Seed Production : Principles and Practices

Plant breeders continue to make significant advances in developing high yield- ing, adaptable, disease-free crops.

These advances, however, are not realized until an efficient seed production system is in place that rapidly increases geneti- cally superior crops and makes them available to the consumer in large quantities at a reasonable cost.

Successful seed production requires seed to be genetically pure, free of admixtures, and able to establish rapidly a uniform stand.

Seed production is a complex process. Rigorous production criteria are followed by both seed producer and seed companies to ensure that high-quality seed is produced and marketed.

These criteria become even more stringent in hybrid seed production.

This volume identifies the factors most critical in a successful seed production operation.

The fundamental considerations common to all seed crops are established in Part I, Principles of Seed Production.

From this founda- tion, the practices of seed production are provided in detail in Part II, Seed Production of Specific Crops.