MOHALI: Department of Agriculture, Aryans Degree College Rajpura, Near Chandigarh organized a webinar on “Seed Production of Horticultural crops”. Dr. Allah Rang, HOD (Retd.) Dept of Plant Breeding and Genetics Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana & presently Managing Director, Biocarve Seeds where he exporting large quantity of flower seeds to American and European countries since 2008. He interacted with faculty members & the students of B. Sc. & Diploma Agriculture. Dr. Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group presided over the webinar.
Dr. Rang while interacting with students said that the production of high-quality seed is fundamental to modern agriculture. Seeds can serve as the delivery system not only for improved genotypes but also for new planting and production methods and crop protection strategies that improve the overall efficiency of agriculture and reduce its environmental vagaries he explained.
He further said that the purity of any commercial product propagated by seed begins with the genetic purity of the seed planted. Genetic purity standards have been established by seed certification laws and state seed certification agencies to assure growers that the seed they buy is accurately labeled with the correct crop and variety. Seed purity standards also specify the percentage of contamination in seeds, he added.
He explained that seed producers take many steps to protect genetic integrity, including ensuring the integrity of their planting seed, properly identifying and labeling plants and fields, planting seeds on clean land. Removing undesirable plants and employing physical isolation via mesh cages, distance isolation, hand pollination to ensure that pollination only occurs among plants of the desired variety, he told.