Scope Of Vegetable Seed Production Under Protected Cultivation.pptx

Protected cultivation provides many-fold advantages over open field seed production of vegetables. The beauty of vegetable hybrid seed production under protected conditions is that it could be implemented at a micro or macro level depending upon the need, space, and seed crop requirements. This technology is highly productive, amenable to automation, conserves water, fertilizer, and land, and provides the required environment to overcome the biotic and abiotic stress and enhance yield as well as the quality of seeds. Protected cultivation offers a very congenial environment for producing healthy, virus-free, and genetically pure hybrid seed with higher seed yield per unit area.

1. PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY LUDHIANA S cope Of Vegetable Seed Production Under Protected Cultivation Speaker: Anusha K.R

2. Introduction

3. S econd largest producer of vegetables after China in the world India is still far behind in average productivity H igh cost of seed is mainly due to low seed yield under open field condition 196.27 Million Tonne 25.66 Million Hectares

4. Challenges in open-field Raising and maintaining healthy and uniform seedlings Management of isolation distance Poor seed yield Poor seed quality L ack of trained manpower The biotic (viral diseases in tomato, chilli and cucurbits) and abiotic (environmental factors viz. high and low temperature, frost stresses, rainfall at the time of maturity etc.) factors have become a major hurdle in quality seed production in open field conditions affecting growth, flowering, fruit set and seed set & development. Suitable areas for quality seed production of important vegetables are also limited and in these areas too climate change is an imposing threat. To overcome these, vegetable seed production under protected structures could be advocated.

5. Protected cultivation C ropping technique wherein the micro environment surrounding the plant body is controlled partially/ fully as per plant need during their period of growth to maximize the yield and resource saving

6. Selection criteria of structures suitable for seed production

7. Types of structures Cages Insect proof net houses Naturally ventilated greenhouses Semi-climate controlled green house Climate controlled green houses Walk-in tunnels Selection criteria of protected structures to be used for vegetable seed production certainty depends upon a few important factors viz ., climatic conditions of the area selected for seed production, type of seed crop, season of seed production and targeted quantity of seed production.

8. Naturally ventilated greenhouses These are partially controlled by opening and closing of roof and side wall ventilation. I t provides a controlled and favorable environment, which results in early harvest of superior quality fruits than that of the net-house. C arbon di-oxide released by the plants during the night is consumed by the plants itself in the morning which increases the photosynthesis rate by nearly 15 times that helps in higher yield in comparison to net-house and open field conditions. It also gives additional protection to the crop from high or uneven rainfall and frost especially in winter.

9. Insect proof net-houses These structures provide the protection against viruses and other insects like fruit borers during rainy and post rainy season . These structures are well suited to south Indian conditions during Sept-Feb . However, in north India , insect proof net house could be utilized for production of parental lines seed and hybrid seed production during summer and kharif successfully as per the need of crop and demand. C ompared to all kind of greenhouses the seed yield is less but,the cost of seed production is also very less.

10. Low cost polyhouses These structures are well suited for growing of healthy and virus free seedlings of seed crop of Open Pollinated varieties and parental lines for hybrid seed production in plug trays and S eed production of sweet pepper, slicing tomato, cherry tomato, parthenocarpic cucumber, and muskmelon.

11. Seed production practices of vegetables under protected structures

12. 1. Raising of healthy nursery for quality seed production Growing of healthy and virus free seedlings of varieties and parental lines for hybrid seed production is important for quality seed production. N ursery raising technology M ulti-celled plastic plug trays ( 1.5" cell size ) containing each cell of a volume of 18-20 cc . C oco-peat, vermiculite and perlite as soil-less media in 3:1:1 ratio on volume basis F avour vigorous root development A void mechanical damage to the roots of the seedlings at the time of transplanting This technology is economical and suitable for the cucurbits and solanaceous crops

13. 2 . Selection of crops under greenhouse Genetic capacity: It is an important aspect to produce better quality and more quantity in greenhouse situation. For example, in case of cucumber and tomato the parthenocarpic and indeterminate varieties are suitable for greenhouse cultivation ( Kaddi et al . 2014). This is required to cope with lack of pollinating agent in greenhouse.

14. 3. Planting The sowing of vegetable crops in rows helps in conducting effective plant protection measures, roguing operations and field inspections. For hybrids planting of male parent line and female parent line has to be done in a definite proportion .

15. 4. Training and pruning a. Tomato Indeterminate tomato varieties are staked and trained upright. Pruning of side branches is done to maintain single stem or maximum double stem. Usually first to fourth cluster at each branch are selected for emasculation in case of hybrid seed production.

16. b. Sweet Pepper Pruning in sweet pepper is normally done to the shoots that grow on the stem below the first branching. The stem structure of pepper is often too weak to take the load of the fruits up to maturity; hence plants are trained. Pepper plants should be trained upright by allowing two main branches after removal of first terminal bud in a way to expose the leaves to the maximum light.

17. c. Cucumber It requires a supporting system in order to grow vertically by means of its tendrils. They hang down from wire stretched at height of 1.5 to 2.0 m. In Long- fruited cultivar s , the side shoots and fruits on the main stem are removed up to a height of 60-70 cm. The fruits are then allowed to set on the main stem up to a height of 2 or 3 meter. Side shoots up to 2 m length are not allowed. In short-fruited cultivar s the fruits and side shoots of the main stem are removed up to a height of 40-5 cm.

18. d. Muskmelon The single stem training is followed for muskmelon. The plants are trained upright. All branches below 6-8 nodes are removed. Female flowers are retained on branches emerging from 9 to 16 nodes on the main stem. After fruit set, the tips of the branches are pinched off retaining 2-3 leaves per branch. The top of the main stem is pinched off after 25 nodes. Maximum 3 to 4 fruits are allowed per plant for optimum growth and seed yield.

19. e. Cluster pruning The vegetables which produce fruits in clusters, the number of fruits/cluster decides the good yield and quality of the fruit and seed. It also increases the size of the fruit and uniformity of fruit ripening. Typically 4 to 5 good fruits should be retained to get good quality fruit and improve the seed quality.

20. 5. Pollination management Due to absence of natural wind in protected structures , supplementing pollination methods is required. Vegetables grown under protected structures should be pollinated everyday by Hand pollination Electric pollinator By bees

21. In tomato, pollination at 9.00 AM and 5.00 PM is better for higher fruit set and seed yield. However, under naturally ventilated greenhouse conditions, pollination could be done throughout the day, starting from 8.00 AM, as the fruit set was above 90% and there was not much variation among the treatments except 7.00 AM which recorded significantly higher fruit set (53.5%) and seed recovery (4.75%) per plant with 11.00 AM pollination followed by 10.00 AM and 12.00 noon pollinations. (Manjunath et al 2010)

22. Bees under open conditions were found to spend less time in a flower when compared to the net house condition. This may be due to the availability of large number of flowers for less number of bees. Similar trend was observed in case of Apis mellifera which was reported to spend less time in broccoli flowers kept in open than in caged conditions ( Devkota and Tapa, 2005). Since the bees spend longer time in the flowers under protected structures, pollination and seed set are highly assured with high quality and high yield of seeds. Importance of bees under protected cultivation

23. 6. Irrigation I rrigation at critical stages like sowing, flowering and fruit set, seed filling and seed maturation is must and given at optimum rate. With holding irrigation at harvest promotes earlier and quicker ripening , irrigation can also be used for staggering and achieving synchronization in vegetable hybrid seed production. Over irrigation can promote vegetative growth, lodging, nutrient imbalance while U nder irrigation delays flowering, stunted growth, reduces seed filling and leads to immature drying .

24. In case of cauliflower, there is problem of maintaining and multiplication of potential self-incompatible lines for the production of F1 hybrid seed. Temporary elimination of the self-incompatibility with the use of CO 2 gas has solved this problem. T he greenhouse closed tightly within 2-6 hours of pollination, and it is treated with 2-5% CO 2 gas which allows successful fertilization by temporarily eliminating the self-incompatibility and bees are allowed to pollinate the crop when it is in bloom. Thereby the selfed seeds can be collected for maintaining the lines for further use. Maintenance and multiplication of self-incompatible line for hybrid seed production

25. Extension of duration of crop In India, seed production of tomato is mostly limited to southern states of the country due to availability of long period for optimum pollination and fruit set In northern plains, during rainy and post rainy season severe incidence of tomato leaf curl virus (TYLCV) is a major constraint, whereas during winter season extreme low temperature (from end of November to mid-February) and thereafter, sharp rise in temperature during summer season is another major limitation for tomato seed production. Therefore hardly mid-February to maximum mid-March is the optimum period for maximum pollination and fruit setting. Undertaking hybrid seed production of tomato under naturally ventilated greenhouse extended the effective tomato crossing period which was started two weeks before and extended four weeks beyond the normal crossing period. Total number of days available for pollination was almost double under greenhouse condition in making tomato hybrid seed production highly economical ( Patta et al 2013).

26. Major advantages of vegetables seed production under protected conditions High seed yield (generally 2-4 times more) compared to open field in major vegetables. Seed Quality is high compared to open field produced seed. Isolation distance can be minimized in cross pollinated vegetables. Minimization of problem of synchronization of flowering in parental lines Maximum plant population can be maintained along with appropriate ratio of male and female parents for higher hybrid seed yield. Duration of seed crop is more under protected conditions when compared with open field seed crops. Under adverse climatic conditions seed production is possible which is a difficulty in open field conditions. Healthy virus free seed crop can be grown, which is very difficult under open field conditions. Seed production practices like training, pruning and hand pollination are easily manageable compared with to field seed crop.

27. Protected conditions provide the best opportunity for organic seed production in vegetables. More number of seed crops could be grown under protected conditions. By using soil less media, seed crops can also be grown even under saline and acidic soil conditions. Judicious use of water is possible for seed production under protected conditions. Grafting technology in seedling could be easily applied to overcome soil borne problems in solanaceous and cucurbitaceous vegetables. Quality seed production of vegetables could be under taken by agri -entrepreneurs ; this in turn could generate employment opportunities in rural areas. No need to emasculate female parents because there are no insect pollinators. Seed production cost of vegetables could be reduced under protected conditions. Seed crops not damaged by un-seasonal rains at the time of their maturity unlike open field seed crops. Off type plants, objectionable weeds or plants affected by designated diseases cannot pose problems in the seed crops raised under protected conditions Seed viability and seed vigor could be extended through better nutrient management in seed crops under protected conditions.

28. Constraints Lack of awareness among farmers pertaining to potentials of protected vegetable seed production. Lack of major research programme on protected vegetable seed production.

29. Case studies

30. The present investigation was carried out under insect proof net house (IPN) and open field condition (OFC) at Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology and Seed Testing Laboratory, IARI, New Delhi. Hybrid seed production under north Indian condition cannot be organized successfully in open field condition because of high incidence of viral diseases and white fly attack in kharif season. Besides this, in spring summer the plant growth and development are greatly affected by changing environmental conditions, early onset of high temperature, unseasonal rains during summer (April-June), sudden increase in temperature hamper the production of female flower, fruit set and fruit development, resulting in low seed yield and seed quality.

31. Jat et al (2016)

32. Jat et al (2016)

33. The present investigation was carried out during kharif 2013-14 at Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi under two different growing environments, i.e insect proof net house and open field condition. The hybrid selected for the experiment was Pant Shankar Khira-1.

34. Economics of hybrid seed production The cost to benefit ratio worked out for all three conditions revealed the insect proof net house was more profitable (1:2.25) followed by open condition (1:1.12) and naturally ventilated polyhouse is uneconomical (1:0.37) because of more initial investment.

35. T he high incidence of red pumpkin beetle in early growth period, fruit fly at fruit development stage and fruit rot during maturation period are the major challenges in organizing successful seed production programme of parental line. The sharp rise in temperature during fruit development in May greatly influence the fruit set, fruit development, seed yield and quality produce. Hence, the present investigation were planned and carried out to explore the possibility of growing of parental lines for quality seed production of Pusa Hybrid-1 under insect proof net house and open field during summer season (15th Feb to June) of the year 2008 at Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology (CPCT) .

36. Conclusion Protected cultivation provides many fold advantages over open field seed production of vegetables. The beauty of vegetable hybrid seed production under protected conditions is that it could be implemented at a micro or macro level depending upon the need, space and seed crop requirements This technology is highly productive, amenable to automation, conserves water, fertilizer and land , and provides the required environment to overcome the biotic and abiotic stress and enhance yield as well as the quality of seeds. Protected cultivation offers very congenial environment for producing healthy, virus free, and genetically pure hybrid seed with higher seed yield per unit area.

37. Thank You