Quality seeds of PAU- An attraction to

摘要

Quality seed plays a pivotal role in sustainable agriculture. It is the actual carrier of technology for agricultural prosperity and growth, and is the basic and most critical input for agriculture. The response of all other inputs depends on qualityof seeds to a large extent. It is estimated that the direct contribution of quality seed alone to the total production is about 15-20 per cent depending on the crop and it can be further increased with efficient management of other inputs. To serve the farming community with good quality seeds, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana is engaged in quality seed production of various field and vegetable crops besides research, teaching and extension. Technical knowledge is required for seed production asit is different from commercial crop production. Manyprecautions and operations are essential to produce good quality seed. For quality seed production, PAU invariably follows field and seed standards as per Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standards (IMSCS) during seed production. The seed produced afterharvesting is cleaned and graded to get uniform size seed, which is then got tested for germination and purity from the State Government Seed Testing Laboratory. If the seed meets the IMSCS, then it is packed into properly labeled seed bags and offeredfor sale to farmers. These quality seeds are provided to the farmers during the Kisan Melas of the University held at different locations of Punjab and also distributed at PAU Seed Shop, Seed Production Farms, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Farmer Advisory Service Centres and Regional Research Stations of the University.