Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
In the case of obligatory annual vegetables, seeds are either extracted or stored
in dried pods/dried fruits or both. Seeds are stored for three to 36 months, with
12 months as the modal storage period, followed by three months and six months.
A 12-month storage period implies saving seeds from one major planting season
to the next, while three-month storage applies to seeds that are stored from the
minor season harvest for the major season.
Farmers usually keep vegetable seeds wrapped in rags/paper or in corked bot-
tles. Fruits of pepper and garden eggs are sometimes strung on sticks and dried.
The dried fruits are subsequently stored in kitchens, rooms, cupboards, and
wooden boxes or in any cool dry place. Some vegetable planting materials (dried
seeds and pods) are also stored in bags or baskets that are hung on walls until
needed. A few farmers have adopted a new seed storage technology whereby
well-dried vegetable seeds are put in tightly capped bottles and stored in a well-
covered hole under shade in the farm or home garden. At the beginning of the
planting season, farmers determine seed viability using the floatation test, eye
inspection for colour change or insect damage, or by planting a sample for a ger-
mination test. About 10 per cent of farmers do not carry out any check for seed
viability.
Other indigenous seed-testing practices include throwing a sample into fire and
identifying viable seeds from popping sounds or biting into the seed to check for
colour and texture to determine viability.
Maintenance and conservation of diversity in vegetables for food security
Generally, the strategies adopted for vegetables are similar to the methods used
for conservation in yams in southern Ghana (see Chapter 7). In addition to the
strategies outlined for yams, the following methods are also used for maintenance
of vegetable germplasm.
•
Perennial and semi-perennial vegetables such as cocoyams and some okra and
pepper varieties are maintained in the farms by weeding around them just
before the rains and mulching at the onset of the dry season.
•
Seed storage is rigorously pursued. Seeds are mostly stored by wrapping them
in cloth or paper and hanging or pushing them under roofing members in the
kitchen where smoke from the kitchen fire fumigates and keeps them dry to
help to discourage pests and diseases.
•
Okra seeds are stored in pods or shelled and tied in a cloth and stored over the
kitchen smoke, or in corked bottles that are stored in a cool, dry place, usually
in a room.
•
Plants of precious heirloom varieties are maintained close to the kitchen for
special care.
•
Maintenance of highly biodiverse home gardens where germplasm is kept also
helps to conserve the vegetable germplasm.
