Seed village wants to multiply a new chickpea variety
A farmer producer organisation (FPO) in Bundelkhand has obtained 120 kg of breeder seed of a newly released chickpea variety from the university. The variety is notified, but the FPO has no prior seed-production experience. It plans to sow all 120 kg on 3 ha and sell the harvested produce next season as 'certified seed' to its 250 members. The FPO has one field of 3.2 ha, previously grown to a local desi chickpea variety last year; the field is bordered on two sides by another farmer's chickpea of an unknown variety, at 80 m and 150 m. The FPO also has 1.5 t of own saved chickpea grain of the same new variety from a demonstration plot, which it wants to mix with the breeder-seed produce to increase volume. The FPO asks whether it can label and sell the entire harvest as certified seed next year.
1. Calculate how much land the 120 kg breeder seed can plant at a chickpea seed rate of 75–100 kg/ha, and state the seed class the FPO can produce.
Read the worked answer
At 75–100 kg/ha, 120 kg of chickpea breeder seed covers only 1.2–1.6 ha, not 3 ha. Sowing it on 3 ha would either under-sow and reduce plant stand or force the FPO to use a lower seed rate than recommended.
More importantly, breeder seed produces foundation seed, not certified seed, in one multiplication. Certified seed requires another generation: breeder → foundation → certified. The FPO can use this season to produce foundation seed on 1.2–1.6 ha and sell that to members as foundation seed if it meets standards, or multiply it again next season for certified seed. It cannot label this harvest as certified.
2. Advise on mixing the 1.5 t saved grain and on the field's isolation and previous-crop history.
Read the worked answer
Do not mix the 1.5 t saved grain with the breeder-seed produce. The saved grain came from a demonstration plot, has no documented generation, was not field-inspected, and may contain off-types, admixtures or seed-borne disease. Mixing would make the whole lot uncertifiable and would destroy traceability. Keep it separate and send a sample to a notified lab; if it meets standards, it might be used as truthfully labelled seed, but not as foundation or certified seed without a known seed chain.
Field history and isolation: the field grew local desi chickpea last year. Volunteers from that crop can emerge and contaminate the new crop, so destroy volunteers and check the certification field-history rule. Chickpea is largely self-pollinated; 80 m and 150 m from unknown chickpea are probably more than the usual isolation requirement, but confirm the prescribed distance and inspect the neighbour crop for disease.
3. What records and inspections must the FPO arrange before harvest?
Read the worked answer
Before harvest, arrange the paper trail and inspections. Apply for certification with the breeder-seed label and source invoice, a field map with isolation distances, sowing date and seed rate, previous crop and variety, and a roguing record. Request inspections at the vegetative stage, at flowering and before harvest. Record every roguing, irrigation, spray and field operation. At harvest, clean the threshing floor and thresher, keep the lot separate, draw a composite sample and send it to the notified lab. Without these records, even good seed cannot be certified; with them, the FPO builds a basis for foundation seed now and certified seed in the next cycle.