Every year on Kisan Diwas, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research commemorates 'Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan' Week from December 23 to December 29 to honor the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Late Chaudhary Charan Singh. The event is being conducted to recognize their significant contribution in promoting the use of science for the benefit of farmers.
Across the country, ICAR Institutes and KVKs are hosting a range of farmer awareness activities aimed at exhibiting and demonstrating new technological advances for enhancing agricultural productivity and profitability. During the occasion, farmers who have effectively embraced new technology and contributed to the wider adoption of new technologies by farmers are recognized.
This year, Krishi Jagran is also organizing various webinars and events during the Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan Week from 23-29 December 2021. Today, on 27th December, Krishi Jagran organized a webinar on “Importance of Quality Seed In Farming”.
In broad sense, the seed is a material that is used for planting or regeneration purposes. Seed may be defined as “A fertilized matured ovule, consisting of an embryonic plant, a store of food and a protective seed coat, a store of food consists of cotyledons and endosperm”. Seed is the most vital and crucial input for crop production. The importance of quality seeds has been recognized from time immemorial. In the old scripture, Manu Smriti says “Subeejam Sukshetre Jayate Sampadyathe” i.e., Good seed in good soil yields abundantly. Seed quality has been treated as sacred, being an important factor in the improvement of agriculture and agrarian societies.
Many eminent personalities shared their wisdoms on the same. Dr. Devendra Yadav (Assistant Director General of Seed in Indian Council and Agriculture Research- ICAR (Dr. Devendra Yadav (Assistant Director General of Seed in Indian Council and Agricultural Research- ICAR), Farmer Umesh Yadav-FPO, Dr. P Sujatha (Associate Professor – Department of Seed Science and Technology, Jaishankar Telangana State Agriculture University, Hyderabad), Dr. Vipin Joshi (Manager of Seed Quality Insurance Agrostore India- Maharashtra) and Gokulji (Business Head of Mangalmurthy Seeds – Orissa) were present.
Krishi Jagran always keeps farmers first. So, the webinar was started by a farmer Umesh Patidar from Madhya Pradesh. In his address Umesh emphasized that "A seed is a substance that is utilized for planting or regeneration. Good seed gives good results. Seed is divided into 3 Types: Nuclear Seed, Breeder/Foundation Seed and Certified Seed. Seed plays a key role in farming. We test our seeds 15 days before sowing on our own. For eg. We keep 100 seeds for 10-15 days at our homes. After 15-20 days we check the germination rate of the seeds. If 70% of the seeds have a good germination rate then we will select them for farming purposes."
Dr. Devendra Yadav advised farmers to get their seed from a reputable source, i.e. a well-known corporation. Along with this, he stated that only enhanced variety seeds and quality seeds should be used.
Taking this discussion further Dr. P. Sujata also shared her views and said that "Farmers should select only clean seeds. She talked about the genetic purity of the seed and said that if you choose a seed with high vigor, then the crop will also be able to grow well in the field."
In addition to Dr. Vipin Joshi, discussed seed health, seed treatment, innovative seed technology, biological seed health, with quality seed. Dr. Joshi went on to say that the government should also focus on seed quality from its end so that farmers may receive better quality crops and double their incomes.
