Seed Production

Reference: Seed Production Techniques for Cereals and Millets by CIKS sand RRAN. December 2013.

The best season for seed production is October - December. The temperature favourable for seed setting is 37o c. The pollination should not coincide with rains. Rain affect effective seed setting and production of quality seeds.

Method of seed production

Pearl millet of Bajra is a highly cross-pollinated crop with 80% of cross-pollination. The crop should be raised in isolation and seeds should be allowed to set by open-pollination. The isolation distance maintained between the varieties is 400 metres for foundation seed and 200 metres for certified seed production.

Bajra (Pearl millet) seed production video in English by MANAGE India; useful for CSOs, NGOs, trainers.

Seed production stages: Breeder seed --> Foundation seed --> Certified seed.

Pearl millet seed production and crop management manual by ICRISAT in English containing information on area and distribution, soil and climatic requirement, field preparation, nutrition and nutrition deficiency, cropping system, seed and sowing, weed control, soil moisture, harvesting, disease management, seed production, processing and marketing, useful for CSO, trainers, NGO.

Land selection

The selected land should be fertile and free from volunteer plants. The land should not be cultivated with the same crop in the previous season. If cultivated, it should be of same variety and duly certified by the seed certification agency.

Seed selection and sowing

Seeds used for seed production should be of good quality certified seeds from an authentic source. Seeds should be healthy with good germination percentage. Use only graded seeds. Remove the seeds affected with Ergot and Sclerotia to prevent primary infection. Seed rate is 3 kg/acre (8 kg/ ha). Add the selected seeds to the salt water (1 kg salt in 10 litres of water) and remove the floating seeds affected by Ergot and Sclerotia. Wash the seeds in fresh water for 2 – 3 times to remove the salt and shade dry. Selected seeds should be treated with Azospirillum @ 250 gms / 3 kg of seeds (600 gms / 8 kg of seeds). Seeds can be sown directly in the main field in ridges and furrows or seedlings can be raised in the nursery and transplanted to the main field.

Seed production guidelines on pearl millet containing floral biology, land requirement, selection of seed, seed treatment, sowing, nutrient management, weeding, irrigation, harvesting and more by TNAU as part of an online course lecture in English for CSOs.

Nursery preparation and sowing

Seeds are sown in the nursery and then the seedlings are transferred to the main field. Select an area of 7.5 cents for raising nursery for one hectare (3 cents for one acre). Plough the plot thoroughly and add farmyard manure or compost @ 750 kg / 7.5 cents (300 kg / 3 cents) and incorporate it into the soil by ploughing. Seeds are sown in raised bed nursery in lines. Cover the seeds with farmyard manure @ 500 kg / 7.5 cents (200 kg / 3 cents). 20 – 25 days old seedlings are then transplanted to the main field. The spacing between the plants should be 45 x 20 cm.

Main field preparation

The main field is prepared with series ploughing to make it a fine tilth (Tilth is the physical condition of the soil that is soft, friable and properly aerated) and formed into ridges and furrows. Apply compost or farmyard manure @ 5 tonnes/acre (12.5 tonnes/ha). Seedlings can be transplanted from the nursery or from the directly sown hill. The extra seedlings from each hill should be pulled out at 20 – 25 days after sowing and transplanted.

Nutrient management

Before final ploughing compost or farmyard manure @ 5 tonnes/acre (12.5 tonnes/ha) should be applied and ploughed into the soil. Instead of this cattle penning can also be practiced. 50 kg neem cake and 500 kg vermicompost per acre (125 kg neem cake and 1250 kg vermicompost per hectare) should be applied as basal manure. After first weeding at 20 – 25 days after sowing first top dressing should be done using enriched vermicompost (2 kg Azospirillum, 2 kg Phosphobacterium and 2 litres Panchagavya mixed with 250 kg vermicompost and kept covered for a week and then used) @ 250 kg/ 14 acre (600 kg/ha) followed by the second top dressing at 40 – 45 days after sowing using 25 kg neem cake and 250 kg vermicompost per acre (60 kg neem cake and 600 kg vermicompost per hectare). During flower initiation stage 10% tender coconut solution (1 litre tender coconut water + 9 litres of water) should be sprayed. For rainfed crop, 50 kg pungam cake and 250 kg vermicompost should be applied as basal manure just before sowing. First top dressing should be done at 20 – 25 days after sowing using 250 kg/acre of enriched vermicompost. At 40 – 45 days after sowing apply 25 kg pungam cake and 250 kg vermicompost per acre (60 kg pungam cake and 600 kg vermicompost per hectare) as second top dressing. Spray 10% tender coconut water at the time of flower initiation. All the above mentioned inputs should be applied to the rainfed crop only when the soil is wet.

Weed management

The seed production field should be maintained weed free from the initial stage. The first weeding should be done at 30 – 35 days after sowing. Subsequent weeding can be done depending upon the intensity of the weeds.

Jerking

Jerking is a process of removing the early formed earheads of the first formed tillers to facilitate uniform flowering in all the tillers. It is done at 20 – 25 days after transplanting or 30 – 40 days after sowing.

Irrigation

The field should be irrigated soon after sowing and life irrigation is done on the third day of sowing. Irrigation should be done once in 10 days. Irrigation during tillering, milky stage and maturation stage are very critical. Proper irrigation during critical stages increases the seed setting and quality of the seeds.

Pest and disease management

Pearl millet is affected by pests like shoot fly, root grub and diseases like downy mildew and ergot at different growth stages.

Roguing

Intensive roguing should be done at three growth stages like seedling, tillering and seed setting. To maintain genetic purity of the crop, off-types and diseased plants are rogued out periodically based on the colour and waviness of leaves, plant height, shape and size of the earhead and colour of the grains etc. The rogues should be either pulled out as a whole plant or cut off at the base. Plants affected by green ear, ergot and grain smut diseases should be removed and discarded from time to time.

Field inspection

A minimum of three field inspections should be conducted between pre flowering and harvesting stages by the Seed Certification Officer. First inspection is done before flowering to check isolation, volunteer plants, off-types, downy mildew etc. The second inspection would be made during 50% flowering to determine relevant factors. The final inspection would be made at the maturity stage before harvesting to determine the true nature of the crop and other relevant factors. Maximum percentage of off-types permitted at the final inspection is 0.050% for foundation seed production and 0.10% for certified seed production.

Harvesting

Seeds attain physiological maturation 30 - 35 days after 50% flowering. The physiological maturation can be identified by change in the colour of the seeds from green to straw yellow. A dunken layer also forms at the point of attachment to the panicle. The moisture content of the seeds at this stage is 30 – 35%. Harvesting is done in two pickings since, the maturation of the earheads are not uniform because of the tillering habit of the crop.

Threshing and processing

Harvested earheads should be dried for two to three days to attain a safe moisture content of 15 - 18% for threshing. Threshing is carried out either manually or mechanically. Normally the dried earheads are threshed by beating with a bamboo stick. Threshed grains are cleaned by winnowing. Threshed and cleaned grains are 15 graded using round perforated metal sieve of 4/64” size OSAW cleaner cum grader.

Drying and storage

The cleaned and graded seeds can be stored upto 12 months with proper pre-storage treatment.

Seed standards

The percentage of minimum physical purity of certified and foundation seeds should be 98% with a minimum of 80% of germination capacity and 5 - 12% of moisture content. The presence of inert matter should not exceed 2.0%.

Another video on seed production on Pearl millet Varieties and Hybrids in English by Madurai Kamaraj University, useful for CSOs, NGOs, trainers.