigella, ajwain, anise, celery, caraway, parsley, black cumin and few other are categories as the minor seed spices.

Seed
The seed, in botany is a mature ovule, consisting of an embryo together with a store of food all surrounded by a protective coat and bear ability to develop a new plant on optimum conditions of soil, moisture and light. It usually develops after the fertilization on an egg cell by male generative cell from a pollen grain. Seeds of some species develop without the intervention of the male cell, formed entirely of ‘mother’ tissue. Such seeds are called apogamic seeds. In seed technology, the seed is seed or any vegetatively propagated material produced from seed crop in accordance to Indian seed standards and has potential to develop new crop in presence of soil, moisture and light.

Physical purity test determines the proportion of pure seed, other crop seed, weed seed, inert matter, moisture and germination components in the seed lot by weight in percentage in accordance to prescribed Seed Standards. It thus, helps in improving the plant stand, raising a pure crop by eliminating other crop seeds, weed seeds and disease free-seeds. Seed must not be sold until the percentage of pure seed, other crop seed, weed seed, and inert matter are in accordance to seed physical purity standards. Physical purity test is required for seed certification or seed law enforcement and it is a pre-requisite for ger- mination test.

Seed Viability Test

Germination test for a seed lot is a pre-requisite to know its potential of emergence under field condition. However, this test requires few days to weeks and a month in some cases. Tetrazolium test gives quick information on seed viability or germinability. It makes possible to distinguish red coloured living parts of seeds from the colourless dead ones. Staining of seeds determines  viability.  Completely  stained  seeds  are  viable  while,  partially and comparatively unstained seeds are non-viable. This test is not valid as compared to seed germination test.

Seed storage is the preservation of viable seeds from the time of collection to the required for sowing. It is important to get adequate plant stands in addition to healthy and vigourous plants.

Objectives

i. To maintain initial seed quality during storage period by providing suitable conditions.

ii. To maintain the seed germination and emergence rates.

iii. To prevent the seed deterioration during storage period.

iv. To maintain the physical and physiological seed qualities.

1.1. INTRODUCTION

During the last 30 years, India’s food production nearly doubled from 102 million tons. Almost all of this increase resulted from higher yield in all food grains rather than increase in area, particularly wheat, rice, maize and some extent in pulses and oil seed crops. This has contributed to a significant reduction in poverty from 55% to 26% (Dar, 2011). The increase in yield is the result of scientific innovations in India and other parts of the world and their adoption in India.

In 1871, the Government of India created Department of Agriculture. The impact of these departments in enhancement of crop productivity was not remarkable. Later, the Government of India established the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute in 1905 in Pusa, Bihar to enhance the agricultural research and education. Later, the headquarter of Imperial Agricultural Research Institute has been shifted to New Delhi in the year 1936. The name of the institute has been changed in 1946 as Indian Agricultural Research Institute. To boost the agricultural Research activities, Imperial Council of Agricultural Research was established in the year 1929, subsequently, the name of Imperial Council of Agricultural Research has been changed to its present form of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 1946. Since then, ICAR playing significant role in all sphere of agricultural research, education and extension. A number of varieties and hybrids of different crops have been developed and released by the scientists of ICAR. To test the outcome of the agricultural research, ICAR has started All India Coordinated Crop Improvement Projects, which provide an efficient channel for multilocation testing of newly evolved strains.

2.1. INTRODUCTION

Pollination is the process of mating in plants, that is, the transfer of pollen from anther to stigma. In flowers, pollen delivered to the stigma through a wide range of mechanisms that ensure an appropriate balance in the genetic makeup of the species. Most plant species have evolved ways to ensure an appropriate degree of interchange of genetic material between individuals in the population, and cross-pollination is the normal type of pollination. Plants benefit most by being pollinated by other individuals because this broadens the genetic characteristics of individual plants. As a result, they are more adaptable to necessary changes. Self- and often-pollinated crops evolved from cross pollinated crops.

Pollination followed by fertilization is important in agriculture, particularly for the crops whose economic part is either fruit or seed, such as, rice, wheat, fruit vegetables etc. For other crops, these events are also important for production of seed for cultivation of next generation, for examples, green vegetables (amaranth, palak, cabbage, cauliflower etc).

The study of pollination brings together many disciplines, such as botany, plant breeding, horticulture, entomology, and ecology. The pollination process as an interaction between flower and vector was first addressed in the 18th century by Christian Konrad Sprengel. It is important in horticulture and agriculture, because fruiting is dependent on fertilization, which is the end result of pollination.

3.1. INTRODUCTION

Heterosis is the superiority of the F1s over the parental forms. The term heterosis was first used by Shull (1910) to describe the interpretation of increased vigour, size, fruitfulness, speed of development, resistance to diseases and insect pests or some other characteristics manifested by out-breeding organisms as compared to corresponding inbreds. Exploitation of heterosis is gaining momentum due to increased yield, quality, uniformity, better desirable traits and management of biotic stresses. The future of most of the economic crops will be for hybrids for sustainable development of higher economic returns to the farmers. Sustainable increase in area under hybrid crops is witnessed by its popularity and adoption by the farmers.

4.1. INTRODUCTION

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the major food crop in the world. Nearly 40% of the world population consumes rice as the major staple food. Most of the people, who depend on rice as primary food, live in the less developed countries.  Archeological evidence on rice in India dates back to 1500-1000 B.C. Since the dawn of civilization, rice has served humans as a life-giving cereal in the humid regions of Asia and, to a lesser extent, in West Africa. Introduction of rice into Europe and the America has led to its increased use in human diets. There are 42 rice producing countries throughout the world but China and India are major rice production centers. Rice is grown in wide range of agro-climatic conditions ranging from mountainous (Jammu) lands to low land delta areas (Sundarban), spanning an area from 53° latitude north to 35° south of the world but about 90% of the crop is grown and consumed in Asia. Rice provides fully 60% of the food intake in Southeast Asia and about 35% in East Asia and South Asia. The highest level of per capita rice consumption (130-180 kg per year, 55-80% of total caloric source) takes place in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam (Kenneth and Kriemhild, 2000). In many cultures of the world rice is the central part of people’s life and culture. Rice is an excellent food and is an excellent source of carbohydrates and energy.

5.1. INTRODUCTION
     
Rice is an important provider of nourishment for the world’s population. Indian scented rice, ‘Basmati’ has dominated the domestic and international market for aroma. Aromatic rice is an important commodity worldwide and command premium price over non-scented varieties. Most of the trade in aromatic rice is from India, Pakistan and Thailand. Bulk of aromatic rice from India and Pakistan consist of Basmati, while Thailand is the supplier of Jasmine rice. The Indian subcontinent has the Natural Gift of basmati rice that has been accepted as the best scented, long and slender grain in the world markets and gets high price. In addition to Basmati, many local landraces are grown traditionally, which excel in aroma, grain quality and cooking quality. Most of these genotypes are short bold to medium bold grain and hence not traded in the international market. However, in the domestic market its demand is greater than the Basmati rice. These are mainly used for special preparation, such as Khir in Bengal.

6.1. INTRODUCTION

After introduction of TN-1 (Taichung Native-1), Jaya, IR8 and other high yielding rice varieties during sixties and seventies, the productivity increased drastically and remained at plateau since last three decades. With no possibility to extend land area for rice cultivation in Asia, there is some scope for production advantages in rice through further expansion of high yielding varieties coverage in Pakistan, Thailand and India, expansion of area under irrigation in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, or expansion of boro rice in Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. Thus, utilization of heterosis has become one of the main methods for increasing yield. Hybrid is one of the viable and proven technologies to improve rice productivity. China is the first successful country to produce hybrid rice in appreciable quantity. This technology not only helped China to increase the rice productivity, but also to save land for crop diversification. The 'National Food Security Mission' has been launched envisaging increase of annual rice production by 10 million tons by 2011-'12. Here, hybrid rice may play important role to achieve the assigned target.

7.1. INTRODUCTION

The cultivation of wheat (Triticum spp.) reaches far back into history. Wheat was one of the first domesticated food crops and for 8000 years has been the basic staple food of the major civilizations of Europe, West Asia and North Africa. Today, wheat is grown on more land area than any other commercial crop and continues to be the most important food grain source for humans. Its production leads all crops, including rice, maize and potatoes.

Wheat is special in several ways. It is grown on more than 240 million ha, larger than for any other crop, and world trade is greater than for all other crops combined. The raised bread loaf is possible because the wheat kernel contains gluten, an elastic form of protein that traps minute bubbles of carbon dioxide when fermentation occurs in leavened dough, causing the dough to rise (Hanson et al., 1982). It is the best of the cereal foods and provides more nourishment for humans than any other food source. Wheat is a major diet component because of the wheat plant’s agronomic adaptability, ease of grain storage and ease of converting grain into flour for making edible, palatable, interesting and satisfying foods.

8.1. INTRODUCTION

Exploitation of heterosis through development of hybrid wheat is one of the most attractive options to increase wheat productivity. The efforts on developments of hybrid wheat started in early fifties (Kihara, 1951; Fukasawa, 1953) through cytoplasmic male sterility system (Livers and Heyne, 1968). Later, in seventies, research works from public as well as private sectors have shifted their efforts to the use of gametocide (chemically hybridizing agent-CHA), and a number of gametocides were tested in eighties. In wheat, heterosis is especially interesting for grain yield and for the resistance of plants to both parasites and climate risks (Rousset, 1986). With this advantage in mind, the first phase of hybrid wheat development started in the United States in 1975. Chronological events of wheat hybrid development have been given in Table 8.1. Subsequently, a number of hybrid wheat has been released in countries such as Argentina, France, and United States (Pickett, 1993).

9.1. INTRODUCTION

Maize (Zea mays L. ssp. mays 2n = 20), known as corn in some countries is an important cereal crop of the world. The scientific name from Greek word ‘Zea’ for a kind of grain and West Indian word ‘malnis’ for corn. Maize was domesticated in Mesoamerica and hence formed the Mesoamerican people’s identity and later it spread throughout American continent. Maize is widely cultivated throughout the world and a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other cereal grain. USA produces almost half of the world’s harvest (42.5%) and other top producing countries include China, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, India and France. During the year 2007, worldwide maize productivity was around 4970 kg per ha. Maize is the only cereal that can be harvested and used at various stages of plant development. The crop can be cultivated on a wide area from 580 N to 400 S from below sea level to altitudes higher than 3000 m and in areas with 250 mm to more than 5000 mm of rainfall per year (Shaw, 1988, Dowswell et al., 1996).

10.1. INTRODUCTION

The development of hybrid breeding methodology in maize and its successful application to exploit heterosis is considered as significant achievement of plant breeding in the present century. 
Even though Beal (1880) suggested for commercial cultivation of F1 varietal hybrids. It was Shull (1909) on the basis of his experiment gave pure line method of corn breeding, which laid foundation for present day hybrid breeding. Pure line methods of maize breeding involve three steps. 
    
·    Large scale inbreeding to obtain many homozygous/nearly homozygous inbred lines. 
    
·    Testing the selected inbred lines in all possible crosses.
    
·    Practical utilization of inbred lines in seed production of single cross hybrids.

11.1. INTRODUCTION

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is the fifth most important cereal crop and is the dietary staple of more than 500 million people in over 90 countries, primarily in the developing world. It is grown on 47 m ha in 104 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Among those, USA, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Sudan, China, and Argentina are the major sorghum producers globally. Sorghum grain is mostly used directly for food (55%), and is consumed in the form of porridges (thick or thin) and flat breads; however sorghum is also an important feed grain (33%), especially in Australia and the Americas. Stover (crop residue after grain harvest) is an important fodder source to both milch and draft animals in mixed crop-livestock systems. Sorghum is also a good source of green fodder due to its quick growth and high yield and quality of biomass. Of late, sorghum with sugar-rich juicy stalks (called sweet sorghum) is emerging as an important biofuel crop. Thus sorghum is a unique crop with multiple uses as food, feed, fodder, fuel and fiber. Sorghum is generally grown in rainy season (spring) but in India it is grown in both rainy and postrainy seasons. The postrainy season sorghum grain is prized for its food value (Reddy et al., 2009).

12.1. INTRODUCTION

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is an important food/feed/fodder crop in more than 90 countries across the world and it is one of the cheapest sources of energy and micronutrients (Reddy et al., 2009; Ashok Kumar et al., 2011). Considerable efforts have been made to improve sorghum productivity through genetic enhancement and crop production and protection research all over the globe. Sorghum being an often cross-pollinated crop with cross pollination up to 2-15% depending on genotype and environment (House 1985), initially, pure-lines were the target products although phenomenon of heterosis was demonstrated in sorghum as early as in 1927 (Conner and Karper, 1927). Predominant self-pollinating nature of sorghum with tiny florets with single seed per emasculation and pollination prevented commercial exploitation of heterosis for commercial sorghum production. However, the discovery of a stable and heritable cytoplasmic-nuclear male-sterility (CMS) mechanism (Stephens and Holland, 1954), enabling large-scale, economic hybrid seed production gave a fillip to the exploitation of heterosis since early 1960s. The first commercial sorghum hybrid CSH 1 was released in 1964 in India. Using CMS mechanism, large number of commercial hybrids have been developed and released/marketed for commercial cultivation in all sorghum growing regions with strong Indian National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS).

13.1. INTRODUCTION

Pearl millet crop has a wide adaptability to local environments. It is hardy and can be grown in areas which are very hot and dry and on soils too poor for sorghum. Pearl millet is considered more efficient in utilization of soil moisture and has a higher level of heat tolerance than even sorghum and maize. It is adapted to warm and dry climate but most of the area under the crop is in drought- prone areas of the world. In these areas, pearl millet is usually grown with limited inputs, sparse rainfall, low soil fertility, and also face disease and pest problems, with correspondingly poor yields.
 
The low average yields are primarily a result of the hot, dry conditions where pearl millet is mostly grown, rather than pearl millet plant’s capability. Pearl millet hybrids grown under better conditions yield 3000 to 4000 kg/ha compared to 300 to 800 kg/ha when moisture and soil fertility become limiting factors. A majority of the subsistence farmers who typically cultivate this crop are unable to take advantage of high yield potential because they have limited options for improving their management practices. Pearl millet production can be increased through growing varieties/hybrids with improved tolerance to drought, diseases and responding to higher rates of fertilizer applications.

14.1. INTRODUCTION

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L. emend. Bowden) is one the most important ancient crops and played very important role in the development of agriculture and human civilization. It has also played crucial role in the progress of science of agriculture, physiology, genetics, plant breeding and malting and brewing science. It is the fourth most cereal crop after rice, wheat and maize in acreages and production in the world.  It is grown and used all around the world in many countries and has fed livestock, poultry and people since ancient time.  Barley was domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Fertile Crescent is considered the first of at least seven primary centres of agriculture origin in the world (Smith, 1998; Baik and Ulrich, 2008). Barley is best known around the world as a feed grain and a premier grains for malting and brewing. When most people think of composition of beer, they only think of barley over other cereals. Although utilization of barley for food is relatively low as compared to other cereals today, throughout its history barley has remained an important and major food source poor people living in Western and Eastern Asia and Northern and Eastern Himalayan region nation like Tibet, Nepal and in Northern and Eastern Africa (Newman and Newman, 2006, 2008). Moreover, there has been resurgence of interest and use of barley as food primarily in the developed world due to an increasing emphasis on incorporating the diversity in consumption of whole grain in people’s diets due to its health benefits.

15.1. INTRODUCTION

Finger millet Eleusine indica (L.) is an Old World cereal grass commonly known as ‘finger millet’, is one of the staple food crop especially in India and Africa, which is widely grown in the arid regions of Asia and Africa and important minor millet grown in India.  Eleusine, the generic name, is obtained after the “Eleusine” the Greek Goddess of cereals and the common name finger millet is derived from the finger like branching of the panicle. It is also know by Goosegrass, Yardgrass, Wiregrass, Silver Crabgrass, Crowfoot Grass. It is commonly known as Finger millet in English, Kelvaragu in Tamil, Nachani in Marathi etc. Some Indian varieties of finger millet are Kempu ragi, Ragalli shivalli, Pichakaddi etc.  This crop is one among the hardiest crops which can with stand severe drought conditions and can also grow well under scanty rainfall condition. However with good irrigation facilities the yield of finger millet matches with crops like rice. Finger millet seeds remain free of pests and insects for a long duration extending up to 50 years hence serving as a food reserve in case of tough situations like famine.