Seed storage is the process of preserving viable seeds from the time harvested or collected to the time required for planting or sowing. Seed storage is important as it secures the supply of good quality seeds for sowing whenever needed as well as to maintain the seed in good physiological and morphological condition (Ellis et al., 1990; Hong and Ellis, 1992). Seed storage ensures the maintenance of germplasm over time for improved plant breeding programs (Wang, 1975).
Storage of seeds as ex situ germplasm is an essential step for the long-term conservation of plant genetic resources. Maintaining seed viability for longer period is very essential to preserve the genetic integrity in stored samples. Since very early days, simple techniques have been adopted to maintain the
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Seed yields and seed quality (germination and vigor) may be unpredictable due to growing conditions and
2. Market demand for certain crops may vary significantly from one year to the next.
2.0 METHODS OF SEED STORAGE.
Several methods have been adopted in storing seed. Some of these methods are: Air-conditioned storage; Refrigerator storage and Freezer storage.
2.1 Air-Conditioned Storage Air conditioners may vary in their capacity to dry and cool the air. Initially, an air conditioner may achieve a relative humidity of 35-50% which is far better than humid tropical summer or temperate wet winter air. Bonner (1990) stated that installing air conditioners in storage rooms allow for the reduction of temperature and humidity. The advantages for air-conditioned storage as itemized by ISTA (1993) include: it further air-dries seeds; it is used for temporary storage of seeds that have not yet been packaged in storage containers as well as large seed lots. Also, air-conditioner storage helps to maintain a constant, cool storage environment that should further prolong the storage life of seeds, especially orthodox seeds such as Tectona grandis, Gmelina arborea, Terminalia catappa etc. (FAO,
Figure 1 indicates an increasing mortality rate (positive slope) in plants as density increases; Figure 2 shows the corresponding germination rate reflecting the exact opposite trend. Mortality remains zero until 8 seeds are planted (6% mortality), then is reduced to zero at 16 seeds then increases to 14 percent (32 seeds), 32 percent (64 seeds), and more than half (57 %--128 seeds).
The germinating seeds consumed almost no oxygen throughout the experiment in the 10-degree C water bath. I think that this is because when an organism cools down, all of its cellular functions slow down.
this notion of stable supply and demand affected prices of farm commodities. “Low prices on
technology. When they wanted to plant or to crush the seeds that they have gathered they used a
...o grow for the next nine months? It is unlikely that society would consent to people seeds growing in their homes.
In warmer climates such as Egypt they used techniques as evaporative cooling, “if water is placed in shallow trays during the cool tropical nights, its rapid evaporation can cause ice to form in the trays, even if the air does not fall below freezing temperatures”. Although refrigeration developed in the 18th century it wasn’t until the mid-19th century when the first refrigerator built using vapor technology was build by American John Gorrie in 1844. A few years later commercial refrigeration was introduced as well as vapor compression technology which was the beginning of our modern refrigeration. Later that century ammonia was popularized as the evaporation chemical in refrigeration. All the trials and tribulations of refrigeration where all stepping stones to the 20th century and the introduction of modern refrigeration as we know it
In many ways, cotton was an ideal crop; it was easily grown, and unlike food crops its fibers could be stored for long periods of time. But cotton plants contained seeds that were difficult to separate from the soft fibers. A type of cotton known as long staple was easy to clean, b...
What is a seed vault really? The seed vault is an attempt to ensure against the loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global crises. People around the world recognizing the vulnerability of the world’s genebanks sparked the idea of establishing a global seed vault to serve as a backup storage facility. The purpose of the Vault is to store duplicates of seed samples from the world’s crop collections.The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was the brainchild of Cary Fowler, a scientist, conservationist and biodiversity advocate. Though there are more than 1,700 genebanks around the world that keep collections of seeds, they are all vulnerable to war, natural disasters, equipment malfunctions and other problems.
UXL Encyclopedia of Science (2002), stated that seeds are a part of plant. It can be the cause for a new plant. When plants grow they will produce another set of seeds until the plants spread through the given space to them.
Plants are grown under controlled and sterile conditions which reduce the risk of being exposed to pests, pathogens and diseases.
When it comes to the supply, demand and price of coffee there are certain factors that can fluctuate these characters to rise or fall. Weather is one example that affects the consumption of coffee.
After about four months, the sesame seeds are ready to be harvested. It is during this time that the sesame seeds are processed to ensure that all seeds are able to be sold for consumer use. The processing of the sesame seeds is a very tedious job. The seeds are first cleaned and hulled. Those that require no extra care are then packed and sent to sto...
...o climate change. All of these have caused an impact on the ability to produce crops and grow agriculturally. Climate change has been increasing the number of droughts, floods, health hazards of employees, natural disasters, and sea level elevations. All of these put in danger the crop productivity resulting in famines and food price increments. Climate change affects agriculture in every country differently due to its location. Countries such as Canada and Russia are being affected positively by climate change since it has enabled the country to prosper agriculturally. Other countries cannot handle drastic temperature changes, such as Sudan and Bangladesh, whose agricultural growth has been affected negatively by the climatic changes. Agriculture is fundamental in a country, creating a balance between agriculture and the increasing climatic changes would be ideal.
Seed dispersal is the transport or movement of seeds away from the parent plant in order to help prevent the overcrowding (if this happens plants would not have enough food and light to survive in the area) and help to create new colonies. Thus giving the seed the best chance to germinate in a new location away from the parent plant and hopefully start new colonies. Due to the fact plants have limited mobility they rely on a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds via abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) vectors. There are five main methods of seed dispersal, animals, gravity, wind, ballistic and water (1). Fire is also another way for seeds to be dispersed but is not as common as the other methods.