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New Seed Policy

Ministry of Agriculture, vide Letter No.11-71/88-SD-1 dated September 16,1988, has brought out ‘New Policy on Seed Development’, with the aim of providing to the farmers the best planting materials available in the world so as to increase productivity and thereby increasing farm income and export earnings. The Policy covers the import of seeds of coarse cereals/pulses/oil seeds; vegetable and flower seeds; bulbs/tubers of flowers; cuttings/ saplings/bud/wood etc., of flowers; and seeds & planting material of fruits. The following are the guidelines for the import of above categories of seed/planting material under the Seed Policy

Import of Seeds of Coarse Cereals/Pulses/Oil Seeds

The import of seeds of coarse cereals/pulses/oil seeds is permitted for a period not exceeding two years by companies that have technical/financial collaboration with companies abroad, provided that the latter agree to supply parental lines/nucleus or breeder seed technology to the Indian firm within two years of first shipment of commercial consignment. The bulk import is permitted by the importer based on the recommendation issued by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation (DAC) after considering the trial/evaluation report of the varieties/hybrids, which he intends to import. PPA or any other officer notified for the said purpose issues the import permit based on the recommendation of DAC. However the recommendation of DAC is not required for import of trial material. The quantities of the seed permitted for import for initial trials by the importer, for ICAR multi-location trials & agronomic trials or combined trials (vide Letter No. 11-71/88/S.D.I dated 30^th January 1989 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture) as per Para 4.3.5 of Seed Policy shall be in accordance with Schedule-XII and also the quantities of seeds of parental lines required to be sampled and submitted in sealed condition for accession to gene bank of National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi (vide Letter No. 11-102/88-S.D.I dated 5^th February 1991) as per Para 4.3.8 of Seed Policy. The imported consignment shall be subjected to detailed testing for a period of 30-35 days and the same purpose the consignment will be held under detention in AAI warehouse or any customs bonded warehouse at the cost of importer.

Freezing : Freezing is a process where temperature of food (fruits, vegetable etc.) is lowered down considerably below freezing point so that the water present inside the food undergoes change in state from liquid to solid (ice) and gets frozen immediately eg Frozen Pea. Water is immobilized and solutes are concentrated to reduce the water activity.

Principles of preservation : Combination of low temperature, low water activity, and pre-treatments like blanching, dipping in sugar syrup etc. stop (reduce) the growth and activity of microorganisms.

Theory of freezing : Freezing takes place in two main steps

Precision farming involves the collection of data by observation and measurement, and the subsequent response. Sensing is key to the collection of data; whether this is remote from space by satellites, by aircraft or drones, or by proximal sensors used on the ground, mounted on vehicles or otherwise. Responses are increasingly automated and data are often integrated into wholefarm management systems. Early commercial applications were directed towards improving crop nutrition, however, utilising precision technologies to control weeds, pests and diseases is now a reality.

Precision crop protection requires detailed data on the occurrence and distribution of problems at the earliest possible stage of detection. An early detection is the key for successful management of pests in precision farming. Some of the key aspects are:

Identification: Identifications of crops, targets and beneficial; temporal and spatial distribution: presence of the target before, during and after the crop growth period;

Sampling techniques: statistically valid sampling regimes must be used to permit an accurate view of any problem

Thresholds: under particular circumstances, the point at which action to ensure levels of infestation or damage are kept to those deemed to be acceptable;

Prediction: the speed and pattern of development of a problem must be capable of being modelled, e.g. spread and severity of insect pests and fungal diseases; weed emergence according to species, dormancy and environmental conditions.

Nutrient

Definition: Those elements are required for plant metabolism in more or less quantity, is known as nutrients. Plants have 30 types of elements but 17 elements out of 30 are essential for plant growth and development. These elements are called Essential nutrients.

Criteria of essentiality of plant nutrients theory: It is given by Arnon and Stout (1939). This theory stated that plant can not be completed their life cycle without the deficiency or complete absence of a single nutrient among the essential nutrients

Low of minimum: It is given by Justus Von Leibing (1840). According to this low, the growth of the plants is limited by the plant ntruient present in smaller quantity, all other being in adequate amounts. This has been re–stated as Barrel concept.

Allen and Arnon (1955) laid out following criteria for categorising nutrients essentiality to plants:

1. Complete or partial lack of the element in question must make normal plant growth impossible
2. Deficiency symptoms must be reversibly by the addition of the elements in question
3. The element must play specific role in the plant metabolic symptom

Historical Account on Vegetable Cultivation in India

The vegetables have chequered history in India which dates back to prehistoric period before the arrival of Aryans in India (c. 1500-1000 BC). During the pre-historic times before the arrival of Aryans in India, the Proto-Australoids (Nisada) used brinjal, bottle gourd and watermelon as vegetables. Pea existed in India much before the Aryans came to the country and it was already present in Western Asia prior to its cultivation. The pea, most likely the field pea (Pisum sativum subsp. sativum var. arvense L.) was eaten during the Harappan civilization as evidenced from the archaeological excavations of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa (2500-1750 B.C.) in which carbonized pea seeds were discovered. Pea seeds were also found from Neolithic site (last stage of the Stone age) of Chirand in Bihar (situated 10 Km south-east of Chapra), Chacolithic site (period or Copper Age) of Maheshwar Nevdatoli (c. 1200 BC.) in Madhya Pradesh and part of Osmanabad district in Maharashtra. The presence of seeds of melon along with wheat was also recorded from the Harappan excavation. Plant remains of Chenopodium album, Portulaca oleracea and a few species of Solanaceae, Polygonaceae and Labiatae family during Mesolithic times (Middle Stone Age) were found at Mesolithic site of Damdama, Uttar Pradesh (c. 7000-6000 BC). Wood charcoals of plant remains of Lablab purpureus were found from the early phase of Indus-Saraswati (Sarasvati) or Indus Ghaggar-Hakra civilization (c. 3100-2800 BC). Kundru (Coccinia indica), cowpea and field pea were recorded from Hulas in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, late Indus valley civilization archeological site. Carbonized seeds of hyacinth bean (dolichos bean), peas, Phaseolus, Vigna and melon from Rojdi in Gujarat and Chenopodium and amaranth from Surkotada, Gujarat (c. 2300-1800 BC), both being the archaeological sites belonging to the Indus valley civilization also suggested the existence of vegetables in India in the pre-historic times. Among the vegetables eaten during the pre-historic period, like brinjal, bottle gourd, watermelon, peas and melon as mentioned earlier, only brinjal has its origin in India while the other were brought from other countries much before the arrival of the Aryans. It is difficult to understand how a few important Indian native vegetables, like cucumber, Luffa (smooth and ridge gourd), pointed gourd and Dolichos bean (Lablab purpureus) were not known at that time. Similarly okra which has a secondary centre of origin in India has not been mentioned in any ancient literature. However, Abelmoschus moschatus called “Lata kasturika” in Sanskrit as a source of perfume has been recorded in Carak Samhita. The use of bottle gourd, which is not a native vegetable, is known from pre-historic times. Its dried fruit-shell is used as a hand jug (utensils) by saints and monks and in musical string instruments, like ektara, tamboora, tanpura, sitar and veena. Even mythological paintings have always delineated Naradmuni with tamboora in his hand and the goddess Saraswati with Veena which suggest the antiquity of bottle gourd in India. However, its date of introduction and the place from where it came remain unrecorded. It is also not mentioned in any iconography of the Medieval period (9^th and 10^th Century AD).

Soil fertility

• Soil serves as a source of nutrient required for the growth and development of plant. This characteristic of soil is called soil fertility.

Management practices

• Improved organic matter and soil moisture in soil, favours the growth of micro-organism beneficial for maintaining fertility of the soil.

Manures

• It is an organic waste material of plant and animal origin. It is used improvement of soil fertility. There are major 2 types of manure

1. Bulky organic manures
2. Concentrated organic manures

• Botanical name: Papavera somnifera
• Family: Papaveraceae
• Origin: Europe
• Useful part: Fruit/Capsule
• Chemical content: Morphine, Narcotine, Codine
• Flowering time: 95–115 days after sowing
• Capsule maturity: 15–20 days after flowering
• Uses: It is also called “God of sleep”. It is used in Painkillar, hypotonic effect and cure to leukaemia
• It is a licence crop and grow in Aari
• One aari equals to 100 m²
• Seed rate: For broadcasting: 7–8 Kg/ha

  For line sowing: 4–5 Kg/ha

• Thinning is important cultural practices.

1. GERMPLASM

A germplasm is a collection of genetic resources for an organism. For plants, the germplasm may be stored as a seed collection or for trees, in a nursery.

1.1. Conservation methods

1.1.1. In situ conservation

The conservation of species in their natural habitats, is considered the most appropriate way of conserving biodiversity. Conserving the areas where populations of species exist naturally is an underlying condition for the conservation of biodiversity. That’s why protected areas form a central element of any national strategy to conserve biodiversity.

Vegetable crops, known as protective foods, are important for the healthy diet providing vitamins, minerals, fibre, amino acids and other bioactive compounds. Improvement in vegetable crops is inevitable for better yield, pest or disease resistance, morphological characters, nutritive quality, to adapt with environmental stress, climate change, offseason production, satisfying varying consumer preference etc. Vegetable crops comprise of a large number of species and are rich in diversity. Diverse genetic resources are pre-requisite for any crop improvement programme and vegetable improvement is carried out using exotic introductions, indigenous collection and hybrids/varieties by different breeding systems. Characterisation of genotypes is the description of germplasm giving information on heritable characters so that promising one can be utilised in breeding programme which is the best option for higher yield and other qualities. The morphological, physiological and molecular (biochemical and DNA) traits are called qualitative descriptor and yield, pest/disease resistance, stress tolerance etc are quantitative descriptors that are easily influenced by the environment factors. Apart from the higher production and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, nutritional traits, flavour, processing qualities that increase the food value is also important in improvement programme of fruits as well as vegetables.

Genetic resources of vegetables available at international and national levels are characterised, evaluated and conserved. With the high diversity of vegetable crops, characterisation and evaluation of genetic resources become a stupendous responsibility requiring extensive infrastructure facilities and varying methods of evaluation (Srivastva, 2012). Genetic resources are characterised on highly heritable traits expressed across the environment. Apart from morphological characterisation, biochemical and molecular characterisation is also conducted that are useful for the identification of biotic and abiotic stress parameters, nutritional and processing quality. Genotype characterisation can be done efficiently using potential of biochemical and molecular markers that help to set up the breeding programme.

Introduction

The WTO was established on 1^st January 1995 and is responsible for making and enforcing rules for trade between nations. WTO marks a major change in global trade rules. As an organization, it replaces the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT), which had been in existence since 1947. The Eighth Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations under GATT, which started in Uruguay in 1986, was concluded in 1994, leading to the creation of WTO as the new permanent international trade organization. The role of WTO is much more extensive than that of GATT, which dealt with trade in goods. Apart from goods, the two other broad areas that WTO covers are services and intellectual property, which previously belonged to the domestic domain. Accordingly, WTO administers not only the Multilateral Trade Agreements (MTAs) in goods but also the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which came into existence with WTO. All the agreements annexed to the Agreement establishing the WTO were signed as part of a package deal. Member countries did not have the option of choosing some and rejecting others. Another important difference with the erstwhile GATT is that WTO has a stronger compliance mechanism (Chawla, 2007a).

As one of the WTO agreements, TRIPS is binding on all member countries of WTO. TRIPS aims at establishing strong minimum standards for intellectual property rights (IPRs). Apart from patents, intellectual property includes copyrights, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs, integrated circuits and trade secrets. The protection of IPRs is binding and legally enforceable. Intellectual property (IP) is a product of the mind. Intellectual property is intangible in contrast to real property (land) or physical property, which one can see, feel and use. With any type of property there are property rights. When IPs are expressed in a tangible form, they can also be protected. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been created to protect the right of individuals to enjoy their creations and discoveries. In fact, IPRs can be traced back to the fourteenth century, when European monarchs granted proprietary rights to writers for their literary works.

Introduction

Cell and tissue culture techniques are becoming increasingly popular as alternative means of plant vegetative propagation. Plant tissue culture involves asexual methods of propagation and its primary goal is crop improvement. The success of many in vitro selection and genetic manipulation techniques in higher plants depends on the success of in vitro plant regeneration. Crop breeding and rDNA technology require the widespread use of reliable true to type propagation and better regeneration methods. Plant regeneration can be grouped in to different categories of enhanced release of axillary bud proliferation, organogenesis and embryogenesis. The oldest practical application of tissue culture techniques is the propagation of disease free plants from meristem tip culture. Meristem tip consisting of dome and one or two subjacent leaf primordial with a size up to 0.25 mm are aseptically cultured in appropriate nutrition media. The resulting plants are disease free because the pathogen is not generally present in the meristematic cells.

The aim of germplasm conservation is to ensure the availability of useful germplasm at any time. Breeding programs rely heavily on locally adapted ancient plant varieties and their wild relatives as sources of germplasm. Further, the continuing search for high yielding varieties of crop plants with resistance to pathogens and pests warrants the availability and maintenance of large collections of germplasm. In species which are propagated through seeds, it is economical to preserve the seeds. These seeds are dried to water content of 5 - 8% and then stored at a temperature of -18° C or lower and low humidity. In case of vegetatively propagated species, preservation of germplasm heavily taxes manpower and land resources. As in vitro techniques are becoming more important in crop improvement through the use of somatic cell genetics, the material produced in vitro will have to be conserved in vitro. The in vitro system is extremely suitable for storage of plant material, since in principle it can be stored on a small scale, disease free and under conditions that limit growth. Germplasm storage in vitro is crucial for the future development and safety of agriculture.

The performance of plants is affected by the soil in which it grows and climate and micro climate of its surroundings.

Impact of soil

The soil provides anchorage, nutrients and water for plant growth. Soil fertility status, structure and texture influence the plant growth and productivity.

Classification of soil

On the basis of the organic and inorganic contents and particle size and texture, the soils have been classified. The inorganic matter in the soil constitutes of varying amount of sand, silt and clay, on the basis of which the soils are classified as follows.

Sandy soil

These soils have coarse textured and large pore spaces, have poor water holding capacity. Retention of nutrients in this soil is very poor. This type of soil is suitable for precocious crops. Sandy soils initiate rapid root growth, hence good as propagating medium. Since sandy soils has low in nutrient content, supplementation of adequate nutrition is imperative to achieve good plant growth.

Introduction

Cucumber is one of the most popular vegetable of cucurbitacae family and grown worldwide for its freshly harvested fruits. Fruit yield in cucumber is suppressed due to its fruiting habit. Fruits developing from the first pollinated flower inhibit the development of subsequent fruits. This phenomenon is broadly known as crown fruit dominance or first fruit inhibition. Therefore, in mechanical once over harvest of seeded cucumber, only one to two fruits per plant are developed. Fruit set inhibition is less in seedless cucumber when compared to its seeded counter part. Parthenocarpy is the development of fruit without fertilization. This phenomenon was first studied in cucumber byNoll (1902) who introduced the term parthenocarpy. In parthenocarpic lines, a larger proportion of photosynthates could be diverted to fruit tissue instead of producing seeds. Partheonocarpic habit has become indispensable to greenhouse cucumber production because it alleviates the need for bees. Individual plants in the greenhouse produce many fruits simultaneously, with many fold higher yield in comparison to field grown crop.

Greenhouse or parthenocarpic cucumber production is very popular in many areas of the world. The fruits of parthenocarpic cucumber are mild in flavour, seedless and have thin edible skin that requires no peeling. Fruits are generally 10-14 inches in length and 200 g in weight. The parthenocarpic varieties require no pollination for fruit setting. If pollination occurs, the fruit will form seeds, shape of fruit will be destroyed and develop bitter taste. It is therefore essential to prevent bees and other pollinators entering the green houses. Cucumber cultivars are selected for commercial use based on quality and yield characteristics. An important quality factor is the shape of the cucumber referred to as the length to diameter (L/D) ratio. This becomes important to meet specifications of the number of whole cucumber units per container. The cool marine environment causes the L/D ratio of many cultivars to be undesirably long and therefore many of the useful cultivars for other production regions have been eliminate. The presently available parthenocarpic cucumber cultivars have been bred and developed in Europe under similar climatic conditions and produce fruit with desirable L/D ratios. The parthenocarpic cultivars have potential for improvement of both the L/D ratios and fruit interior quality.

Spinach is estimated to have originated in ancient Persia some 2,000 years ago, and was transported to India and ancient China as the “Persian vegetable” via Nepal in 647 AD. The Saracens introduced spinach to Sicily around 827. Spinach (Spinacia oleracea), also known as vilayati palak in Hindi, is a leafy vegetable that grows well in cool or temperate climates. Vilayati spinach is dioecious, unlike beet leaf spinach, which is hermaphrodite. Its production is restricted to household gardens in mountainous regions of India, and it is consumed as a cooked vegetable.

“Every year, 26,688,150 tonnes of spinach are produced over the world.” With a production output of24,484,507 tonnes per year, China is the world’s greatest spinach grower. The United States of America is in second place, producing 323,620 tonnes each year. “Spinach isn’t grown in India.”

Introduction

Germplasm identification as a part of a philosophy of consumer protection extends through the entire seed trade and allied industries, from plant breeders to food consumers. Increasingly, countries are introducing schemes for Plant Breeders (or germplasm) Rights. These reward breeders financially for their efforts and offer protection for their germplasm, but in turn require that new germplasm are distinct from others and also uniform and stable in the expression of their characteristics. Since, the genetic variations in plants and plant populations are of considerable interest to have desirable traits to develop a commercial variety. Biochemical and molecular biology based data and its analysis for information regarding selection have been realized of utmost importance.

GAP stands for “Good Agricultural Practices” which are used for production of safe agricultural produce which has zero microbial load on it and inside it. It is important for the producer to be acquainted with GAP.

Good Agricultural Practice of horticultural crops are intended to apply to the growing and processing of all produce as traded and used in the European Union. Hence, they apply to the production of all plant materials used in the food, feed and medicinal industries. They also apply to all methods of production including organic production in accordance with the European Union regulations.

The farmers involved in the cultivation of horticultural produce should ensure that the there is no damage to the existing wild life and the biodiversity in the farms which are maintained. It is advisable to regulate wild gathering by a specific guideline.

The main aim of GAP guidelines is to ensure that the produce meets the demand of the consumer and is of high quality standard.

It is therefore, important that they are produced hygienically, in order to reduce microbiological load to a minimum. They are produced with care, so that negative effect on plants in the course of cultivation, processing and storage is limited.

All participants in the production process are required to comply with these guidelines voluntarily and to develop practical measures to achieve it.

Introduction

Indian subcontinent is one of the twelve mega diversity centres for cultivated plants and their wild relatives. More than 15000 species of flowering plants are indigenous to this region, which include 160 species of economic importance, 320 species of wild ancestral forms and approximately 800 species of ethnobotanical origin. Global diversity in vegetable crops is estimated around 400, of which 80 originated in India. These indigenous vegetables have immense potential in meeting the vegetable requirement of the country. They are rich in nutritional value especially in proteins, minerals and vitamins. Many of these vegetables have medicinal uses. Most of them are not used to their potential and their popularisation is needed in meeting the vegetable requirement of the country in coming days.

Ash gourd (Benincasa hispida Cong.)

Ash gourd also known as Wax gourd (Benincasa hispida Cong.) belonging to family Cucurbitaceae, is cultivated for its immature and mature fruits used as vegetable and in confectionery and ayurvedic medicines. A small fruited medicinal ash gourd is also grown in Kerala which is good for people suffering from nervousness. In areas where winter is mild, the crop can be grown throughout the year. The released varieties are KAU Local, Indu, Co.1, Co.2, APAU Shakthi, Karikumbala, Boodikumbala and IVAG -502. In addition, MAH-1 and MAH-2 are F1 hybrids released from private sector. The crop is raised by sowing seeds in pits at a spacing of 2.5 × 2.0 m in Tamil Nadu, 3.4 × 1.8-2.5 m in West Bengal and 4.5 × 2.0 m in Kerala. The seeds can also be sown in channels at a spacing of 2 × 0.5m. The crop is trailed on branches and twigs spread on the ground. The fruits are harvested at immature or fully ripe stage depending on demand. Immature fruits can be harvested 21 days after anthesis. Mature fruits for storage, long distance transport and seed extraction are harvested after full development of waxy coating on fruit surface. The average yield are 30-35 t/ha.

Okra

Genetic Resources

Okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L) Monch.] s a crop of the tropical and subtropical owland regions of Africa, Asia, America and warmer temperate region of the Mediterranean. It is believed to be originated from tropical Asia or may have been existing in Africa and India as polyphylatic species. A. tuberculatus, one of the ancestors of okra occuring in India, has nine wild taxa, of which A. esculentus is popularly grown for pod production. The main region of cultivation and diversity of okra in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, are represented by various local cultivars of A. esculentus and A. moschatus (Table1).

Abstract

The available data revealed that the area under temperate fruits in Uttaranchal was about 1.4 lakh ha, which was more than 60 per cent of total area under fruit crops, whereas the production per annum was to the tune of 44.50 per cent  of the total fruit production in the state. The productivity status of apple (1.38 t/ha) was very low as compared to national average productivity of 4.98 t/ha. Unfortunately, the prevailing constraints such as non-availability of elite planting material; lack of technical know how; dry land horticulture; high cost of production, lack of credit awareness and availability; small and fragmented land holding; old and senile orchard; lack of transport and communication facilities; poor mechanization; lack of efficient marketing system and post harvest infrastructure do not allow the farmers to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in temperate fruit production.

Introduction

Increasing production of cereal crops, oil seed crops, and horticultural crops is becoming more important than ever before owing to increasing population and changing food habits of the people. The modern tools of biotechnology are being exploited to the fullest throughout the world for developing transgenic crop plants with improved traits. Already about 20 countries in the world are growing transgenic crops, predominately with traits such herbicide tolerance and resistance to insect-pests. However, there is a constant fear of pollen flow from theses transgenics to the neighbouring non-transgenic fields or to their weedy or wild relatives. It has become a matter of great concern to all biotechnologists to develop alternative strategies to prevent the pollen flow.

The best alternative strategy available today to circumvent the nuclear- transformation associated bottlenecks in developing tenable crop transgenics is the chloroplast transformation technology. This technology allows introduction and insertion of foreign genes into the chloroplast genome, called plastome. Chloroplasts are the site for photosynthesis in plants mostly present in leaves. In general called plastids, they are also present in other parts of the plant. For example, chromoplasts in coloured leaves and fruits, amyloplasts in starch storing organs, leucoplats in roots, and etioplasts in dark-grown seedlings. The plastids arise from proplastids - the undifferentiated form of plastids present in most plant cells. Just like nucleus, these plastids (and also mitochondria) contain their own genetic material on the chloroplast genome.