Introduction
Seed Certification Introduction
Many people don't fully understand what is meant by seed certification, or what benefits certified seed offers to those who want to establish a crop or pasture from seed. Some think it means that the seed is of better quality, which is usually interpreted to mean that it has a higher germination, or that it has fewer weed seeds than uncertified seed. Neither of these assumptions is true.
Certification actually means that you can buy seed which is as close as possible to the genetic make-up of the variety as selected by the breeder.
The plant breeder spends a lot of time and effort to produce a new variety which he/she believes is superior in some respect to other varieties commercially available, and hence offers benefits to farmers who grow that variety. The certification rules and the certification process are designed to ensure that the buyer of seed of that variety actually gets crop or pasture plants with the valuable characteristics selected by the breeder.
For a more detailed explanation of seed certification, see the article "Seed Certification – why you should buy only certified seed".
However, the Australian seed industry has requested ASA to also impose standards for the germination and physical purity of certified seed, in order to ensure that buyers do not buy seed which may not be able to establish plants through lack of germinability, or which may contain excessive or unwanted weed seeds. All seed certified in Australia, under either the OECD Seed Schemes or the Australian Seed Certification Scheme, must meet these standards. Click here to view the Quality Standards for Certified and Basic Seed.
OECD Schemes
OECD Seed Schemes
The OECD Seed Schemes are intended to assist in the international trade in seed. Their full title is "OECD Schemes for the Varietal Certification or the Control of Seed Moving in International Trade" and there are actually 7 schemes for different species of plants. They are
- Grasses and legumes
- Crucifers and other oil or fibre species
- Cereals
- Fodder beet and sugar beet
- Subterranean clover and similar species
- Maize and sorghum
- Vegetables
Australia is a member of all but the Fodder beet and sugar beet, and the Vegetables schemes, so the Australian seed industry can obtain OECD certification for varieties of the species covered in the remaining 5 schemes.
The OECD recognises a government body as the National Designated Authority (NDA) for each country which is a member of one or more of the schemes. In Australia's case, this is the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). DAFF has licensed the Australian Seeds Authority (ASA) to undertake the national management of the schemes, and ASA in turn has signed Authorisation Agreements with three organisations to undertake the actual certification activities.
The overall objective of the OECD Seed Schemes is to provide assurance to buyers of seed on the international market that the seed they are buying has been certified according to the rules of the OECD seed schemes, so they can buy in confidence that the variety they are buying is as close as possible to the genetic makeup of the variety as originally selected by the breeder.
The OECD Rules are available on line at www.oecd.org/tad/seed.
One of the key elements of all the OECD schemes is that the variety must be registered as eligible for certification. For this to happen, the NDA must have a detailed morphological description of the variety, which enables it to be identified by experienced and trained field inspectors, and there must be a detailed management plan which outlines how many generations can be produced of that variety, and how many harvests of each generation are permitted. Once accepted, the variety is placed on the OECD list of varieties eligible for certification, which can be viewed online at http://www.oecd.org/document/14/0,3746,en_2649_33905_41097230_1_1_1_1,00.html
The OECD Seed Schemes include specific requirements for labelling of certified seed. The usual generation traded is first generation certified and this is identified by a blue label, with lot specific information printed on the label.
Aust Scheme
Australian Scheme
The Australian Seed Certification Scheme is administered by ASA, at the request of the seed industry, to accommodate seed intended only for the domestic market. The rules of the Australian scheme are the same as for the equivalent OECD seed scheme, with the following exceptions to the requirement for post-control testing:
- the rules for post-control tests specified in the OECD Subterranean Clover & Similar Species Scheme shall apply for species eligible to be certified under that Scheme and will also apply to species of hard-seeded annual legumes certified under the OECD Grasses and Legumes Scheme using limited generation rules (berseem and rose clovers; biserrula and serradella); and
- for other annual species, all lots of Basic Seed must be post-control tested against a standard sample under the supervision of the certification agency.
The other significant difference is that different labels must be used.
The OECD rules are available on line at www.oecd.org/tad/seed
ASA Authorised Providers
ASA Authorised Providers
The ASA has authorised three organisations to undertake seed certification activities in Australia. These organisations can certify seed under both the OECD Seed Schemes and the Australian Seed Certification Scheme. They are:
- AsureQuality Australia
- Seed Services Australia
- AGWEST Plant Laboratories
Contact details for these organisations are as follows:
AsureQuality
3-5 Lillee Crescent, Tullamarine, VIC 3043
(P.O. Box 1335, Tullamarine 3043)
Phone: (03) 8318 9000
E-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website address: http://www.seedtesting.com.au/
Seed Services Australia
Plant Research Centre, Hartley Grove, URRBRAE, SA 5064
(GPO Box 1671, Adelaide, SA 5001)
Phone: (08) 8303 9549
Fax: (08) 8303 9508
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.ruralsolutions.sa.gov.au/seeds
AGWEST Plant Laboratories
Locked Bag 4
Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983
Phone (08) 9368 3721
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.agric.wa.gov.au/agwestplantlabs
Eligible Varieties
List of Varieties Registered Internationally for OECD Certification
Follow this link for the current List of Varieties Registered for OECD Seed Scheme Certification.
Follow this link for the current list of varieties eligible for certification in Australia under the OECD Seed Schemes and/or the Australian Seed Certification Scheme ASA NATIONAL LIST OF VARIETIES - 2Mar2012
Seed Certification - Why you should buy only certified seed
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- Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 March 2012 15:37
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Many people don't fully understand what is meant by seed certification, or what benefits certified seed offers to those who want to establish a crop or pasture from seed. Some think it means that the seed is of better quality, which is usually interpreted to mean that it has a higher germination than uncertified seed, or it has fewer, or even no, weed seeds. Neither of these assumptions is true.
Certification actually means that you will obtain seed which is as close as possible to the genetic make-up of the variety as selected by the breeder.
Plant breeders in Australia and overseas are working very hard to produce "better" varieties of crop and pasture plants. Just what is "better" varies greatly, and depends on the species and the environment in which it is to be grown. Usually it means higher yield in a crop plant or more leaf for a pasture. It can also mean enhanced pest or disease resistance; better processing quality for a crop plant; earlier or later maturity; better resistance to environmental stresses like very acid soil; or resistance to frost, heat or drought. The new variety might be better able to compete with weeds, or be resistant to a specific herbicide, or retain its seed better, and so on. There is an almost endless list of characteristics which might make a new variety better than an older variety it is intended to replace.
Plant breeding is a long, painstaking and very expensive process. New varieties of almost any species can take 8 to 12 years to produce. When breeders are satisfied they have an improved product they will produce commercial quantities of seed for sale. A new variety typically has a 5 - 15 year commercial life, and tens of thousands of tonnes of seed might be required during that time.
Unless conditions are carefully managed, each time seed is sown to produce further seed, there is a risk that the special characteristics which made that new variety valuable can be lost. This can be through:
- Physical contamination with inferior plants or seed, caused by planting the new variety in a paddock where other varieties of that same species have grown recently, or if seed of the new variety is mixed with inferior seed in the header, trucks or silos, or at the seed cleaning plant.
- Cross Pollination – in this case, pollen from other, possibly inferior, varieties pollinates the flower of the new variety, and so the resulting harvested seed is a mixture of the new variety and the other variety. The resultant seed will never produce plants which had all the characteristics which the breeder selected.
- Natural selection – in this case, the new variety is sown in an environment where some of the population of the new variety is selectively killed, or selectively favoured. For example after a series of very wet or very dry seasons, the plants surviving could represent only a proportion of the genetic potential of the new variety. Over a longer time, the plants still present will be those that were able to survive in that environment, and may not carry all the characteristics which the breeder selected and which made the variety valuable. Thus seed harvested from that paddock, will not reflect the full range of the characteristics which the breeder selected.
Seed Certification is designed to minimise the opportunities to lose or diminish the characteristics which make a variety valuable.
There are certification "Rules" for every species and these must be followed by the seed grower if his seed is to be certified. The rules include requirements such as:
- the paddock must not have grown plants of that particular species for a certain period - usually 1 to 3 years;
- the seed crop may have to be inspected after seedling establishment to see what plants are growing between the rows from seed set by plants grown in the paddock in previous years, or a strip must be left unsown so the Certification Officer can see clearly what other plants are establishing in the paddock;
- there is a limited number of generations which can be used to produce Certified Seed - Breeders Seed must be sown to produce Pre-Basic Seed, which must in turn be used to produce Basic Seed and this seed is then sown to produce Certified Seed;
- the seed grower must prove to the Certification Agency that the seed of the appropraite generation has been sown;
- there is a limit to the number of harvests that can be taken from a seed crop of perennial species - this is usually between four and six harvests (but in some circumstances may be more) and after the set number of harvests the seed crop cannot be used to produce Certified Seed;
- there is a limit on the establishment of seedlings within a crop of perennial species because these seedlings represent the next generation and cannot be permitted to represent more than a small proportion of the total plant population of the seed crop;
- seed crop paddocks must be isolated from plants of the same species which may flower at the same time, so as to prevent cross pollination - this isolation may be as much as 400 metres for early generation crops (Pre-Basic and Basic) of some species;
- headers, seed transporting and handling equipment and silos must be thoroughtly cleaned before being used for certified seed;
- very good records must be kept of the harvested seed, both on farm and in the seed processing plant, to provide assurance to the certification agency that the seed is not mixed with other varieties of that species.
If the rules are followed, there is a high level of certainty that the plants grown from Certified Seed will have all the characteristics selected by the plant breeder. It is the role of the certification agency, authorised by ASA, to oversee the production of certified seed and ensure the rules are followed. This ensures that buyers of certified seed get the benefits offered by that variety.
When you buy seed which has been certified by an ASA-authorised certification agency, you have the assurance that an independent authority is continually overseeing the standards and processes designed to give the buyer seed which is as genetically close as possible to the seed originally selected by the breeder.
There is no such certainty with uncertified seed. Even with the best will in the world by the seed grower and seed merchant, the seed may be quite different from that of the variety which the grower wants - simply because there is no system in place to ensure that it is the variety you want. If the grower of the seed or the merchant are less than honourable you really have no idea what seed you are buying. For example in subterranean clover you might be buying seed of an old high-estrogen variety which could cause considerable problems to your breeding ewes. The fact that uncertified seed has a variety name on it provides no assurance that it is in fact that variety.
The exception to this is proprietary varieties, where a company's reputation as a relaible supplier is at stake if their products perform poorly. Such companies survive by their reputation and hence impose internal rules on the production of their seed, similar to those of the independent ASA-authorised certification agencies.
Regardless of what seed you buy, always ask to see the 'test certificate' showing the results of tests conducted in the seed testing laboratory. This will provide information on the physical quality of the seed - its germination, the identity of any other seed which may be present, and more. See the article "Understanding a seed testing certificate" for more information.