Seed

Certification
Itisaprocessdesignedtomaintainandmakeavailabletothegeneralpubliccontinuoussupply ofhighqualityseedsandpropagatingmaterialsofnotifiedkindsandvarietiesofcrops,sogrown anddistributedtoensurethephysicalidentityandgeneticpurity. Itisalegallysanctionedsystemforqualitycontrolofseedmultiplicationandproduction. Themainfunctionistoencouragetheproductionofadequatequantitiesofgeneticallypureand goodqualityseeds,particularlyhighpotential,improvedandhybridvarietiesofdifferentcrops.

Seed Certification in International Level

Conceptofseedcertificationdatesbacktotheearlierpartofthetwentiethcentury.Theseed certificationconceptgrewoutoftheincreasedconcernfortherapidlossofidentityofvarieties duringproductioncycles. Swedishworkersfirstinitiatedtheprocessoffieldevaluationoftheseedcrops.Itbeganwith thevisitsofagronomistsandplantbreederstothefieldsofprogressivefarmerswhotookthe seedsofnewvarietiesfromthe.Thiswasprimarilytoeducatethemonseedproduction.This initiatedtheprocessoffieldinspectionandlateronfoundtobeveryhelpfulinkeepingvarieties pureintheproductionchain,butotherproblemsappeared. Toovercomesomeoftheseproblems,scientistsfromUSAandCanadametinChicago,Illinoisin 1919andformedanInternationalCropImprovementAssociation(ICIA),whichlateron1969 changeditsnametoAssociationofOfficialSeedCertifyingAgencies(AOSCA)pavingthewayfor moderndayseedcertification.

Seed Certification System in India:

(i) History of Seed Certification InIndiathefieldevaluationoftheseedcropanditscertificationstartedwiththeestablishment ofNationalSeedsCorporationin1963.Alegalstatuswasgiventoseedcertificationwiththeenactment offirstIndianSeedActintheyear1966andformulationofSeedRulesin1968.TheSeedActof1966 providedtherequiredimpetusfortheestablishmentofofficialSeedCertificationAgenciesbytheStates. MaharashtrawasthefirstStatetoestablishanofficialSeedCertificationsAgencyduring1970asapart oftheDepartmentofAgriculture,whereasKarnatakawasthefirstStatetoestablishtheSeed CertificationAgencyasanautonomousbodyduring1974.Atpresent22Statesinthecountryhavetheir ownSeedCertificationAgenciesestablishedundertheSeedAct,1966.Ingreatmajorityofthecountries intheWorld,includingIndia,seedcertificationisvoluntaryandlabellingiscompulsory. Atpresent,IndianseedprogrammeincludestheparticipationofCentralandStategovernments,Indian CouncilofAgricultural(ICAR),StateAgriculturalUniversities(SAU)system,Publicsector,cooperative sectorandprivatesectorinstitutions.SeedsectorinIndiaconsistsoftwonationallevelcorporationsi.e. 1

NationalSeedsCorporation(NSC)andStateFarmsCorporationofIndia(SFCI),15StateSeed Corporations(SSCs)andabout100majorseedcompanies.Forqualitycontrolandcertification,thereare 22StateSeedCertificationAgencies(SSCAs)and104stateSeedTestingLaboratories(SSTLs).Theprivate sectorhasstartedtoplayasignificantroleintheproductionanddistributionofseeds.However,the organizedseedsectorparticularlyforfoodcropscerealscontinuestobedominatedbythepublicsector. (ii) Objective of Seed Certification ThemainobjectiveoftheSeedCertificationistoensuretheacceptablestandardsofseed viability,vigour,purityandseedhealth.Awellorganizedseedcertificationshouldhelpinaccomplishing thefollowingthreeprimaryobjectives. Thesystematicincreaseofsuperiorvarieties; Theidentificationofnewvarietiesandtheirrapidincreaseunderappropriateandgenerally acceptednames. Provisionforcontinuoussupplyofcomparablematerialbycarefulmaintenance.

(iii) Eligibility requirements for certification Anyvarietytobecomeeligibleforseedcertificationshouldmeetthefollowingrequirement: Generalrequirements; Fieldstandards; Specificrequirements; SeedStandards; (a) General requirements ShouldbeanotifiedvarietyunderSection5oftheIndianSeedAct,1966. Shouldbeintheproductionchainanditspedigreeshouldbetraceable. (b) Field standards Fieldstandardsincludetheselectionofsite,isolationrequirements,spacing,plantingratio, borderrowsetc. (c) Specific Requirements Presenceofofftypesinanyseedcrop,pollensheddersinSorghum,Bajra,Sunfloweretc., Sheddingtasselsinmaizecrosses,diseaseaffectedplants,objectionableweedplantsetc.,shouldbe withinthemaximumpermissiblelevelsforcertification. (d) Seed Standards AminimumstandardforFoundationClass,CertifiedClassandMinimumLimitsofLabelling shouldbemaintainedforaparticularseedwithregardtoitsdifferentproperties,e.g.germination percentage,moisturecontent,etc. (iv) Seed Certification Agencies SeedsAct,1966providesfortheestablishmentofSeedCertificationAgenciesineachState. SeedCertificationAgencyshouldfunctiononthefollowingbroadprinciples: 2

SeedCertificationagencyshouldbeanautonomousbody. SeedCertificationAgencyshouldnotinvolveitselfintheproductionandmarketingofseeds. TheSeedCertificationStandardsandproceduresadaptedbyseedcertificationagency shouldbeuniform,throughoutthecountry. SeedCertificationAgencyshouldhavecloselinkagewiththetechnicalandotherrelated institutions. Itslongtermobjectiveshouldbetooperateonnoprofitnolossbasis. AdequatestafftrainedinseedcertificationshouldbemaintainedbytheCertification Agency. Itshouldhaveprovisionforcreatingadequatefacilitiesforensuringtimelyandthrough inspections. Itshouldservetheinterestsofseedproducersandfarmers/users.

(v) Organizational setup of a Seed Certification Agency OrganizationandestablishmentofaSeedCertificationAgencyneedscarefulplanning.The organizationalsetupoftheCertificationAgencyincludesBoardofDirectors,technicalandotherstaff foroperatingtheprogramme.SeedCertificationAgencymayhaveitsownseedtestinglaboratoryorit maygetitsseedsamplestestedthroughseedtestinglaboratories. (vi) Seed certification consists of the following control measures: AnAdministrativecheckontheoriginofthepropagatingmaterial:Sourceseedverificationis thefirststepinSeedCertificationProgramme.Unlesstheseedisfromapprovedsourceandof designatedclasscertificationagencywillnotaccepttheseedfieldforcertification,thereby ensuringtheuseofhighqualitytruetotypeseedforsowingofseedcrops. FieldInspection:Evaluationofthegrowingcropinthefieldforvarietalpurity,isolationofseed cropistopreventoutcross,physicaladmixtures,diseasedisseminationandalsoensurecrop conditionasregardstothespreadofdesignateddiseasesandthepresenceofobjectionable weedplantsetc. Sampleinspection:assessingtheplantingvalueoftheseedsbylaboratorytests.Certification agencydrawsrepresentativesamplesfromtheseedsproducedundercertificationprogramme andsubjectsthemtogerminationandotherpuritytestsrequiredforconformingtovarietal purity. BulkInspection:Undercertificationprogrammeprovisionhasbeenmadeforbulkinspection. Hence,theevaluationofthelotforthepurposeofcheckinghomogeneityofthebulkseed producedascomparedwiththestandardsampleiscarriedout. Controlplottesting:Herethesamplesdrawnfromthesourceandfinalseedproducedare grownsidebysidealongwiththestandardsamplesofthevarietyinquestion.Bycomparisonit canbedeterminedwhetherthevarietalpurityandhealthoftheproducedseedareequaltothe resultsbasedonfieldinspection. Growouttest:Evaluationoftheseedsfortheirgenuinenesstospeciesorvarietiesorseed borneinfection.Herethesamplesdrawnfromthelotsaregrowninthefieldalongwiththe

standardchecks.Growingplantsareobservedforthevarietalpurity.Growouttesthelpsinthe eliminationofthesubstandardseedlots. (vii) Phases of Seed Certification SeedCertificationiscarriedoutinsixbroadphaseslistedasunder: i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) Verificationofseedsource,classandotherrequirementsoftheseedusedforraisingtheseed crop. Receiptandscrutinyofapplication. Inspectionoftheseedcropinthefieldtoverifyitsconformitytotheprescribedfieldstandards. Supervisionatpostharveststagesincludingprocessingandpacking. Drawingofsamplesandarrangingforanalysistoverifyconformitytotheseedstandards;and Grantofcertificate,issueofcertificationtags,labelling,sealingetc.

Seed Certification Agencies

STATE AndhraPradesh Assam Bihar Gujarat Haryana HimachalPradesh Jammu&Kashmir Karnataka Kerala MadhyaPradesh Maharashtra Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamilnadu UttarPradesh WestBengal UNIONTERRITORIES Delhi Pondichery

AGENCY AndhraPradeshStateSeedCertificationagency, AssamStateSeedCertificationagency, BiharStateSeedCertificationagency, GujaratStateSeedCertificationagency, HaryanaStateSeedCertificationagency, HimachalPradeshStateSeedCertificationagency, SeedCertificationwing, KarnatakaStateSeedCertificationagency, DepartmentofSeedCertification, MadhyaPradeshStateSeedCertificationagency, MaharashtraStateSeedCertificationagency, OrissaStateSeedCertificationagency, PunjabStateSeedCertificationagency, RajasthanStateSeedCertificationagency, SeedCertificationwing, DepartmentofSeedCertification, UttarPradeshStateSeedCertificationagency, WestBengalStateSeedCertificationagency, SeedCertificationUnit, SeedCertificationwing