Seed Science and Technology (2nd Fully Revised and Enlarged Edition)

Contents: Preface. I. Seed biology: 1. Floral biology. 2. Flowering and pollination. 3. Fruit and its structure. 4. Seed and its structure. 5. Vegetative propagules. 6. Seed formation and development. 7. Apomixis, parthenocarpy and polyembryony. 8. Synthetic seed. 9. Seed maturity indices. 10. Chemical composition of seeds. 11. Seed Dormancy and methods to break the Dormancy. 12. Seed Germination. II. Seed production: 13. Principles and methods of plant breeding. 14. Development and release of varieties. 15. Deterioration of varieties. 16. Maintenance breeding. 17. Seed generation system. 18. Seed village. 19. Seed planning. 20. Seed policy. 21. Seed quality. 22. Principles of seed production. 23. Heterosis and hybrid vigour. 24. Techniques of hybrid seed production. 25. Seed production in field crops. 26. Seed production in vegetables. 27. Hybrid seed production. 28. Nursery management. 29. Micropropagation. III. Seed processing: 30. Harvesting and threshing. 31. Seed extraction. 32. Seed drying. 33. Seed processing. 34. Seed quality enhancement. IV. Seed quality control: 35. Seed act and rules. 36. Seed certification. 37. Field inspection. 38. Objectionable weeds. 39. Seed certification standards. 40. Seed sampling. 41. Mixing and dividing of seed. 42. Purity analaysis.. V. Seed Storage. VI. Seed health. VII. Seed industry and marketing. VIII. PPV and FR. This book is useful for agricultural and horticultural graduates not only for their academic programme, but also for preparation for competitive examinations like NET, ARS, Civil Services banks, etc.