Lecture delivered by renowned scientist Prof Hugh W. Pritchard, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK on 'The Science of Seed Storage and Use' on November 15, 2019 at 11.15am New Delhi

Prof Hugh W. Pritchard, Senior Research Leader, Department of comparative plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK delivered a talk on 'The Science of Seed Storage and Use' at NBPGR on 15th Nov, 2019. He detailed the new developments on scientific understanding on seed storage and use. He drew attention to the differences in seed longevity in different spp. (especially wild spp and CWRs) and introduced ways in which longevity can be enhanced. Stored seeds maintain functional traits (smoke sensitivity, temperature, water stress, longevity, etc) and hence is useful during regrowing and restoration. Relation between climate change and thermal memory of plant reproductive traits was explained by him. His compiled data showed that about 50 % of species’ seed have lifespans = 20% of the longest known lifespan under those conditions. Using DSC data he correlated the oil melting temperatures with storability responses of oilseeds due to co-incidence of crystallisation / melting events with storage temperature.

(Source:  Dr. Kavita Gupta, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi)