For those who like to cultivate with a more natural approach, regular seed is the way to go. Unlike feminized seeds, which will only produce female plants, regular seeds have a 50/50 chance of producing male or hermaphrodite plants.
Using regular seeds for breeding is also an excellent choice to ensure genetic diversity in your crop.
Breeding
While there is a lot of focus on feminized seeds these days, regular seeds are still important. When used to create new strains, they produce all-female plants that won’t pollinate and ruin your harvest. This means that you won’t have any male flowers in your crop to attract pests or spread diseases to the rest of the plant, and you can harvest your buds whenever you’d like instead of waiting until all the flowers have fully matured.
With the right breeder, you can use regular seeds to create the perfect strain. Try crossing two different strains to find a hybrid with the perfect balance of indica and sativa traits, or experiment with terpene profiles to make a new cultivar that’s uniquely flavourful.
You can also use regular seeds to make regular autoflowering plants by collecting pollen from a male flower and spreading it on female buds. This will result in all-female plants that will grow and flower quickly and will yield a large harvest.
Cloning
Cloning is a process used by scientists to create organisms with identical DNA. To produce a cloned animal, researchers remove the DNA-containing nucleus from a mature somatic cell (such as a skin cell or fibroblast) and add it to an empty egg, called an oocyte. They can do this in two ways.
Aside from its use in biomedical research, cloning is also used to produce livestock, such as cattle, chickens, and rabbits. Many people object to the practice on ethical grounds, arguing that it turns animals into commodities or objects and shows a lack of respect for the sentient nature of animals.
Cloning allows growers to reproduce their favorite strains without using regular seeds. However, cloning requires a strict sterile environment and can be time-consuming. Also, cloned plants will not produce as much yield as seeds. However, cloning can save growers time and money by eliminating the need to purchase expensive hybrid seeds each year.
Genetic Stability
Genetic stability is a critical aspect of seed quality. It is necessary to demonstrate that transgenes do not mutate during the cGMP manufacturing process. This is accomplished by performing a variety of tests. These include examining the inserted sequence, assessing the insertion sites and analyzing the protein produced by the gene. ICH guidelines require that these tests be performed prior to commercialization.
DNA damage incurred during seed storage may have long-term impacts on plant genotype stability. Mutations incurred in seeds can lead to decreased germination vigor and affect genome integrity at the species level (Ries et al., 2000).
The current study analyzed the genetic stability of seven promising rice entries under 12 different environments. Results showed that the lines exhibited high stability and good environmental acclimatization. These lines will be highly desirable for quality seed production. In addition, the study also highlighted the importance of a balanced number of female and male strobili for producing consistent synchronization in seed orchards.
Organic
Organic seeds are grown and harvested using sustainable methods, from start to finish. They use no pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and they only grow on land that has been cultivated in a sustainable manner for at least three years. This allows plants to grow to maturity and produce seeds, which are then gathered by organic farmers and sold as organic seed.
The seed used by conventional farms is often treated with chemicals to prevent diseases, insects, and other unwanted organisms from damaging it while growing. The negative byproducts of this process can be carried downstream into rivers and lakes, and these chemicals also pollute waterways used for irrigation.
We found that the proportion of organic seed used decreases with increasing farm size, but that this trend is not consistent across all crop sectors. We also found that the year of certification interacts with farm size to influence the use of organic seed, with a steeper decline in the use of organic seed amongst recently converted farms.
