often result in light, shriveled seed or collectively called poor-vigor seed. Seeds developed under moisture stress, nutrient deficiency, extreme temperatures, etc.
It has been established that the conditions of seed development, maturation, storage and aging influence seed vigor. The biological basis of the seed vigor concept Seed vigor testing is also used as indicator of the storage potential of a seed lot and in ranking various seed lots with different qualities. Testing for vigor becomes more important for carryover seeds, especially if seeds were stored under unknown conditions or under unfavorable storage conditions. Generally, seeds start to lose vigor before they lose their ability to germinate therefore vigor testing is an important practice in seed production programs. Seeds may be classified as viable in a germination test which provides optimum temperature, moisture and light conditions to the growing seedlings however, they may not be capable of continuing growth and completing their life cycle under a wide range of field conditions. Vigor testing does not only measure the percentage of viable seed in a sample, it also reflects the ability of those seeds to produce normal seedlings under less than optimum or adverse growing conditions similar to those which may occur in the field. Bibliography of Recent Research Publications.Genetic Traits and Varietal Identification.
