ORGANIC FARMING

organic farming
Organic farming system is not new in India and is being followed from ancient time. It is a method of farming system which primarily aimed at cultivating that land and raising crops in such a way as to keep the soil alive and in good health by use of organic wastes (crop, animal and farm waste, aquatic waste) and other biological material along with beneficial microbes ( biofertilisers) to release nutrients to crops for increased sustainable production in an eco-friendly, pollution-free environment.

Component of Organic Farming
Basically organic farming components can be grouped into five categories.
a. Green manures
b. Crop rotation
c. Organic manures ( farm yard manure, compost vermicompost )
d. Bio pesticides
e. Biofertilisers
Benefits of organic farming
a. Helps in maintaining environment health by reducing the level of pollution
b. Reduces human & animal hazards by reducing the level of residue in the product
c. Increases the agricultural products and makes it sustainable
d. Ensures the optimum utilisation of natural resources for short-term benefit and helps in conserving them for future generation.
e. Saves energy for both animal and machine and reduces the risk of crop failure
f. Improves the physical and chemical properties of soil.
g. Besides the point given above, it has been demonstrated extensively that plan products from organic farming are substantially better in quality like bigger in size, look, favour and aroma. Animal products are to be better in quality when they are fed with feed and fodder produced organically. The underground water of the area where such farming system is in practice has been found to be free of toxic chemicals.
2. What is Biofertilizer?
Biofertilizers are ready to use live formulates of such beneficial microorganism which on application to seed, root or soil mobilize the availability of nutrients by their biological activity in particular and help build up the micro flora and in turn the soil health in general.
Nitrogenous biofertilizers harvest atmosphere nitrogen and converts into ammonical form, which in due course is made available to the plants or is released in the soil. Phosphate solutions solubilize fixed forms of phosphorus already present in the soil and make it available for use of plants. Compositing biofertilizers are used for hastening the process of compositing and for enriching its nutrient value.
3. Why Bio fertilizer ?
With the introduction of green revolution technologies the modern agriculture is getting more and more dependent upon the steady supply of synthetic inputs (mainly fertilizers) which are products of fossil fuel (coal+ petroleum). Excessive dependence of modern agriculture and the supply of these synthetic inputs and the adverse effects being noticed due to their excessive and imbalanced use has compelled the scientific fraternity to look for alternatives.
Some of the points of concern are:
(i) Availability and cost:
a. Demand is much higher then the availability. It is estimated that by 2020, to achieve the targeted production of 321 million tones of food grain, the requirement of nutrient will be 28.8 million tones, while their availability will be only 21.6 million tones being a deficit of about 7.2 million tones.
b. Increasing costs are getting unaffordable by small and marginal farmers.
(ii) Effect of Chemical fertilizers in soil and environment.
a. Excessive and imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers has adversely affected the soil causing decrease in organic carbon, reduction in microbial flora of soil, increasing acidity and alkalinity and hardening of soil.
b. Excessive use of N-fertilizer are contaminating water bodies thus affecting fish fauna and causing health hazards for human beings and animals.
c. Production of chemical fertilizers adds to the pollution.
To overcome the deficit in nutrient supply and to overcome the adverse effects of chemical cultivation it is suggested that efforts should be made to exploit all the available resources of nutrients under the theme of integrated nutrient management. Under this approach the best available option lies in the complimentary use of Biofertilizers, organic manures in suitable combination of chemical fertilizers.
This Integrated approach of nutrient management not only ensures higher productivity but also ensures the good health of our soil and environment. Biofertilisers are essential components of this approach and are being promoted to harvest the naturally available, biological system of nutrient mobilization.

Benefits
a. Increase crop yield by 20-30%
b. Replace chemical N & P by 25 %
c. Stimulate plant growth
d. Activate soil biologically
e. Restore natural fertility
f. Provide protection against drought and some soil borne diseases.
Types of Biofertilizers
For Nitrogen
Rhizobium for legume crops
Azotobacter/Azospirillum for non legume crops
Acetobacter for sugarcane only
BGA and Azolla for low land paddy
For Phosphorous
Phosphatika for all crops to be applied with Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum and Acetobacter
For enriched compost
Cellulolytic fungal culture
Phosphotika and Azotobacter culture
Recommendations
a. For pulses such as moong, urad, arhar, cowpea etc and legume oil seeds such as groundnut and soyabean use Rhizobium + Phosphotika 200 gm each per 10 kg of seed as seed treatment.
b. For non legume crops such as wheat, sorghum maize, cotton mustard etc use Azotobacter + Phosphotika 200 gm each per 10 kg of seed as seed treatment.
c. For Jute - Azospirillum + Phosphotika 200 gm each as seed treatment.
d. Vegetables like tomato, brinjal, chilli, cabbage, cauliflower etc. use Azotobacter/Azospirillum + Phosphotika, 1 kg each as seedling root dip.
e. Low land transplanted paddy Azospirillum + Phosphotika 2 kg each/acre as seeding root dip for 8-10 hrs.
f. Potato, ginger colocassia, turmeric, sugarcane and zoom paddy-use Azospirillum/Azotobacter + Phosphotika 4 kg each/acre mixed with compost and applied as soil treatment.
g. Sugarcane-use Acetobacter + Phosphotika 4 kg each/acre as seed set dipping.
h. Plantation crops-Azotobacter _Phosphotika 4 kg each/acre with compost and applied in soil in two splits per year.


METHOD OF APPLICATION
Seed treatment :
Suspend 200 gm N biofertilizer and 200 gms Phosphotika in 300-400 ml of water and mix thoroughly. Mix this paste with 10 kg seeds & dry in shade. Sow immediately.
Seedling root dip:
For vegetables 1 kg each of two biofertilisers be mixed in sufficient quantity of water. Dip the roots of seedlings in this suspension for 30-40 min before transplanting.
For paddy make a bed in the field and fill it with water. Mix biofertilisers in water and dip the roots of seedlings for 8-10 hrs.
Soil treatment:
Mix 4 kg each of biofertilisers in 200 kg of compost and leave it overnight. Apply this mixture in the soil at the time of sowing or planting.
In plantation crops apply this mixture near root zone and cover with soil.

PRECAUTIONS
• Store biofertilizer packets in cool and dry place away from direct sunlight and heat.
• Use right combination of biofertilisers
• Rhizobium is crop specific, so use in specified crop
• Do not mix with chemicals
• While purchasing ensure that each packet is provided with necessary information like name of the product, name of the crop for which intended, name and address of the manufacturer, date of manufacture, date of expiry, batch No and instructions for use.
• Use the packet before expiry, only on the specified crop, by the recommended method.
Please remember
• Biofertilisers are live product and require care in storage
• For best results use both nitrogenous and phosphatic biofertilisers
• Use of biofertilizers is being empasized along with chemical fertilizers and organic manures.
• Biofertilizers are not replacement of fertlizers but can supplement their requirement.




Introduction
The side effects of indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture can be summarized
as disturbances in the soil reaction, development of nutrient imbalances in plants, increased succeptability to pests and diseases, reduction in legume root nodulation and plant mycorrhizal associations, decrease in soil life and environmental hazards such as water pollution and soil humus reduction.
The realization of such detrimental effects of chemical fertilizers when used continuously in large quantities in the absence of organic components has triggered interest regarding the alternatives to supply the plant nutrients in an integrated manner giving rise to Integrated Plant Nutrient System [IPNS] in which, bio-fertilizers play a major role.
Plant nutrients
Nitrogen is the key nutrient for plant growth constituting between 1-5 per cent of plant dry matter as compared to 0.1-0.5 percent for Phosphorous. Nitrogen is the major component of protein and the compound which direct and control the metabolic activity. The function of the nitrogen is to make plant green and succulent making large cells with thinner cell walls, promoting vegetative growth and determining the yield. Nitrogen is the major constituent of protein, amino acids, nucleic acids and chlorophyll. The atmosphere contains 4 trillions mt of nitrogen which is estimated as 78 per cent of it's volume and 75.5 per cent by weight. However, the ironical behavior of nature is that though the plants live in the atmosphere of nitrogen, they cannot use it.
Why use bio-fertilizers?
The industrial processes of nitrogen fixation (INF) involving production of ammonia expensive which involves imports of raw materials. They are heavily reliant on fossil fuel utilising a vast proportion of our energy supplies. Due to constantly depleting petroleum based products, feed stock, the cost of chemical fertilizer is increasing day by day. The energy requirement of lkg. fertilizer is 11.2 kwh for nitrogen, 1.1 kwh for phosphorous and lkwh for potash. Other problems associated with chemical fertilizers is the subsidy burden which has risen from Rs. 375/- crores in 1981-82 to an estimated figure of 11000 crores in 1996-97.
Biological; Nitrogen Fixation (BNF)
It is the conversion of elemental nitrogen to organic combinations or to a form which is readily utilisable in the biological processes by nitrogen fixing microorganisms like free living bacteria, associative bacteria, blue green algae (EGA) and certain micro-organisms in a symbiotic association with plants. These organisms are collectively called "Diazotrophs".

Classification of bio-fertilizers
Bio-fertilizers may be broadly classified into three groups;
• Nitrogenous bio-fertilizers
• Phosphatic bio-fertilizers.
• Organic matter decomposers
Common microorganisms as Bio-fertilizers
Name of the Bio-fertilizer Contribution Beneficiaries
A) Nitrogen
1) Rhizobium {Symbiotic} a) Fixes 50-30 kg N/ha
b) Leaves residual nitrogen
c) Increase yield by 10 –30%
d) Maintains soil fertility Pulses legumes: Cowpea, Green gram, Black gram, Pea, Gram
Oil legumes: Groundnut, Soyabean
Fodder legumes: Berseem lucern
Fodder legumes: Subabul, Shisan, Wheat, Jowar, Bajra, Maize
2) Azotobacter a) Supplies 20-40mg N/g of carbon source
b) Promotion of growth substances like vitamins, B Group, IAA and Gibberellic acid
c) 10-15% increase in yield
d) Maintains soil fertility
e) Biological control of plant disease, suppresses plant pathogens Mustard, sunflower, banana, sugarcane, grapes, papaya,
water melon, tomato, chilly
lady finger, coconut, spices
frnit, flower, plantation
crops, forest sp
3. Azospirillum a) Fixes 20-40 kg Nitrogen
b) Results in increase mineral and water uptake.
c) Root development
d) Vegetative growth and crop yield. Rice, sugarcane, finger
millet, wheat, sorghum
baira etc.;
4. Bine Green Algae {bga} a) 20-30 kg N/ha in submerged rice fields.
b) Production of growth substances like auxins, IAA, giberellic acid Rice
5. Azolla a) Fixes 40-80 kg N/ha
b) Used as green manure because of large bio-mass Rice
Methods of application
There are four types of methods for application of bio-fertilizers:
• Seed treatment
• Set treatment
• Seedling treatment
• Soil treatment
A) Seed treatment:
For inculation of cereals like rice, wheat, sorghum, maize etc.; and oilseeds like groundnut, sunflower, mustard, safflower, pulses like cowpea, green gram, black gram, soybean etc., seed treatment of bio-fertilizer is recommended. One packet {200g} is sufficient to treat 10-12 kg seed. On this basis the dose of bio-fertilizer per acre can be worked out, based on the seed rate.
Method:
 Keep the seeds required for sowing one acre in a heap on a clean cemented floor or gunny bag.
 Prepare culture suspension by mixing I packet {200g} bio-fertilizer in approx. 400 ml water {1:2}
 Sprinkle the culture suspension on the heap of the seeds and mix by hand so that thin coating is uniformly applied to the seeds.
 Spread the seeds under shade for sometime for drying and then sow.
 In place of water, rice glue { Kanji} can also be used for better results.
B) Set treatment
This method is recommended generally for treating the sets of sugarcane, cut pieces of potato and the base of banana suckers.
Method:
 Prepare culture suspension by mixing 1 kg {5 packets}of bio-fertilizer in 40-50 litres of water.
 The cut pieces of planting material required for sowing one acre are kept immersed in the suspension for 30 minutes.
 Bring out the cut pieces and dry them in shade for some time before planting.
 After planting, the field is irrigated within 24 hours.
For set treatment, the ratio of bio-fertilizer to water is approximately 1:50.
C) Seedling treatment
This method is recommended for crops like paddy, tobbaco, tomato, chilly, onion, cabbage, cauliflower etc.;
Method:
 Prepare the suspension by mixing lkg {5 packets} bio-fertilizer culture in 10-15 litres of water.
 Get the seedlings required for one acre and make small bundles of seedlings.
 Dip the root portion of these seedlings in this suspension for 15-30 minutes and transplant immidiately.
 Generally, the ratio of inoculant and water is 1:10 {Approx}i.e. I kg. bio-fertilizer in 10 litres of water.
 For vegetables like chilly, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, 1 packet of bio-fertilizer is sufficient for O.I ha { 10000m2)land.
For flower and ornamental Plants :
These bio-fertilizers can also be used for flowers and ornamental plants like roses, jasmine, chrysanthemum, marigold, dahlias etc. Regarding the method of application, it is generally done by root dip method or by the cutting method.
For root dip method
Dissolve one packet of bio-fertilizer {200 g} in 2 litres of water which is sufficient to treat 200-300 plants. Similarly, one packet in 2 litres is sufficient to treat 200-300 sets under cutting method.
4. Soil application
This method vary crop to crop depending on its duration. Generally, for a short duration {less than 6 months} crop, 10-15 packets {each of 200g} are mixed with 40-60 kg of well decomposed cattle manure or with 40-60 kg soil for one acre of land. The mixture of bio-fertilizer and cattle manure/soil sprinkled with water is then broadcasted into soil at the time of sowing or at the time of irrigation in standing crop. For long duration crop {perennial crop} 20-30 packets 0$ bio-fertilizer {each containing 200g} are mixed with 80-120 kg. cattle manure or soil per acre.
Application in standing crop
Perennial plants are prunned once in a year. After prunning, the soil in the bed is dug up with a fork with due care to avoid any damage to the roots.
Apply a mixture of bio-fertilizer and FYM/soil by incorporating it into the soil followed by irrigation.
Summary of Methods
Sl. Method of Application Crops Dose/packets/Acre Water Ratio
BF water Soil/
1 Seed application All crops sown through seeds 200g bio-fert 400 ml 1:2 ***
2 Set treatment Sets of sugarcane base of banana 1 or 2kg 50 or 100 litres 1:50 ***
3 Seedling method Rice, tomato,
chilly, cabbage, cauliflower &
flower crops 1 kg 10 litre 1:10 ****
4 Soil application All crops 2 kg for wetting *** 40-50kg





Live seed separation in Groundnut
Farmer friendly specific gravity grading in paddy
Polymer coating
Rhizobial coating
Botanical seed pelleting in greengram
Seed priming
Seed hardening for drought tolerance
Acid delinting in cotton
Designer seed
________________________________________
LIVE SEED SEPARATION IN GROUNDNUT
What is?

Groundnut seed are classified as micro biotic due to their fast deteriorating nature due to its oil content. It also has production problems that lead to the yield of poor quality seeds. But in groundnut for getting required yield plant population has to be maintained (33plants / sq.m.) This warrants the need of sowing good quality seed selection technique is the live seed separation. Hence live seed separation technique is the separation of germinable seed from dead seed.
Methodology
• Separate the pest attacked, brokened and immmatured seeds
• Soak the seeds in equal volume of 0.5% CaCl2 salt solution for 6 hrs.
• For preparation of 0.5% CaCl2 solution we have to dissolve 125gm of CaCl2 in 25 lit of water.

• Keep the seeds in between gunny bags in thin layer for about 16 hrs.
• After 16hrs the live seeds radicle might have germinate up to 5mm.
• Separate those germinated seeds from that seed lot and dry it in shade.
• For every 2hrs internal the germinated seeds can be separated from that lot for about 3-5 times.
• That seeds can be dried in the shade.
• The remaining ungerminated seeds are considered as dead ones.
• Further these germinated seeds are treated with either Carbendazim (Fungicide) or Rhizobium.
• Sprouted seeds can be used for sowing.

Separation of live seeds from dead seeds
Precautions
• Do no spread as thick layer
• Avoid fungal spread in the gunny bag
• Do not allow to over sprout
• Shade dry the seed of each interval of collection separately
Advantages
• Dead seeds are used for domestic purpose especially for oil extraction.
• Seed rate will be reduced.
• Calcium deficiency can be overcome by soaking the seeds in CaCl2 solution.
• About 10-15% of the yield can be increased.
FARMER FRIENDLY SPECIFIC GRAVITY GRADING IN PADDY
What is?

Rice seeds, which have been harvested in the right stage, processed precisely and packed carefully, are stored under ambient conditions for sowing during the next season. The differential inherent vigour of the individual seeds leads to variation in the rate of deterioration among the seeds during storage. Due to this differential deterioration, individual seeds of a seed lot will vary in seed density.
Vigorous seeds will posses higher density when compared to insect damaged, decayed, moldy and empty seeds. The lower density seeds may be similar to high vigour seeds in size and shape. Prior to sowing, the good quality high density seeds have to be separated from the poor quality seeds because seed vigour is important in determining crop performance.
Based on the density principle the seeds are floated using salt solution and the quality seeds are separated (the high vigour seeds sink and low vigour seeds float)
Methodology
o Take 10 litres of water in plastic bucket of 15 litres capacity.
o Drop a fresh egg in water.
o Add commercial common salt, little by little into the water and allow it to dissolve. (@2 kg / 10 litres of water)
o Watch the egg to raise up as the density of the solution increases.
o Stop adding salt when the surface of the egg of a size equivalent 25 paise coin, is visible above the solution. Now the density of the water is suitable for separation of good quality seeds.
o Add 10 kg of rice seeds in this salt solution.
o Remove the seeds floating on the surface.
o Collect the seeds sunk in the salt solution and wash them.
o Shades dry the seed and use for sowing.

Rice upgradation by egg floatation technique
Precautions
o Don’t over soak
o Don’t use more salt
o Salt water can be reused
o drying should be proper
Advantages
o Separates immature and ill filled seeds
o Enhances field emergence
o Can be adopted both for transplanted and dry crop
o Improves the yield
o Check on pathogen infection
POLYMER COATING
What is?

It is the process of coating the seeds with polymers of different colours along with nutrients and plant protectants to increase the aesthetic values of the seed with required benefits.
Methodology
• Coat the seeds with polykote (3 g + 5ml water / kg) after proper dilution
• Mix fungicide (Carbendazim 2g) and pesticide (Imidachloprid 2 ml / Kg) with the polykote to increase the resistance to the pest and diseases.
• Shade the seed before using / storing


Seed cote Polymer Coated Seeds
Recommendations

Crop Treatment details
Colour of polymer Dose of polymer (g/kg) Volume of water (ml)
Paddy Yellow 3 3
Maize Pink 3 5
Sorghum Pink 3 5
Cumbu Pink 3 5
Soybean Yellow 4 5
Sunflower Black 4 5
Tomato Red 6 20
Bhendi Green 5 5
Benefits
• Polykote gives uniform colour and shape to the seeds and also increases5 to 10 percent of germination % and vigour index.
• Improved seedling emergence and vigour.
• Protection against pest and disease during storage.
• Free from environment pollution
• Avoid wastage of seed treating chemicals.
• Polykote can be used for all agricultural and horticultural crops.
RHIZOBIAL COATING
What is?
Rhizobial coating is to enriching the rhizosphere microenvironment with organic nutrients for early establishment.
Methodology
• Take the seeds in a plastic tray
• Add proper quantity of adhesive (cool maida 10% gruel) to the seeds or jaggery
• Shake gently so that the adhesive spreads evenly on all the seeds
• Sprinkle the required biofertilizer (Rhizobium, Azospirillum, Azotobactor) evenly over the seeds and continue shaking.
• The wet seed surface will attract the biofertilizer and result in even coating over the seeds
• Roll the seed for uniformity
• Shade dry the seed
Recommendations

Seed rhizobial coating with 10% maida gruel @ 200-300ml/ kg of seeds and coating with biofertilizer @ 200-300 g per kg of seed improve the field emergence of green gram, black gram, cotton, tomato and brinjal.
Precautions
• Seeds should not spill while shaking
• Adhesive should not be added excess. Since it will lead to formation of seed dumps.
• Inadequate application of adhesive will result in uneven seed coating
• Separate the seeds dumps formed, if any manually.
• Empty the seeds on a sheet of paper and allow it to dry for a day.
Advantages
• It improves fertility at rhizosphere region with organic matter.
• The mechanical planting of seeds is facilitated.
• Seed are uniform in size and shape
• Easy handling of seed
• In mechanical separation seed flow easily which prevent dumping together
• Small and irregular shaped seeds can be handled easily by pelleting which changes the shape of the seeds.
• Permits precision planting in very small seeds which results in uniform seedling emergence
• Improved ballistics properties. Pelleting increases the weight of seed therefore increase the capacity of aerially sown seed to penetrate in to standing vegetation in tree species.
• Handling of small seeds is made easy which in turn reduces the seed rate.
BOTANICAL SEED PELLETING IN GREENGRAM
Pelleting is enclosing of seed in a filler material using an adhesive with bioactive chemicals to ensure singling of seed and size increases for easy handling.
Methodology
• Take the seeds in plastic tray
• Add a small quantity of adhesive (10% maida solution) to the seeds
• Shake gently, in such a way the adhesive spreads evenly on parts of each seed
• Add filler material (Arappu leaf powder) evenly over the seeds and continue shaking until the uniform coating is ensured
• Separate the seed dumps if any
• Remove the excess filler material by sieving
• Dry under shade to expel moisture
Benefits
• Small and irregular shape seeds can be handled easily
• Precision sowing of seeds is possible as size and weight of seeds are increased
• Increased physiological seed quality characters

SEED PRIMING
What is?

Seed priming is the process of controlled hydration of seeds to a level that permits pre-germinative metabolic activity to proceed, but prevents actual emergence of the radicle.
Types of priming
• Hydro priming (use of water double the volume of seed)
• Halo priming (use of salt solution-NaCl)
• Osmo priming (use of osmotic solution – PEG)
• Sand matric priming – (use of moist sand)
Methodology

For the first three methods soak the seed in the respective solution of definite concentration for needed duration and dry back the seed to original moisture content.
For the fourth method mix the seeds with moist sand of required water holding capacity, place it in perforated plastic covers and keep it deep in the tray filled with moist sand of same water holding capacity.

Comparison of control and primed bhendi seeds
Creation of different WHC (Water Holding Capacity)
30% WHC – 90ml of water / kg of dry sand
40% WHC – 120 ml of water / kg of dry seed
60% WHC – 180 ml of water / kg of dry seed
80% WHC – 240 ml of water / kg of dry seed
100% WHC – 300 ml of water / kg of dry seed
Crop Seed priming techniques
Tomato Hydro priming (48hrs)
Brinjal Sand matric 80% (3 days)
Chillies Sand matric 80% (3 days)
Onion Sand matric 80% (3 days)
Carrot Hydro priming (36hrs)
Beetroot Hydro priming (12hrs)
Bhendi Sand matric60% (3hrs)
Radish Hydro priming (12hrs)
Mustard Hydro priming (12hrs)
Advantages
• Enhances the germination percentage
• Enhances the speed and uniformity of germination
• Improves the resistance towards water and temperature stress
• Increases the shelf life of seed
• Highly suitable for small seeds
• Enhances the yield
SEED HARDENING FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE
What is?
Seed hardening is physiological preconditioning of the seed by hydration to with stand drought under rainfed condition.
Methodology
o Soak the seed in water or in chemical solution for definite duration in proper seed to solution ratio
o Shade drying to bring back the seed to original moisture content
Benefits
 It increases the speed of germination and germination percentage
 It increases the seeding vigour.
 The uniformity of seedling emergence.
 Increases the root growth.
 Flowering occurs 2-3 days earlier.
 Uniform seed set and maturity.
 Increases the yield.
Factors influencing
o Concentration of the chemical
o Selection of chemical
o Duration of soaking
o Seed to solution ratio
Hardening technique for various crop
Crop Chemical and concentration Methodology
Pearl millet 2% potassium
chloride Dissolve 20 gm of salt in 1000 ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 650 ml of this solution for 10 hours and dry back to original moisture.
Sorghum 2% potassium
chloride Dissolve 20 gm of salt in 1000ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 650 ml of the solution for 16 hours and dry back to original moisture or weight.
Cotton 2% Potassium
chloride Dissolve 20 gm of salt in 1000 ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 650 ml of this solution for 10 hours and dry back to original moisture.
Sunflower Potassium chloride Dissolve 20 gm of salt in 1000 ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 650 ml of this solution for 12 hours and dry back to original moisture.
Black gram &
Green gram 100ppm Zinc
sulphate
100ppm Manganese sulphate Dissolve 1000mg of salt in 1000ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 350 ml of the solution for 3 hours and dry back to original moisture or weight.
Ragi 0.2% Sodium
chloride Dissolve 2 g of salt in 1000ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 700 ml of solution for 6 hrs and dry back to original moisture content or weight.
Groundnut 0.5% calcium
chloride Dissolve 5 g of salt in 1000ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 300 ml of solution for 4 hours and dry back to original moisture or weight.
Redgram 100ppm Zinc
sulphate Dissolve 1000mg salt in 1000ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 300 ml of solution for 4 hrs and dry back to original moisture or weight.
Bengal gram 1% potassium
dihydrogen phosphate Dissolve 10g salt in 1000ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 350 ml of solution for 4 hrs and dry back to original moisture or weight
ACID DELINTING IN COTTON
What is?

In cotton, seeds are removed from kapas the fruiting body which has both seed and lint. In the separated seed, seed coat will have hairy outgrowth and this is the genetic characteristic feature of the seed. These seeds are known as fuzzy seed as the hair like growth is known as fuzz.
Normally these fuzzy cotton seeds are used for sowing purpose and these seeds creates problems on sowing as
• Maintenance plant population in the field mainly due to difficulty in recognition of contaminates, broken seeds, diseased seeds, insect infected seeds, immature seeds etc.
• Non free flowing nature of the fuzzy seed make the sowing difficult
• More seed rate
• Lesser storability
Hence separation of seed from the lint to increase the free flowing nature of the seed proper removal of the fuzz, the external hair from the seed coat is necessary, which could be obtained through the process known as delinting.
Delinting is the process of removal of fuzz from the seed coat in cotton i.e. it is a crop specific seed management technique.
Methodology
• Take one kg of the cotton (fuzzy seeds) in a plastic bucket
• Add concentration H2SO4 at the rate of 100ml / kg of seed
• While additions it should be constant stirring by using wooden stick for 2-3 minutes to facilitate uniform coverage and better treatment effect.
• After 3 minutes all seeds will turn into coffee brown in colour
• Wash the seeds immediately for 4-5 times with cold water until the acid nature of the seed is removed.
• Care should be taken while washing the improper washing will affect the viability of the seed.
• After thorough washing the entire seed should be placed in water in 1: 10 ratio to remove floaters.
• For complete removal of acid seeds can be dipped in 0.5% calcium chloride solution for 10-15 minutes.
• The sinkers seeds can be used for sowing purpose.
• For large scale delinting of cotton, cotton delinting machine can be used.
Factors influencing
• Type of acid
• Seed size / varietal character
• Efficiency of persons
• Washing
• Neutralising
Precautions
• Don’t use hand while mixing use wooden poles
• Use plastic bucket only
• Mix the seeds for only 2-3 minutes and not more than that as excess acid will kill the seed
• Give through washing
• Dry the seed to low moisture content for longer storability
• Remove the broken and immature seed

Advantages
• Seed borne pathogens are eliminated
• Destroyed boll worm eggs on the seed coat
• Remove the inhibitors in the pericarp
• Increase seed germination and vigour
• Reduce the seed rate
• Make seed free flowing
• Make mechanical sowing feasible
• Storability is more
Acid delinting in cotton

DESIGNER SEED

Designer seed is an integrated pre-sowing seed treatment that involves addition of nutrients, plant protectants and bioinoculants to enhance seed quality viz., speed of emergence and establishment.
Methodology

Coat the hardened (ZnSO4 0.5%) black gram seeds were coated with polykote @3g + 5ml water / kg and was followed by Imidachloprid (5g/kg), Trichoderma viride (4g / kg). finally seeds were coated with Rhizobium (20g / kg) and Azophos (120g /kg)

Benefits
• Increase in speed of germination
• Improved vigour of seedling
• Reduced cost of plant protection
• Resistant to pest and disease
• Increased yield