**1. Introduction**

Seed industry survives for the sake of better quality of seeds and postharvest storage techni‐ ques. It is a seed quality program that seeks the high achievement and gives the quality assurance. Seed quality is one of the most demanding enterprises of present days. The majority of the seeds especially cereals and legumes by small-scale farmers are produced and stored on the farms.

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The major problem is the damage due to biological factors such as molds, and insects can be alleviated by implicating effective storage techniques [1–4]. It is the foremost priority of the farmers to prevent the crop losses and storage of seeds/grains. Farmers often purchase the new seeds/grains from the market to produce the next crop for higher yield due to the risk of crop loss. There is a need to develop the effective strategies for seed storage that can give the confirmation of better crop yield and reduce the risks of storage losses [5].

#### **1.1. Valuable seeds: achieving seed quality**

The value of the seeds allows the farmers to produce high-yielding crops from good quality healthy seeds. Seed quality is the measure of the potential to produce desired quality, healthy, and high-yielding crops at low planting rates [5]. Seed quality can neither be obtained automatically nor by a permanent process. There is nature's pressure against the quality of the seeds. Efforts are being made to produce best quality seeds for the farmers. Any handling or production stage can reduce the quality of the seed. To alleviate these losses, careful technical management is required for all seed operations [6].

#### **1.2. Principles of seed storage**

Seeds when stored in natural environment or ambient temperature respond readily to temperature, available oxygen, and relative humidity. Metabolic activities, age, and longevity of seeds can be manipulating by controlling the humidity temperature and oxygen [7]. Reduction of seed moisture content up to an appropriate limit is prerequisite for storage as seed could be damaged because of desiccation. Seeds can be stored for a longer period due to lower level of humidity. According to the thumb rule, the life of the seed doubles by decreasing the moisture content to 1% in case if seed moisture content is between 5 and 14%. Higher moisture content is more affected by higher temperature so seeds need to be stored in cool location. The life of the seed doubles by decreasing the temperature to 5°C and is applicable between 0 and 50°C [8].

Oxygen level can be controlled by hermetic storage in a sealed container which reduces the physiological aging of the grains as well as reduces the physical damage due to insects and fungal growth [8].
