Seed technology for better crop control

摘要

Those who raise nursery stock from seed -from rootstocks and forest trees to hardy herbaceous plants - look with envy at the rapid developments in seed quality and propagation techniques that have taken place in the bedding and pot plant sectors. Although there has been a shift in the bedding industry to cuttings for some newer cultivars, seed remains the starting point for more than 80 per cent of the crop. And improvements in seed quality mean that crops such as Aubrieta - mostly propagated from cuttings 15 years ago - are now regularly propagated from seed. Pre-germination treatments mean seed companies in the bedding plant market now offer seed not by the kilo but in specific numbers for germination in cell trays, and propagators will expect almost 100 per cent germination. With such good quality seed comes the ability to automate sowing and transplanting or potting-on to a far greater extent than can be achieved with vegetative propagation - despite the inventive use of industrial robots in the Netherlands for taking or striking cuttings.