Agriculture & Natural Resources/ Agronomy

ALABAMA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE / AUBURN UNIVERSITY, ALABAMA 36849

Alabama Seed Certification Program

THE BASIC PURPOSE of seed certification is to maintain and make available to the public high quality seeds and propagating materials of su­perior crop varieties so grown and distributed as to ensure genetic identity. Through the certifica­tion process, the limited quantity of improved seed and propagating material released by plant breeders as new varieties is increased to quanti­ties adequate to meet the needs of the agricultural industry.

Varietal purity is of primary importance in seed certification, but other factors such as free­dom from weeds and diseases, viability and me­chanical purity are important in providing a seed product which the farmer can plant with reason­able assurance of obtaining a good stand of healthy plants of the desired variety without in­troducing undesirable plants.

ORGANIZATION AND HISTORY In Alabama, seed certification and foundation

seed production responsibilities are authorized by Act 404 ( S299-Smith), passed by the 1945 state legislature, as amended in 1975 by Act 7 45 ( S446-Mims), and are administered by the board of di­rectors of the Alabama Crop Improvement As­sociation, Inc. ( ACIA) with the assistance of the Extension Agronomist-Seeds. Various agricul­tural leaders within the state serve in conjunction with the board of directors of the ACIA in formu­lating general policies for the certification pro­gram. The ACIA board develops and adopts reg­ulations and standards based on recommendations from commodity advisory groups and on guide­lines set forth in the Federal Seed Act.

Foundation seed of Experiment Station-re­leased varieties are produced and distributed ac­cording to guidelines established by the ACIA board. Seed are grown under contract with farm­ers, stored, conditioned and distributed from Au­burn, or in the case of peanut seed, Headland.

RoBERT A. BURDETT, Agronomist-See~

The largest volume of foundation seed produced in Alabama is of soybean and peanut varieties. An attempt is made to anticipate demand and ar­range for foundation seed production accordingly. Foundation seed is provided for seed increase only and is not intended to be used commercially.

Seed certification began in Alabama in the mid-forties and the first crop varieties to be cer­tified were ecotypes which naturally occurred in local areas within the state. Autauga and Talla­dega Reseeding Crimson Clovers are examples. Initially, the major market for these seed was within the state, although markets expanded into other regions of the U. S. as the seed industry de­veloped. The program has grown from less than 100 to more than 100,000 acres producing certi­fied seed annually. Tags are currently being placed on 1.5 million bags of certified seed each year.

The seed certification program forms an inte­gral part of the Extension educational program in agriculture. The certification staff works Closely with Extension specialists, county Extension per­sonnel, plant breeders and researchers.

The Alabama Seed Certification Service is a self-supporting program funded by fees paid by participants. Income is derived from fees for field and conditioning plant inspections and sale of tags and foundation seed. The fee structure is reviewed annually and adjusted as needed to meet the costs of the respective segments of the pro­gram.

OBJECTIVES AND GENERATION SCHEME

Seed certification in Alabama is available to the public on a voluntary basis. The purpose of the program is to provide a system for the main­tenance and increase of quality seed and propa­gating material. Each new variety entering the program has special characteristics of disease re­sistance, increased productivity, or other features that give it unique value. These improved char­acteristics must be preserved during the process

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of multiplication if the variety is to provide maxi­mum benefit to agriculture and the public. To ac­complish the purpose of certification, standards have been developed that each crop must meet both in the production field and in the labora­tory. Also, a system of limitation of generations which encompasses four classes of certified seed is used.

The seed multiplication process under the cer­tification program involves the supervision of the four generations of seed increase from the plant breeder to the commercial producer. Figure 1 shows the terminology used to identify these gen­erations of seed increase. Breeder seed is pro­duced by the originator and provides the stock seed for the first increase. Production from this planting is designated "foundation class." Fields established with foundation class material usually produce registered seed. The certified class is pro­duced from registered, and in some instances, foundation seed and is the final generation in the program. Certified seed is not intended for further seed increase but rather for commercial use.

CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE

LAND REQUIREMENTS. Land requirements refer to previous cropping history, with particular at­tention to the crop and variety produced on the land during the immediate past growing season. The length of time required between crops to qualify for certified seed production varies with different crops and varieties. Land requirements are stipulated for each crop in the Seed Certifica­tion Regulations, which are available at county Extension offices or at the ACIA office in Auburn.

PLANTING SToCK. The proper planting stock is essential for ce1tified seed production. Registered seed is produced from foundation seed. Certified seed is usually produced from registered seed al­though it may be produced from foundation seed. Certified seed cannot be produced from the certi­fied class.

APPLICATION. An application for certification must be submitted to the ACIA office by the pub­lished deadline date, which varies according to the crop involved. The application must be ac­companied by an official tag from one of the bags of seed and an invoice showing the amount and cl'ass of seed (foundation or registered) pur­chased. The application must be completely filled out and signed by the applicant.

FIELD INSPECTIONS. One or more inspections are performed on all fields for which applications are required. These are timed so that varietal off-

types and other crop and weed contaminations are most easily detected. Small grain inspections are normally made after the chaff color differences are most easily distinguished. Soybeans are in­spected during flowering or just before harvest when pubescense and hila color are more pro­nounced, and in some cases they are inspected during flowering and fruiting. Corn is inspected during pollination.

During inspection, the inspector determines if the crop was planted on land that qualifies for seed production in terms of its previous cropping history. The inspector makes sure there is proper isolation or distance between the field being in­spected and adjoining fields. Cross pollinated crops must be adequately separated from other fields with which they could potentially out­cross. The minimum isolation distance between varieties of self-pollinating crops is ten feet. The inspector's primary concern is to determine if there are any varietal mixtures in the field, but he also determines if the field is contaminated with noxious weeds which 'will be difficult to remove during conditioning. An infraction of any of these requirements will lead to the field under consider­ation being rejected from the certification pro­gram.

HARVESTING. Timely harvesting is an absolute necessity in maintaining seed quality. Seed should be harvested as soon as the seed moisture level initially reaches a combinable level. If seed are not harvested when maturity is reached, they are in essence being stored in the field. Excessive seed moisture creates problems with combining and drying, while low moisture levels cause ex­cessive cracking and bruising. Particular atten­tion should be directed to combine adjustments and operation throughout the day, as seed mois­ture levels generally are highest in the mornings and lowest by mid-afternoon. The combine and all handling equipment must be thoroughly cleaned before harvest to avoid contamination.

CoNDITIONING AND SAMPLING. Samples should be taken of the seed while in bulk storage and sent to a seed testing laboratory to obtain a pre­liminary germination. When it has been deter­mined that germination is adequate, then the seed may be conditioned (cleaned). All certified seed must be cleaned and bagged in a condition­ing plant that has been approved by the ACIA. The amount and kind of cleaning depends on the kind of seed and its composition. It is absolutely essential that the conditioning facilities be thor-

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VARIETAL DEVELOPMENT (Plant breeding programs of

/

,__ __ p_u_b_li_c_a_n_d_p_r_i_v_at_e_a_g_e_n_c_ie_s_)-~ Comment.

0 Breeder Seed

1 0 Foundation Seed

l 0 Registered Seed

l 0 Certified Seed

I. 1\\ ailahlc on) in sm II quantities.

2. Under (.'Ontrol of the plant breeder.

3. Labeled with a white tag.

;!. Planted to produ e foundation seed.

1. A' ailable in limited quantititls.

2. nder control of foundation ecd stock organization (public or private ) .

3. Lab 1 d with a white tag.

4. Plant cl to pmdnc<• regbtered st' d.

1. Availahl· as plauting to k for certified sN·d pr due rs .

2. Under control of rcgisterc·d s c1 producers.

3. Lab lt~d with a purpl tag.

4. Planted to product' certified seed.

L. t vailahl iu hug' quantiti .

2. ml r <:outrol of ccrtifi d seed produc .r.

:3, L h J •d vith a blue tag (oftt:u cullc•d "hlu tag" ccd ) .

l. Sold to commercial fanners for gcueral crop production.

Figure 1. Diagrammatic scheme of the overall seed certification program, from the development of a new variety to its availability to commercial farmers.

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oughly cleaned between runs of seed kinds and varieties.

Certified seed must be placed in new bags bearing the Association emblem. The use of the emblem by commercial companies whose trade­mark appears on their bags is optional; however, it is strongly recommended that all certified seed producers use the emblem in an effort to further promote Alabama seed.

The sample tested for determining seed qual­ity and acceptance for certification is taken after the last cleaning operation. It may be taken by an automatic sampler, by hand as the seed are being bagged, or by probing the bags of seed after they have been placed in the warehouse. Tl1e sample should be sent to a seed testing Jaboratary that has been approved for testing Alabama cer­tified seed. A germination and complete purity analysis should be requested. A representative sample must be taken from each lot, which gen­erally. should not contain more than 500 bags, de­pending on tbe kind of seed and bag size.

TAGGING. After the seed are cleaned, bagged and tested, the producer should request official certification tags from the ACIA office. A lab re­port meeting certification requirements must be on file in the Association office before the seed is shipped from the original owner.

When the tags reach the conditioning plant, one tag must be placed on each bag of seed. Only when this final act of properly tagging each bag

has been accomplished can the seed technically be referred to as certified. The producer of the seed is responsible for all the analysis information on the tag. There are state laws that must always be complied with and federal laws which are ap­plicable if the seed are transported across state lines. When the seed are inspected by state and/ or federal inspectors, they must meet the analysis data on the tag. If they do not, the seed may be suspended from sale until such time as the owner can rectify the problem.

OvERVIEW. Assurance of varietal identity and genetic purity adds to the value of a seed lot. Consequently, certified seed normally sell at a p1·emium over uncertified seed and result in added income to seed producers. To gain this added in­come, growers produce the seed under certifica­tion standards, which often include extra labor and other expenses.

An even greater benefit accrues to world agri­culture as a result of the seed certification pro­gram, in that improved varieties of crops are made available quickly in the form of certified seed. Rapid utilization of the benefits of plant breeding will become increasingly important in the future as population growth places greater pressure on limited agricultural resources. The Alabama Seed Certification program will continue to play an important role by making every effort to assure the purity and genetic identity of certified seed crops.

The

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Extension Service ------"EDUCATION IS OUR BUSINESS" -----­

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U. S. Deparln'\!lnt of Agriculture. J. Mrthaol Sprott, Dlrec:tor, Alabama €ooperatlve ~lenslo!1 Service, P:ubum UnlveniiY. The AI~· bama Cooperative ExtJ!ntion Service ofte~ edu~allonel program• and materials to all people. Without regard to race, color, notional origin, sex, age, or handic-ap. It is also an Equal Opportunity Employer.

(UPS) 5M06, 10:82, ANR·342

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