Think of your favorite tomato вЂ“ its size, color, shape, flavor, etc. However, many seed farmers opt to stop before this step and keep their role to harvesting the seeds, after which theyвЂ™ll sell them directly to seed companies that take care of the rest of the steps, collectively termed вЂњseed conditioning.вЂќВќ In addition to the standard farming equipment required to raise the plants, a range of specialized equipment may be required to harvest, process and preserve the seeds.This may mean a particular combine to harvest the seed, or dedicated machinery that separates the seed from its husk, shell, or other form of covering.ДЄll seed must be dried to exacting standards to ensure high germination rates вЂ“ another step in the process that often requires its own specific set of expensive equipment and specialized buildings. Is special equipment needed for seed farming? Some plant diseases are transmitted through seeds, so sanitation and вЂњbiosecurityвЂќ вЂ“ protocols to prevent the introduction of unwanted pathogens to the farm вЂ“ are paramount. Spindly crops produce small quantities of weak, malformed seed, making crop health and vitality arguably even more important to seed farmers than it is to farmers producing crops for food. What is a seed farmer ultimately trying to do?ДЄ seed farmerвЂ™s goal is to produce large yields of seed with a high germination rate. There are many other tricks of the trade. Bees or other insects are often introduced to aid in pollination, though some crops are pollinated by hand with a little brush.

In other cases, like tomatoes, cucumbers, and cantaloupes, the seeds must be slightly fermented to make the seed viable. Sometimes this means leaving the crop on the plant until it is overripe вЂ“ the seeds of many species do not mature until the fruit they are encased in is past its prime. Generally speaking, seed farmers grow a crops in a way that optimizes the quantity and quality of its seed for the purpose of selling it to other farmers and gardeners.

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