Seed Grading

Since humans first developed stable agriculture, seeds have become the world's most essential crop. That's because seed is the bridge between one generation of plant and the next.

There isn't a single good reason for planting poor quality seed, and, thank goodness, this is one thing you can control. The general rule is the larger the seed for any particular variety, the stronger and more vigorous the seedlings are likely to be. Large seeds also produce plants with more tillers than those grown from small seeds.

Larger seed not only has greater vigour but emerges faster. The speed of germination and emergence is a powerful factor because it occurs early in the growth of the crop. Early emerging seedlings have a high probability of being larger at stem elongation and of producing more grains than those that emerge a few days later. Seed grading will actively encourage consistency as well as competitiveness of seed. Uniformity of seed permits more even distribution of grain through the drill. Seed spacing is important as blanks and then clusters are a disadvantage for optimum plant density.

Pickering P A & W H