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VEGETABLE SEED
PRODUCTION
Areas of Production
Seed production
U.S. vegetable seed production is located in the
Pacific Northwest.
Seed production is expensive and requires greater
inputs and hand-labor.
The economic return for the investment is also higher
than for other crops.
Seed Production
OR – Willamette Valley, Treasure Valley, and near
Madras.
WA – Columbia Basin and Skagit River Valley
ID – Treasure Valley and Snake River Valley.
Oregon Washington Idaho
Carrot Carrot Carrot
Hybrid cabbage Hybrid cabbage Onion
Radish Radish Green bean
Onion Onion Hybrid sweet corn
Leek Leek
Table beets Dill
Hybrid squash Turnip
Pumpkin Kale
Cucumber Green bean
Parsley Parsley
Turnip Spinach
Watermelon Sugar beet
Broccoli Hybrid sweet corn
Rutabaga
Seed production areas Seed production
According to harvest, vegetable seed
production is divided into:
“Dry” seeds (e.g. onion, cabbage, carrot,
sugarbeet, etc.)
“Wet” seeds (e.g. tomato, peppers,
watermelon, eggplant, cucumber, squash,
pumpkin)
Fleshy fruits which are dried before seed
extraction (e.g. chilies and okra)
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Seed production
“Dry” seeds
Cutting the individual heads or inflorescence
Cutting the entire plant
Combine harvesting
“Wet” seeds and Fleshy fruits
Use of specially designed machines or by hand
Fruit maceration and separation of the seed
from the pulp “Wet” seed - Tomato seeds
Greenhouse tomatoes
65 – 75% of vegetable fruit production
Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, and
Ontario.
Seed production in greenhouses only limited.
Tomato seed production
Produced the same way as tomatoes for canning.
Raised beds 1.5 m wide and 20 cm high
Land must be leveled for uniform furrow irrigation.
Direct seeding or transplants
Direct seeding reduces cost
Greater flexibility of planting time and variety
“ Wet” seeds - Tomato Tomato seed production
Crop rotation are necessary (soybeans, sugar
beet, wheat, beans)
Soil above 10 °C (optimum germination
between 15 - 29 °C)
Populations of 24,700- 49,500 plants/ha
(10,000 – 20,000 plants/acre)
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Tomato seed production
Manure applications in Fall (high organic
matter requirements).
Soil sandy, light and well drained.
pH 6.0 – 6.5
Needs N-P-K
Mechanical and chemical insect and weed
control.
Tomato seed production
Ratio 1 male:5 females Hand-emasculation
Tomato seed production Tomato seed production
Harvest:
Mechanically or manually
Fruit fully ripe – physiological maturity
Extraction:
Fruits in a crusher
Separate seed from gelatinous pulp by natural or chemical fermentation
Natural fermentation up to 3 days
Chemicals: hydrochloric acid or sodium carbonate
17
specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Sem-automatic seed extraction machine:
Seeds, juice and pulp
Leaving the machine together
Easy to inspect and
clean out between
lots.
Manual separation
Of pulp and seeds
By means of screens
18 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Extraction machine: Automatic extraction of seeds out of vegetable fruits like tomato, peppers etc.
pulp
seeds juice
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19 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Extraction machine: Automatic extraction of seeds out of vegetable fruits like tomato, peppers etc.
Easy to clean out
Tomato seed production
Conditioning:
Airscreen cleaners
Storage:
Cool, dry conditions
MC 6%
Can live 4-6 years
Tomato seeds 3 – 5 mm
Tomato seed production
150-300 seeds/fruit
300,000 seeds/kilo
150-400 kg fruit = 1 kilo of seeds
or 2.5 – 6 kg seed/ton fruit
Yield: 250 - 400 kg/ha (220 – 350 lb/a)
“Wet” seed – Pepper and Eggplant
Pepper and eggplant seed
Harvest:
Manually
Pepper seed a by-product of dehydrated pepper
Extraction:
Fruits cut in two and shaken out
Seeds are washed and dried immediately
They should not be fermented
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Pepper seeds Pepper seed production
Usually an annual crop
Open-pollinated and Hybrids
Self-pollinated, some cross-pollination
Soil pH 6.0 to 6.5
Sown directly or transplanted
Pepper seed extraction
Wet without fermentation
Dry after the fruit is dehydrated
Hot peppers higher yielding than sweet
peppers
1 kg of small hot peppers produced 25-100
grams of seed
100 to 200 kg seed/ha “Wet” seed – Cantaloupe seed
Cucurbitaceae seeds Harvest
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31 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Extraction machine: Automatic extraction of seeds out of vegetable fruits like tomato, peppers etc.
Pumpkin seed extraction
32 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Drill: Extraction of seeds out of cucumber fruits, used at breeding stations.
33 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Belt Extraction machine: Automatic extraction of seeds out of cucumbers and sweet peppers
Discharging of fruits Feeding of fruits into machine
Squeezing fruits between two rubber belts
34 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Belt Extraction machine: Automatic extraction of seeds out of cucumbers and sweet peppers
Separating seeds from fruit waste
Washing the seeds (fermentation)
35 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Rinsing and separating : after seed extraction separating of seeds from and skins, pulp etc
Using a rinsing channel for,
Squash, cucumber, melon
and pepper seeds
Using a (tumbling)
separtion unit for tomato and pepper seeds
Drying
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37 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Dryer: conditioned seed dryer for larger seed lots, like tomato, pepper seeds etc.
Temperature and humidity controlled process
38 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Box Dryers:conditioned drying in wooden boxes with high capacity.
Your company
name Conditioned box dryer, closed rooms,
temperature and humidity controlled process
“Dry” seed – Onion seed
Leek seeds
Onion seed production
Soil friable, fertile, well drained
Planted 75 cm between rows, 1-3 cm within the
row
Rate 4.5 – 6.7 kg per hectare
Fertilize to obtain large bulbs before winter
pH 6.0-6.5
Onion seed production
Vegetative growth:
Cool season crop
Biannual
First year – fleshy seeds arising from a small conical
terminal stem (bulb)
Reproductive:
Seed formation in Spring and early summer
Requires vernalization
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Onion seed production
Seed:
Three sided 3 – 3.5 mm
Onion seed production
Reproductive:
Open-pollinated
Insect pollinated (cutter and honey bees)
Hybrid seed production ratio 2 male:8 female
Seeds
Bulb to seed
Seed to seed
45 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Thresher: threshing of seeds out of plants, seed pods or seed heads
Designed for stock (foundation) seed
productions Option: drawer with rails for the seed
Collecting containers
46 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Mobile Seed Threshers: threshing of seeds out of plants, seed pods or seed heads
47 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Belt Thresher: threshing of seeds out of seed pods/heads, like onion, beans and cabbage.
Onion seed production
Irrigation
Weed and insect control
Harvesting, drying, and threshing
Seed head harvested at 30% MC
Hand-cut with 10-15 cm stem
Heads transported inside bags
Dried with forced air
Yield 560 – 784 kg/ha (open pollinated) or 336 –
1,120 kg/ha (hybrid)
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Onion seed production
Conditioning:
Some cases light seed is separated by floating
Time should not exceed 3 minutes
Spin dried to 12% or less
Storage:
Seeds deteriorate rapidly
At 6% MC retain viability for 3 years
50 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Pre Cleaners: for separating plant parts, soil and sand after seed threshing.
51
specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Pre Cleaners: for separating plant parts, soil and sand after seed threshing.
Box turner (drying box) and than
pre-cleaning of seeds.
Special box turner, with feeding system included
“Dry” seed – Cabbage and Lettuce
Cabbage seed production
• Biannual plant
• Cool-season crop
• Not photoperiod sensitive
• Head must be quartered with a knife to allow flowering
• Seed stalk 1 – 2 m in height
• Inflorescence starts flowering from bottom to top
Cabbage seed production
• Soil heavy, very fertile (OM), pH 6.0-6.5
• Requires abundant water supply
• Production throughout the U.S.
• Planted 107 cm between rows, 40 cm between plants
• Plant population between 3,650 – 4,000 plants/ha (9,000 – 10,000 plts/a)
• Hybrids labor intensive – insect pollinated
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Cabbage seed production
• Harvesting:
–Siliques or pods with uneven maturity
–By hand
–Some open-pollinated varieties by machine
–Windrowing
• Conditioning:
–Air screen cleaners
• Storage:
–Remains viable for 4-6 years. MC 6%
“Dry” seeds-Lettuce
Lettuce seed production
• Similar to cabbage
• Annual, cool-season crop
• Either long-day sensitive or day neutral
• Some varieties need deheading, slashing or quartering, or application of growth regulators
Spinach seeds
59 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Blower: used for air separation of small seed lots. For example breeding stations.
Glass tube, antistatic, automatic clean out button!
60 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Air Separator: used for air separation of medium small seed lots.
Dust collection in container
on the back of the machine
Hinged glass door,
easy to clean out
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61 specialist in manufacturing seed processing equipment
Seed Air Screen Machine : used for separating seeds from stones, dust and empty seeds
Seeds are dosed on the first scalping screen
Seeds are sized and than separated on
weight with air
Option: belt feeder (standard vibratory feeder)