There are five main parts of a rice seed. The embryo , or tiny plant-to-be, is tucked into one end of the seed and contains everything that will become a rice plant. The cotyledon helps the plant live and plays an important part in the growth of the plant. It digests food for the embryo. The endosperm is a milky white substance that fill most of the seed and is loaded with starch and other nutrients the plant will feed on until it can produce it’s own food. The seed coat is several layers that protects the seed’s important contents. The hull is another layer that helps keep the important contents protected.
When the plant begins to grow, the root pushes down through the soil and the shoot pushes up through the surface and becomes the stem and leaves.
Introduction to seed management
Seed is a living product that must be grown, harvested and processed correctly to maximize its viability and subsequent crop productivity. For the yield potential of any rice variety to be realized, good quality seed must be sown. Good quality seed can increase yields by 5-20%. The extent of this increase is directly proportional to the quality of seed that is being sown. Seed quality can be considered as the summation of all factors that contribute to seed performance.
High quality seed enables farmers to attain crops, which have:
* the most economical planting rate
* a higher percentage of seeds
* emerging in the field
* a minimum of replanting
* a vigorous seedling establishment
* a more uniform plant stand
* faster growth rate, and
* greater resistance to stress and diseases and
* uniformity in ripening.
This manual deals with the practical field aspects of managing good and certified seed.