Role of near - infrared spectroscopy in seed quality evaluation: A review

The use of high-quality seeds is one of the most important elements for increasing agricultural production in any farming system. This element has become more crucial than ever for providing enough food security for the rising population, which is expected to exceed nine billion by year 2050. Selecting high yielding varieties of disease, insect, lodging and shattering resistance, along with other desirable characteristics are the basic keys for satisfactory crop performance and yield. The production of high-quality seed is the cornerstone of any successful agriculture program. It is also a good marketing tool for increasing the potential sale of crops, especially in today's competitive market. Therefore, adopting an efficient method to evaluate the seed quality non-destructively is the need of hour. One such technique or method is the use of NIR which helps to assess seed quality non-destructively and sort out seeds based on seed health, seed deterioration, viability, vigour including protein, starch and fatty acid composition as well as abiotic and biotic seed damage. It is a non-destructive analytical technique requires little sample preparation time and high-throughput, which makes it as a seed analysis tool.