Land requirement
Land should be free of volunteer plants. The previous crop should not be the same variety or other varieties of the same crop. It can be the same variety if it is certified as per the procedures of certification agency
Isolation
For certified / quality seed production leave a distance of 100 m all around the field from the same and other varieties of the crop
The distance may be extended to 400 m for the presence of Johnson grass
Season
June - July and October - November
Land Selection
Booting stage
Flowering Stage
Heading stage
Spacing
45 x 10 cm
Pre-sowing seed treatment
Soak the seeds in 2% KH2PO4 for 16h in a seed to solution ratio of 1:0.6 and dry back the seeds to original seed moisture content (8 – 9%) under shade. This can be adopted both for the garden and dry land ecosystem
For better establishment in mine spoils harden the seed with 2 % KH2PO4 for 6 h and coat the seed with pink polymer @ 3g / kg of seed + carbendazim @ 2g/kg + imidachloprid @ 1 ml / kg + DAP @ 30 g / kg + micro nutrient mixture @ 20 g / kg + Azospirillum @ 40 g / kg of seed
Fertilizer requirement
As basal application, apply NPK @ 100 : 50 : 50 kg ha-1
Fertilizer requirement
Pre-harvest sanitation spray
Ten days before harvest, spray 2% carbendazim against black mould
Harvesting
Seeds attain maturity 40 – 45 days after 50% flowering with 25-28% seed moisture content.
Harvest the earheads when the seed attain the characteristic yellow colour, as once over harvest
Threshing
Thresh the earheads either manually or mechanically at a moisture content of 15 – 18 %.
Harvesting
Seed grading
Size grade the seeds either with 9/64” (3.6mm) or 10/64” (4.0mm) round perforated metal sieve depending upon the size distribution in a variety
Seed treatment
Slurry treat the seeds with carbendazim @ 2g kg-1 of seed along with carbaryl @ 200 mg kg-1 of seed (or)
Slurry treat the seeds with halogen mixture @ 3g / kg- (CaOCl2 + CaCO3 + arappu (Albizzia amara) leaf powder mixed in the ratio of 5:4:1) as eco – friendly
treatment
Storage
Store the seeds in gunny or cloth bags for short term storage (8-9 months) with the seed moisture content of 10 - 12%.
Store the seeds in polylined gunny bag for medium term storage (12- 15 months) with the seed moisture content of 8 – 9 %.
Store the seeds in 700 gauge polythene bag for long term storage (more than15 months) with the seed moisture content of less than 8%.
Source
The Professor and Head,
Department of Seed Science & Technology,
TNAU, Coimbatore-641003.