Unlike grain production, seed production is a much more expensive, difficult, and responsible process and covers a longer period of time. In some cases, depending on the generation, seed production requires a cycle of two, three, or more agricultural years. More fields are also needed due to the requirements for crop rotation and the type of predecessor.
Seed production is carried out under higher requirements for the quality and type of field, location, and distance for isolations. The requirements for soil cultivation machines, quality, and sowing times are higher, the careful harvesting of seeds from the combine is decisive.
The qualification of those responsible for the seed production sowing from its creation to approval, certification, and completion of the process to ready seed material, requires specific agronomic knowledge and qualification.
Seed production aims to preserve and guarantee varietal purity, preserve and reproduce genetic material. The increase in the cost of seed production compared to grain production is due to the invested and significantly more expensive high-generation seeds, preliminary multiplications, or initial parental lines.
In seed production, high-class plant protection products are used, as the presence of crops with weeds and diseases is unacceptable. Numerous field activities are carried out by physical manual work of field specialists. Varietal cleaning, once or multiple times, is part of the mandatory monitoring of each seed production sowing.
After harvesting the seeds, precise preparation is carried out, which requires a production line, composed of different types and different purpose seed cleaning machines and automatic disinfectants. These capacities are serviced by qualified specialists and are energy-intensive. The purpose of precise preparation is to obtain cleaned, calibrated, and disinfected seeds for sowing. Packaging and labeling is a complex and responsible process that guarantees homogeneity and high quality in accordance with the requirements for seed material.
