Vegetable Seed Production -
Field Standards in India

To maintain the requisite genetic purity and to achieve the high level of seed standards during seed production it is essential to have field standards. Since the seed production programme organized by public as well private sectors organization at different locations, seasons and of various class, thus the field standards has to be maintained uniformly during the execution of the seed programme in field. The field standards is of two types, the first one is general requirements which include the isolation distance for foundation and certified seed and second is the specific requirements comprising offtype, objectionable weeds and plants affected by seed borne diseases. The objectives of general and specific requirements are to maintained genetic purity avoiding the genetic contamination and ultimately to meet the seed standards.

General requirements of vegetable seed production:

The isolation requirement is variable among the crops and it is low in self pollinated crops while moderate in often cross pollinated crops and higher in cross pollinated crops where wind/ insects act as pollinating agent. The crop-wise isolation is given below.

Crop	Contaminant	Minimum distance (m)
		Foundation	Certified
Tomato	Field of the other varieties	50	25
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	50	25
Brinjal	Field of the other varieties	200	100
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	200	100
Capsicum & Chillies	Field of the other varieties	400	200
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	400	200
	Field of capsicum from chilli and vice versa	400	200
Okra	Field of the other varieties	400	200
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and wild okra	400	200
Ashgourd	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	1000	500
Bittergourd	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from balsam apple (Momordica balsamina) , bhat kerala and jangli kerala	1000	500
Bottlegourd	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification.	1000	500
Cucumber	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from cucumis hardwickii	1000	500
Indian Squash(Tinda)	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification.	1000	500
Longmelon	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and snapmelon,muskmelon, oriental pickling melon and other non-desserted forms of cucumis melo	1000	500
Muskmelon	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and snapmelon, longmelon, oriental pickling melon and other non-desserted forms of cucumis melo known to cross	1000	500
Pumpkin	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from winter squash, summer squash and cushaw(C. mixta)	1000	500
Ridgegourd	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from spongegourd (L.cylindrica)	1000	500
Snakegourd	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from Trichosanthes labata ,T.palmate and T. cucumerina	1000	500
Spogegourd	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from ridgegourd (L.acutangula)	1000	500
Summersquash	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from pumpkin (C. moschata), C. mixta and C. maxima	1000	500
Watermelon	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and wild watermelon (Citrullus colocynthis L.)	1000	500
Amaranth	Field of the other varieties	400	200
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and wild amaranths	400	200
Celery	Field of the other varieties	500	300
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from turnip rooted celery Apium graveolens	500	300
Methi	Field of the other varieties	10	5
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	10	5
Lettuce	Field of the other varieties	50	25
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and wild lettuce (Lactuca scariola)	50	25
Parsley	Field of the other varieties	500	300
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	500	300
Spinich & Spinich Beat	Field of the other varieties	1600	1000
	Field of the swiss chard,sugar beet and garden beet for spinach beet only	1600	1000
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	1600	1000
Cabbage	Field of the other varieties	1600	1000
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from the varieties of Brassica oleracea(L) var.oleracea, ramose, gemmifera, acephala, gongylodes, subaduda, italica and botrytis etc.	1600	1000
Cauliflower & Broccoli	Field of the other varieties	1600	1000
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from the varieties of Brassica oleracea(L) var.oleracea, ramose, gemmifera, acephala, gongylodes, subaduda, italica and botrytis etc.	1600	1000
Knol-Knol	Field of the other varieties	1600	1000
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from the varieties of Brassica oleracea(L) var.oleracea ,ramose,gemmifera,acephala, gongylodes,subaduda,italica,capitata and botrytis etc.	1600	1000
Garlic	Field of the other varieties	5	5
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	5	5
Onion	Field of the other varieties	1000	500
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	1000	500
Carrot	Field of the other varieties	1000	800
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	1000	800
Garden beat	Field of the other varieties	1600	1000
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and fields of the swiss chard and spinach	1600	1000
Radish	Field of the other varieties	1600	1000
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from rat-tail radish	1600	1000
Turnip	Field of the other varieties	1600	1000
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification and from other species of genus Brassica pekenensis, B.chinensis B.napus and various kind of sarson/rai	1600	1000
Peas	Field of the other varieties	10	5
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	10	5
Dolichos bean	Field of the other varieties	10	5
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	10	5
Cowpea	Field of the other varieties	10	5
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	10	5
French bean	Field of the other varieties	10	5
	Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification	10	5