Most food and fiber crops are produced from seed. This means that the world's population is dependent on annual seed production for its food supply. Vegetable seed production is much different and more challenging than production of grain crops. This book explains the biology and technology behind producing, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of vegetable seeds from breeding through to the marketed product. It begins with six chapters on a broad range of seed-related topics: the importance of seeds, reproductive biology of plants, genetic improvement strategies, quality assurance of seed production, post-harvest seed enhancement, and organic production. The remaining chapters cover seed production in eleven important vegetable families. Each chapter provides a description of the botany, types and cultivars, genetic improvement, pollination, soil fertility management, pest management, crop production, harvesting, post-harvest handling, and seed yields. The aim of this book is to educate how to produce high-quality vegetable seeds. Incorporating both current methodologies and recent research results, it is suitable for students, researchers, and professionals in the seed industry.

Seed industry professionals and plant breeders. Advanced students taking courses in vegetable seed production, seed science / seed technology / seed physiology.

About the Author
Gregory E. Welbaum is a professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech and has taught both classroom and online vegetable crop classes for over three decades. His successful book Vegetable Production and Practices has been specifically written for classes about vegetable crops based an his personal experiences as a commercial vegetable grower and university researcher. Since 2004, Dr. Welbaum has taught an online class on vegetable seed production. This class has been offered to Virginia Tech students as well as international students as a continuing education course. In addition, Greg has previously taught modules on vegetable seed production for the Seed Production short course offered by Seed Biotechnology Center at the University of California, Davis.


Book Information
ISBN 9781789243246
Author Gregory E Welbaum
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint CABI Publishing
Publisher CABI Publishing