Seed production techniques in
sesame varieties
V.MANONMANI
Professor(SST)

Sesame
• Sesamum is often cross pollinated crop
• Cross pollination extends up to 60% by insect
• Flowers arise in leaf axis & on the stem upper
portion and branches
• Corolla colour is generally white or pale pink

Flowers open very early morning (3 AM
to 4 AM)
Receptivity of the stigma - up to 8 AM
Flower selfing is done by tying the
unopened corolla top by a thread

Variety Plant Flower Pod /seed Duration
(days)
TMV 3 Plants bushy, profusely
branched, leaves simple,
dark green, bottom leaves
divided, mostly three lobed,
higher up are lanceolate
and linear
Corolla bell
shaped with
outer surface
being covered
with short
hairs
seeds dark brown to
black in colour
-
TMV 4 Stem green throughout
shape angular, profuse
branching, dark green
leaves
- 4 loculed capsules, light
brown seeds, 650 kg/ha
85-90
TMV 5 Plants 95-110 cm height, 6
primary branches, green
colour stem, cordate with
acuminate tipped leaves
One flower per
axil, pale
purple corolla
Light brown coloured
capsule, four loculed,
60-80 capsule per plant,
light brown seed
80-85
TMV 6 Plants erect, 80-130cm
height, 4-6 primary
branches, green, angular
stem, cordate leaves
One flower per
axil, purple
corolla
Four loculed, one
capsule per axil, brown
seed, 700 kg/ha
85-90
Varieties

Variety Plant Flower Pod /seed Duration
(days)
CO 1 Branched type with
narrow angle of
branching, 120-130cm
height, 4-8 primary
branches, short
internodes on the main
stem, simple, dark green
leaves
- Bold, four loculed, one per
axil capsule; intense dark
brown seed, 1000 seed wt
3.3 g.
85-90
VRI 1 Plants 85-115 cm height,
5-9 branches, glabrous,
basally branched stem,
glabrous leaves
One flower per
axil, white flowers
with slight purple
colour on the
exterior part of
the corolla
Capsules densely
arranged on the main stem
and branches, brown seed;
1000 gm seed wt 3.11g.
70-75
VRI 2
(2005)
60-120 cm height,
glabrous, 4-8 branches
Purplish white
flower
Reddish brown seeds, 52%
oil content, 700 kg/ha
80-85
SVPR 1 Plants 92 cm height,
densely arranged
capsules on stem and
branches
White flower to
purple wash,
Green capsule, 65
capsules per plant, 4
loculed, 60 seeds per
capsule, 1000 seed wt. 3.42
g, white colour seed, 800
kg/ha
75-80

TMV(Sv) 7 Si 250 x ES 22 2009 85-90 750 820 High yield, 4 loculed, tolerant to root
rot disease, Lustrous brown testa, oil
content 50%Notification No: 2137
(E) / 31.08.2010
VRI 3 SVPR 1 x TKG
87
2017 75-80 995 1055 Moderately resistant to phyllody and
root rot diseases.White seed.50.1 per
cent oil content.S.O.1379(E)
27.03.2018

Land requirement
– The land should not have been cultivated with the same crop in the
previous season
– If cultivated it should be the same variety proposed for cultivation
subjected to seed certification
Isolation (m)
FS CS
Varieties 100 50
Season
It can be grown in all 3 seasons viz.,
– Rabi (October – November)
– Kharif (June – July)
– summer (February – March)

Seeds and sowing
Seeds pelleted with MnSO4 @ 50 mg /ha using
maida 5% as adhesive and
Arappu leaf powder as the filler material
Seeds sown both in beds and channels or ridges
and furrows
Seed treatment
Treat seeds with Trichoderma viride @ 4 g/kg or
treat with carbendazim @ 2 g / kg
Seed rate 3-4 kg / ha

Definition
• It is process of packaging effective
quantities of materials
• To increase the size, shape and
weight of the seed

Process of pelleting
• System resembles a cement mixer
• Seeds are introduced into a coating drum or pan.
• First sprayed with water followed by the addition of the
pelleting materials with binder.
• The wet seed attracts –gets coated with the dry pelleting
material - pellet gradually increases in size with each turn of
coating drum.
• Longer rotation times with greater amounts of pelleting
materials lead to greater pellet size and roundness.

• At the end of the pelleting process, a binder is added to
harden the outer layer of the pellet.
• This also reduces the amount of dust produced during
handling, shipping and planting.
• Cementing adhesives (gum arabic, gelatin, methyl cellulose,
polyvinyl alcohol)
• Pelleting materials (clays, limestone, calcium carbonate, talc,
vermiculite)
• Other compounds such as inoculants, fungicides, etc. may be
added to enhance seed performance

Advantages
• The mechanical planting
• Small and irregular shaped seeds ……
• Precision sowing: Correct plant distribution - reduces the seed rate
• Accurate dosing of seeds with chemicals.
• Packing of inoculant, protectant, nutrient, herbicide and hydrophilic
substance as well as to increase supply of oxygen.
• Soil acidity problems- may be overcome by lime pelleting of seed.
• Lime pelleting
• Better protection - reduced environmental pollution.
• Birds and small animals can not recognise the seeds.

Factors affecting germinability of pellets
SIZE Small Vs Large
WEIGHT
(SAW DUST)
Lower wight
PHYSICAL BARRIER Oxygen availability
Easy to dissolve, tough to break
OSMOTIC BARRIER Concentration of solutes

Pelleting of Sesamum seeds
Mn So4
(Micronutrient)
100 mg/Kg
Carbendazim 2 g/Kg
Pseudomonas 10 g /Kg
Wood ash
(Filler)
500 g
Rice gruel
(Adhesive )
150 ml

50
60
70
80
90
Control Saw dust (Dry) Saw dust
(Moist)
Sand (40%)
Percentage
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Days
and
Speed
of
germination
Percentage of radicle protrusion
Germination percentage
Days for 50% germination
Days for maximum germination
Speed of germination
Seed germination of pellets compared to non-pelleted mustard
seeds
Pelleted
Non -pelleted

Spacing : 60 x 40 cm (11 plants / m2)
Manure’s and fertilizers
Compost : 12.5 t/ha
NPK : 50:25:25 kg/ha (basal)
MnSO4 : 5 kg/ha (basal)
DAP : Given as 1% foliar spray at 1st flowering and
again 10 days after 1st spray
Mn is essential to photosynthesis reactions, enzyme activation and root growth
(Mortvedt et al., 1999). Therefore, the steady supply of macro nutrients
and Mn (Jeyabal et al., 1997) was found to increase stem height and nodes for capsule
development in sesame.

Rouging
– Based on branching behaviour, capsule size & colour
and seed colour
Water management
– Irrigate at sowing and give life irrigation
– depending on soil moisture conditions,
– give one pre flowering irrigation (at 25 days),
– one at flowering,
– two at pod setting
Weed management
– Apply Alachlor @ 1.25 kg ai/ha on 20th DAS & irrigate
the crop immediately

Pest management
Shoot webber / pod borer / gall midge –
Apply one of the following pesticides per ha on 25, 35 and 50th DAS
Dust 25 kg of Endosulphan 4 D, Phasalone 4 D or spray Dichlorvas 76
EC 500 ml, Monocrotophos 36 WSC 625 ml endosulphan 35 EC 1000 ml,
Carbaryl 50 WP 1000 g in 500 ml of water.

Disease management
Phyllody
Remove and destroy the affected plants.
Intercropping with sesamum + red gram (6:1) reduces the
incidence of phyllody and root rot.
Root rot
Spot drench Carbendazim 1 g / litre or Pseudomonas fluorescence
@ 2.5 kg / ha mixed with 50 kg of well decomposed FYM / sand at
30 DAS.
Soil application of neem cake (150 kg/ha) combined with
Trichoderma viride seed treatment (4 kg/ha) effectively reduces
root rot.

Intercultural operations
– Earthing up at fruiting stage to avoid lodging of the crop up to
harvest
Storage pests
– Dust on gunny bags
– Malathion 5 D or Phasalone 4 D or Carbaryl 10 D.
– Mix 1 kg of activated clay with 100 kg of seeds after adequate
drying of seeds.

Harvesting
• Harvesting at 75-80% of pods have become
brown and bottom 1 to 2 pods have dehisced
• At this stage, the pod MC is 50 % and seed MC
is 25-30%
• Examine the 10th capsule from the bottom by
opening.
• If the seeds turn black, harvest may be taken
up for the black seeded varieties.
• If harvest is delayed, the capsules will dehisce
resulting in yield reduction

Stacking and drying
– Plants stacked upright down in the threshing
floor, so that the immature pods of the
terminal edge also will mature
– It is done for 3 days & during that period MC
reduces to 15-18%
Threshing
– It is done manually by beating with pliable
bamboo stocks
Processing
– Seeds graded using 5/64” round perforated
metal sieves

Seed storage
Seeds with 7-8 % MC treated with thiram @ 2 g/kg
treated seeds can be stored up to 1 year in open
storage and up to 2 years in 700 gauge
polyethylene containers
Mid storage corrections
Soaking the seeds in double the volume Na2HPO4
(10-4 m) (3.6 g/100 l of water) can prolong the
storability of seed.
Floaters should be removed, soaked seeds should
be spread over a clean gunny bag and air dried,
dressed with carbendazim @ 2 g/kg of seeds and
stored.

Seed standards
Factors Foundation
Seed
Certified Seed
Pure seed % (max) 97 97
Inert matter % (max) 3 3
Other crop seed % (min) 1 1
Weed seed % (min) 1 1
Germination % (max) 80 80
Moisture content %
a) Open storage
b) Vapour proof container
10
8
10
8
Field standards
FS CS
Off types (%) 0.1 0.2