ISOLATIO

N
MINIMUM DISTANCE(meters)
CONTAMINANTS
Mother root production Seed production stage
stage

Foundation Certified Foundation Certified

Fields of other varieties 5 5 3000 1000

Fields of the same variety
not conforming to variety
5 5 3000 1000
purity requirements for
certification
Fields of sugar beet,
mangels, palak, swiss 5 5 3000 1000
chard, chenopodium
 Seed maturation
 Harvest when between 60-80% of seed balls on at least 90% of plants in field have
hardened and turned brown.

 Best way to determine maturity is to squeeze a small amount of endosperm out of

cracked seed from seed ball.

 If the endosperm is viscous and appears translucent or milky, it is not close to

maturity and will require at least 3-4 weeks to mature.

 When the endosperm becomes “starchy” with a ture solid white color and has a firm
texture then seed is very close to maturity.

 At least 70-75% of seeds on any given plant, must be at this advanced starchy stage
before considering harvest.
 Harvesting and Processing
 Seed ripening in June end.
 Uneven ripening: 2-3 harvesting.
 Harvesting tedious: Long panicle from different plants gets entangled. Cut by
sickle.
 Wet and humid weather affect seed quality (black seed coat).
 Curing on tarpaulin / cement floor for 8-10 days .
 Threshing, cleaning by winnowing .
 Drying seed at 40ºC to bring seed moisture 9-10%.
 Grading

Seed Yield

 8-10q/ha
 1000 seed weight = 17-20g