Source of Life and Duration of Use of Crop Seeds: Seed Technology Category: Technical Articles Updated Time: 2008-10-29 16:23:09 Read 77 times
By Li Shengxiang, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Seed Management Station
Seeds, like all living organisms, continue to carry out life processes within their cells. Once they reach full maturity, they are separated from the parent plant and become independent individuals. At this stage, they enter a state of dormancy, which may appear as if they have stopped growing. However, the embryo inside is still undergoing physiological activities, though at a very low level. Throughout storage, seeds are closely influenced by external environmental conditions. The worse the storage conditions, the greater the impact on seed viability. Ultimately, this can lead to loss of viability.
The term "seed life" generally refers to the maximum period during which a seed can maintain its viability under specific storage conditions after it has matured. In agricultural production, it's crucial to implement effective measures to extend the life of crop seeds as much as possible in order to meet farming needs. As a planting material, crop seeds must possess strong vitality. They not only need to germinate properly but also do so uniformly. Therefore, the useful life of seeds in agriculture is closely related to their overall lifespan. While longer seed life usually means a longer useful period, there isn't a consistent agreement on this relationship.
In our region’s climate, the lifespan of cereal crops typically ranges from 1 to 3 years. Seeds used in the following year can still be viable under normal conditions. However, the actual useful life of seeds is not very long. For example, the lifespan of milk vetch and cotton is significantly longer than that of rice and wheat. With the availability of home refrigerators, small quantities of vegetables can be stored for more than three years, maintaining their viability. Yet, in practical agricultural use, few seeds are stored for more than three years.
This is mainly because when the storage time exceeds a certain limit, a series of physiological changes occur in the embryonic cells. Although viability is not completely lost, the original physiological activity begins to decline. When sown, these seeds may germinate, but the resulting seedlings are often weak, stunted, or deformed, affecting both quality and yield. Thus, the useful life of crop seeds cannot be judged solely by whether they germinate or not. It requires careful observation and comparison based on long-term field practices. A reliable range for different crops and varieties should be determined according to local climate conditions.
Currently, the standard for determining the age of agricultural seeds is still based on the germination rate. After a certain storage period, the vigor of the seeds is largely reflected through this rate. It is commonly believed that even though the germination rate decreases over time, as long as it remains above 50%, more than half of the seeds in the population still retain their viability. These seeds can still be used as planting material when new seeds are not available. In high-temperature regions of southern China, the lifespan of crop seeds is relatively short, and the useful life is almost the same as the lifespan. However, in the dry and cold northern regions, the lifespan of crop seeds is greatly extended, leading to a significant difference between the useful life and the total lifespan.
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