Advances in Seed Science and Technology, Vol. I : Recent Trends in Seed Technology and Management

Contents: I. Seed Industry: 1. WTO measures on agriculture -- what must India do?/C. Ramasamy. 2. Seed technology and management - Indian situation/K. Vanangamudi and K. Natarajan. 3. New technologies in seed industry/K. Vanangamudi, A. Bharathi, N. Natarajan and Mallika Vanangamudi. 4. Socio-economic implications of seed industry regulations in India-an overview/C. Ramasamy and S. Senthilnathan. 5. New avenues in seed industry/T.M. Thiyagarajan. 6. Development of seed industry, organization and agencies involved in seed industry in India/P. Srimathi and K. Natarajan. 7. Small scale seed enterprises-structure, prospects and legal considerations/S. Kannan, T. Saravanan, P. Saravanan, K. Natarajan and K. Vanangamudi. II. Seed Germination: 8. Physiology and biochemistry of seed dormancy/Mallika Vanangamudi and K. Natarajan. 9. Physiology and biochemistry of seed germination/Mallika Vanangamudi and K. Natarajan. III. Genetically Modified Seeds: 10. Transgenics for crop improvement/T. Saravanan, K. Natarajan and K. Vanangamudi. 11. Role of molecular markers and marker assisted selection in crop improvement/T. Saravanan, V. Parvathi and K. Vanangamudi. 12. Employment of terminator and other related technologies in seed science and technology/V. Padma and G. V. Ramanjaneyulu. 13. Somatic embryogenesis and synthetic seed production/V. Krishnasamy and T. Ramanadane. 14. Antisense RNA technology in tomato/T. Saravanan. 15. Bacillus thuringiensis in pest management/G. Thilagavathi, H. Savidha, T. Saravanan and K. Vanangamudi. IV. Seed Quality Enhancement: 16. Problems and prospects of dryland agriculture in India/P. Subbian, S. Marimuthu and S. Marimuthu. 17. Seed fortification, infusion and osmopriming/R. Jerlin, R. Umarani and K. Vanangamudi. 18. Seed hardening for drought resistance/K. Vanangamudi, A. Bharathi and P. Murugesan. 19. Seed hardening research around the world for dryland and garden land eco system/P. Srimathi and K. Natarajan. 20. Seed hardening with chemicals and botanicals/N. Natarajan. 21. Genesis and improvement of the concept of seed pelleting/A. Bharathi, P. Natesan, M. Bhaskaran, Sherin Susan John and P. Thangavel. 22. Seed pelleting: principles and practices/V. Krishnasamy. 23. Current scenario of seed pelleting in agricultural crops/A.S. Ponnuswamy. 24. Current scenario of seed pelleting in horticultural and forestry crops/M. Bhaskaran, A. Bharathi, P. Natesan, R. Umarani and K. Vanangamudi. 25. Seed pelleting for aerial seeding/V. Shivakumar, B. Gurudev Singh, R. Anandalakshmi and K. Vanangamudi. 26. National and international scenario of firms and machinery in pelleting and coating/R. Umarani, R. Jerlin and K. Vanangamudi. 27. Future perspectives for research on seed pelleting/T. Jayaraj, A. Sabir Ahamed and R. Umarani. 28. Current scenario of seed coating polymer/K. Vanangamudi, A. Bharathi, P. Natesan, M. Bhaskaran and G. Sasthri. 29. Studies on seed coloring in cereals, pulses, oil seeds and vegetable seeds/Vilas A.Tonapi, Harinath Babu P and N.A. Ansari. 30. Seed colouring in horticultural crops/P. Natesan, A. Bharathi, H. Ramya, M. Bhaskaran and K. Vanangamudi. 31. Conceptual and utility differences among seed enhancement technologies viz., seed pelleting, seed coating and seed colouring/A. Bharathi, P. Natesan, K. Vanangamudi, Sherin Susan John, H. Ramya and P. Thangavel. 32. Signal transduction under biotic and abiotic stress/K.R.V. Sathyasheelag, Kayalvizhi, T. Saravanan, R. Renuka and K. Vanangamudi. 33. Principles and practice of aerial seeding in tree species/K. Subramanian, V. Sivakumar and B. Gurudev Singh. 34. Bio-inoculants in forest seed and seedling management/S. Balaji and T. Kalaiselvi. V. Seed Production: 35. Choice of agricultural crops and varieties adoptable in rainfed and garden land ecosystem/T.S. Raveendran and M. Kumar. 36. Production practices and maintenance of nucleus and breeder seeds/J. Renuga Devi and K. Vanangamudi. 37. Nucleus and breeder seed production in cross - pollinated crops/A. Nirmalakumari, K. Natarajamoorthy, J. Renugadevi and P. Sumathi. 38. Rice seed management/K. Vanangamudi and K. Natarajan. 39. Tackling problem soils for seed production/M. Bhaskaran. 40. Green manuring for sustainable crop production/S. Marimuthu, P. Subbian, A.P. Sivamurugan and K. Vanangamudi. 41. Role of supplemental foliar application and pre-harvest sanitation spray in quality seed production/K. Sivasubramaniam. 42. Role of bees in seed production/J.C. Ragini and K. Vanangamudi. 43. Water management for quality seed production/K. Vanangamudi, K. Natarajan and P. Murugesan. 44. Interference and management of weeds in crop production/B. Muralimohan Reddy and Farzana Jabeen. 45. Role of weed seeds in quality seed production/C. Chinnusamy, O.S. Kandasamy and N. Sankaran. 46. Source-sink relationship in seed production/M.K. Kalarani, Mallika Vanangamudi, M. Thangaraj and R. Sivakumar. 47. Physiological disorders and nutritional deficiencies in quality seed production/P.S. Srinivasan and R. Renuka. 48. Technology of sugarcane true seed and cane seed at sugarcane breeding institute, Coimbatore-a review/N. Rajendra Prasad. 49. Risks in  seed production and its management/T. Saravanan, S. Kannan and K. Vanangamudi. VI. Seed Quality Control: 50. Quality parameters for different categories of seeds and their maintenance/K. Vanangamudi, A. Bharathi and P. Murugesan. 51. Concept of seed quality control and certification/N.P. Nema. 52. Steps in maintenance of genetic purity/P. Srimathi and K. Natarajan. 53. Importance of vigour tests in seed quality/K. Ramamoorthy. 54. The concept, evolution and current status of seed vigour tests/V. Padma. 55. The concept of seed vigour and crop productivity/B.S. Vyakaranahal and S.D. Shashidhara. 56. Varietal characterisation in rice/K. Thiyagarajan and D. Malarvizhi. 57. Morphological varietal characterization in pulses/A.R. Muthiah. 58. Seed testing procedures for coated seeds/R. Umarani, R. Jerlin and K. Vanangamudi. VII. Seed Storage: 59. In vitro techniques for conservation and use of plant genetic resources/V. Palanisamy. 60. Halogination-the safe seed management/K. Malarkodi, P. Srimathi and K. Vanangamudi. 61. Recalcitrant seeds and their management in storage/P. Srimathi, G. Sasthri and K. Malarkodi. 62. Mid storage correction treatments/N. Natarajan, A. Bharathi and K. Vanangamudi. 63. Free radicals and seed viability/R. Umarani and K. Vanangamudi. VIII. Seed Health Management: 64. Heritage of seed health and seed treatment practices in India during ancient period and its relevance to modern agriculture/S. Kannan, R. Renuka, P. Niranjanadevi, K. Vairavani, B.J. Pandiyan and K. Vanangamudi. 65. Interference and management of pests in seed production and storage/A. Regupathy and S. Renuka. 66. Insect pests of seeds in storage and their management/V. Balasubramani and K. Prabakar. 67. Seed health management with reference to seed borne nematodes/C. Chinniah, M. Sivakumar and S. Ambika. 68. Advanced techniques for identification of seed pathogens and production of disease free seed materials/Sabitha Doraiswamy, P. Muthulakshmi, J. Hema Salomi and R. Rabindran. 69. Detection of seed borne plant pathogenic bacteria and their management/K. Prabakar and V. Ravichandran. 70. Methods for detection of fungal infection in seeds/R. Renuka, V. Ravichandran and S. Karpagavalli. IX. Seed Processing: 71. Post harvest seed management/A. Bharathi, M. Bhaskaran, K. Vanangamudi and P. Natesan. 72. Principles of seed drying/S.D. Shashidhara and B.S. Vyakaranahal. 73. Seed processing equipments/R. Kailappan and C. Karunanithy. X. Seed Marketing: 74. Seed marketing and policy: certain issues/R. Sundarasan and M. Chinnadurai. XI. Special Topics: 75. Aerobic rice - an ideal tool to mitigate water scarcity/M. Venkatesan, T. Saravanan and K. Vanangamudi. 76. Sustainable rice production technology and food security/D. Gopalakrishnan, M. Senthilkumar and K. Vanangamudi. 77. Organic crop production/T. Saravanan, R. Nagganatha Suganthan and K. Vanangamudi. 78. Quality protein maize and  its exploitations/G. Kayalvizhi, K.R.V. Sathyasheela, T. Saravanan and K. Vanangamudi. 79. Organic seeds: challenges and prospects/A.P. Sivamurugan, S. Marimuthu, K. Vanangamudi and V. Thirumalamurugan. Subject Index.

"Recent past a very good amount of research in the field of seed science and technology is being undertaken across the country. Seed research includes seed biology, seed management, seed quality enhancement, production and maintenance of basic seed material, seed production and agronomy, pre-harvest and  post-harvest management of seed, seed processing, seed quality control, storage of both orthodox and recalcitrant seeds, seed health, seed industry and marketing. All the said disciplines work together as a team on interdisciplinary mode for the production and supply of quality seed to the endusers, who are the farmers, in a right place and time, in order to achieve a bumper harvest.

The use of good quality seed not only maintains sufficient and required population stand and uniform maturity, but also maximizes the yield by 15-20 per cent. In this context, the importance of seed is very much felt.

It is long felt need to compile all the published literatures that have been documented from the intensive seed research that is going on for the past 25 years in SAU's and research institutes of ICAR and present them comprehensively in a serious of volume of the book titled "Advances in Seed Science and Technology" and this book is the result of that which targets advanced UG and PG students and plant scientists who possess interests and curiosity to know about the advances in seed science and technology.

The subject matter covered is rather wide and has been categorized into eleven major areas. The first part deals with seed industry, which covers history of seed industry in India, relevance to global market and new avenues in seed industry. The second part deals with physiology and biochemistry of seed dormancy and seed germination. Chapters on genetically modified seeds have been included in third part in order to explain the recent biotechnological techniques used in seed science and technology to the reader. The fourth part contains chapters on seed quality enhancement like, seed fortification, infusion, osmopriming, hardening, pelleting, coating, colouring, etc.

In order to make available quality seed to farmers, it is important to know about various techniques followed in quality seed production and the same is given in the fifth part. A quality seed should be both physically and genetically pure. Ways and means to maintain seed quality and purity are given in seventh part. All the efforts generated to produce quality seeds should reach a climax in obtaining high vigour seedlings, for which seed handling techniques are imperative. Therefore, eighth to tenth parts of this book have been allocated to describe the methodologies and precautions to be followed during seed storage and processing.

All the efforts taken by the seed producers to produce quality seed in all aspects will be credited only if it is sold out for a good price. The eleventh part of this book describes the seed marketing policies. The twelfth part contains assorted chapters, which are related to seed science and technology.

Thus all the aspects of the recent trends in seed science and technology have been dealt in this book within a logical sequences and appropriate manner." (jacket)