3. Seed Morphology:-
Dry stone-fruit which is called a drupe.
Its structure consists of a thin papery outer layer
(pericarp), which is normally removed during seed
processing, a thick corky middle layer (mesocarp)
and a stony inner part (endocarp).
Inside the endocarp are four chambers
containing 0-4 seeds (normally 1-2 seeds).
The seed diameter varies from 5 mm to 20 mm
The number of seeds per kg is between 1,000
and 3,500 with an average of 2,000 seeds per kg
(Characteristics of teak fruit (a compound seed structure)
(Teak fruit and seeds)
4. Seed Collection Method:-
Teak starts producing viable seeds
from the age of 5-6 years.
Seed from coppice of 9yr old is
reported to germinate & producing
healthy seedlings.
The tree seeds almost every year.
The seed is collected underneath
the trees during Jan-March by
sweeping the fruits every few days.
The fruit ripens from Nov-Jan
Seed should be collected from
known sources for raising plantations
of good quality.
(Collected teak seeds)
5. Seed extraction and cleaning:-
After collection, the fruits are sun-dried for 2-3 days
and later placed in polyethylene or cotton bags
Then the pericarp of the fruit is removed by
squeezing and/or beating the bag.
The skin is then separated from the fruit by blowing
and screening.
After that the seeds are passed through ½ mm mesh
to discard low diametre ,weak seeds and foreign
matter.
Seeds are then spread in sun for drying.
6. Seed storage:-
Due to the shortage of seed for large-scale planting programmes,
storage of teak seed is usually required
1. Short term storage (1 to 2 years).
In this type of storage the seeds are kept in the sacks (about 45
kg/sacks) and placed in a room protected from termites and rats.
The stored seed should be labelled indicating their source,date
of collection and other biological records.
2. Long-term storage (2-5 years)
The seed to be stored must be well dried and clean.
It is kept in plastic sacks (about 25 kg/sack) and placed in a well
insulated seed store. For very long-term storage (longer than
5 years) a cold storage is necessary.
Long-term (cold) storage is used only for special purposes such as
for progeny and provenance tests, gene bank, conservation etc.
7. 1
• Natural Weathering
• Seeds spread on pakka floor & exposed to natural conditions like rain and
storm.
• This treatment continues upto the March of next year
2
• Artificial Weathering
• Seeds are put in gunny bag and soaked in water for 3-4 days
• Then exposed to sun in next days & the process is repeated for 3-4
times till the seed coats cracked
3
• Pit Method
• Seeds are put inside pit for 7 days in the month of April-May &with
alternate layers of grasses and straw.
• Water is inserted in the pit making holes.
4
• Alternate wetting and drying
• Seeds are put in water in night and exposed to sun in day, daily for 3
weeks
5
• Biological method
• Seed coat can be degraded by inoculating the seeds with some fungi
like Scytalidlium spp. for 21 days.
Pre sowing treatment:-
8. 6
• Chemical method
• Seeds can be treated with conc.sulphuric acid for 20 minutes ,then they are washed
thoroughly and sown
7
• Scorching
• Seeds care spread on ground and thin layer of grasses and leaves are
covered , then a running fire is allowed
8
• Cow dung treatment
• The seeds can be put in fresh cow dung for about a week and then
sown.
9. Nursery tecnique:-
Nursery prepared 1 year before the planting time.
The soil is washed/dug out for 45-50cm depth & stones,stubbles
and stumps ,etc. are removd
Raised beds of about 7.5-10 cm height are prepared
Pre treated seeds are sown in lines on those beds
In a standard bed of 12*1.2m size , 2.5-3 kg of seeds are sown and
from which 1200- 1500 seedlings are obtained.
Sowing is done in month of April-June , but in Odisha April is best.
Daily watering is carried out, till the seedlings become 1 year
old except the rainy days.
(Teak seedlings grown in a nursery)
