Prepare own wheat seed, Punjab Agriculture Department tells farmers
Predicting an increase in the price of wheat seed owing to crop damage following inclement weather conditions, the Punjab Agriculture Department has appealed to farmers to prepare their own wheat seed for the next cropping season instead of shelling out extra money to obtain it from the seed producing agencies.
No matter, initially, agro-scientists feared that inclement weather conditions could damage the wheat crop to the extent that the grains did not have good quality enough for use as seeds, but during the harvesting of the crop, it has been found that the wheat plants that stood straight against the vagaries of weather conditions did not lose quality and lustre giving a ray of hope to prepare seeds for the next cropping season.
Gurcharan Singh, a farmer and resident of Rode village in Moga district, said, “There is no difference in the cultivation mechanism for producing seeds or for growing crops. A vast majority of the farmers set aside a part of their quality grains for growing seeds that can be used in the next season”.
Chief Agriculture Development Officer Dr Manjit Singh and Plant Protection Officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar said they were going from village to village these days to educate the farmers on selecting quality grains from their produce for seeds. They were also sensitising them on better post-harvest techniques and scientific storage of the seeds.
Dr Brar asked the farmers to clean the grains properly and dry them in proper sunshine to bring down the moisture content under 12 per cent to avoid fungi attack and germination. The farmers should also remove the broken and damaged seeds before storage. They should treat the seeds with an insecticide and store it in airtight containers or in new gunny bags. He said the seeds should be kept in a cool place, away from direct light and humidity.
