Question

What are good classes of seeds?

Answer 1

Seeds are the fertilized ovules which bear the future plant in a condensed form. Today, the scope of biotechnology has entangled its hands with agriculture. Researchers have successfully created many improved varieties of rice, wheat, sugarcane, and other crops that give a better yield, added nutrients, and are resistant to pests and diseases. This technique is known as plant breeding.

Complete answer:
In India, seeds are predominantly classified into 4 main types:
1. Nucleus seeds: The process of development of certified seeds for distribution to the farmer of a distant variety is called nucleus seed. This is the cent percent pure seed at genetic and physical levels, and is produced strictly under isolation and maintained by the institute that developed the variety.
The seed is made available to different agencies on demand to start the seed multiplication chain where breeder seed is produced year after year. This type of seed is not certified by any certification authority.
2. Breeder seed: Breeder seed is the progeny of the nucleus seed which is generally multiplied in a larger area of the field under the supervision of the plant breeder and monitored by the certification agencies. It provides cent percent purity of foundation seeds. The golden yellow tag is used to signify these seeds.
The breeder stage seed provides us with the first stage in the generation system of multiplication. Each and every year, the breeder seed price must be decided by the central government uniformly throughout the country.
3. Foundation seed: Foundation seed is the progeny of the breeder seed which is handled by the recognized seed producing agencies in public and private sectors under the supervision of seed certification agencies in such a way that its quality is maintained according to the prescribed seed standards. Usually, the seed certification agencies issue a white color tag for foundation seed classes. The genetic purity of foundation seeds is 99.5 percent. These foundation seeds become the source of all other certified seed classes, either directly or through registered seed producing agencies and hence are also known as mother seed.
4. Certified seeds: Certified seed is the progeny of foundation seed which is either produced by the registered and certified seed growers under the supervision of a seed certification agency by maintaining the quality of certified seed as per the Indian Seed Certification Standards. It has been issued a blue tag. Genetic purity shows that the seed is of variety under certification and that there are no admixtures from other varieties or any other crops. The genetic purity of certified seeds is very high with the amount of contamination permitted ranges from 0-0.1 percent. A high percentage of germination is necessary from the certified seeds to obtain a good crop stand with the minimum amounts of seeds.
Thus, the certified seeds are the best quality seeds.

Note:
Sometimes, there is another class of seeds explained, referred to as truthfully labelled seeds. The seed is sold based on the laboratory established by the producer. This can be produced and sold by private agencies. In government sectors, many times these seeds fail to pass the certification parameters to obtain a certificate. The color of the truthfully labelled seed tag is opal green. This seed may be sold by making corrections after getting certification by the authorized agencies. Seeds rejected due to genetic impurity or presence of the objectionable disease are not labelled as truthful.