Thursday 7 August 2014

Use of Seed Germinators to determine Seed Germination parameters

The sole purpose of seed germination testing is to test the nature of the seedlings. How will the seeds do in the field? Most of the farmers face this query on a regular basis. But, now with simple and easy methods your seeds can be tested before their sowing, labeling and selling process, so that you can take maximum advantage and price from the sale.

The seeds, which you are planning to sow, are tested in laboratories to check the purity and reliability of a seed sample. During the lab tests, a sample of 300-400 seeds of every lot is taken. The seeds are usually put in Seed Germinators which imitate moist conditions in an environment where 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit temperature is maintained for about a week. The seeds are given ideal planting conditions to grow. At the end of the week, the seeds are termed under various categories such as- normal, abnormal or diseased, and dead or hard seeds. A wide range of Seed Germinators are available with very advanced features like temperature, humidity, illumination control. They are available in various capacities and chambers to assist in evaluation germination parameters of seeds in laboratories.

In the Germination tests, the moisture and aeration, temperature and light conditions are especially taken care of. The hard-coated seeds are also given some special treatments to improve their germination quality. Before planting processes the seeds in the lab are also disinfected to reduce the hassles of bacteria and fungi.
During the Germination tests, the physical purity of the seeds have to be checked to determine and analyze the quality of the seeds. It is done to check that if the considerate sample of seeds is fit for the lab testing. The seeds should confirm to the prescribed seed quality standards. After the seed physical purity test, the seeds are categorized in the pure seeds, other crop seeds, weed seeds, and the determination of husk less seeds is also done. There should be no inert matter to be found in the sample seeds; otherwise, they are considered the bad seeds.

The germination process is only possible with the pure seeds samples. A minimum quantity of 400 seeds is taken and the germination tests are done with the 4 lots of 100 seeds each or 8 lots of 50 seeds each.
Lastly, the evaluation process of the lab germination is done on the basis of Normal seedlings category, Abnormal seedling category, Hard seeds, Fresh and ungerminated seeds and Dead seeds. The best seedlings which are considered are the normal seedlings. Even if the germinated seeds which have slight defects and no damage to the growing tissue are also considered as the normal seeds.


The normal seedlings are the ones which show the capacity to grow perfectly with green leaves and axis shoot growth. Abnormal seedlings do not show the capacity to ever grow if proper growing conditions are provided to them. Hard seeds are the ones which do not absorb moisture or water till the end of the tests and remain ungerminated. Fresh and ungerminated seeds are the ones which do not grow at all and can be reused for the germination process. Dead seeds are the ones which completely collapse and if pressed hardly at the end of the test, a milky paste is oozed out from them. 


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