Seed certification is the legal process to maintain high-quality seed and make its availability for distribution.
It is a quality assurance process. Seeds intended for domestic and international markets are controlled and inspected by official sources to guarantee consistent high quality for consumers.
It includes field inspection, seed quality test, and pre and post quality check.
The concept of seed certification was originated in Sweeden during the twentieth century.
The process was started first in wheat in Nepal. Seed Act (1988) has been enacted for the system.
The seed is a fertilized ripened ovule consisting of three main parts namely seed coat, endosperm, and embryo, which in due course gives rise to a new plant.
It also refers to propagating materials of healthy seedling, tuber, bulbs, rhizome, roots, cuttings, setts, all types of graft and vegetatively propagating material used for production purposes. Seed should be genetically and physically pure.
The use of good quality seeds of high yielding varieties plays the most important role to increase crop production.
To ensure the use of good quality seeds, they are required to be available on time and place at reasonable prices.
People in our local committee want to use the seed which is available at a lower cost. Since there is an open border in the terai region of Nepal with India, farmers prefer Indians cheaper seed.
Indian shopkeepers sold low-quality seed which has less physical and genetic purity. They sold the seed which is not notified in Nepal.
Due to which whole crop failure due to disease, reduction in yield, less crop performance, and finally less profit or no profit at all is seen in farmers. To address these problems farmers should use certified seed.
Certified seed producers produce the certified seed. Certified seed producer means a person/organization who grows or distributes certified seed in accordance with the procedures and standards of the certification.
In Nepal, general knowledge is growing related to seed business as well with development, different seed production initiatives are carried on seed certification has been defined by the respective institute.
Even when a seed is to be purchased from private or from other state departments such certificates are essential.
With a long-term vision, Nepal adopted a holistic vision for the development of Nepal’s seed sector included in “National Seed Vision 2013 – 2025”.
The leading organization for seed certification in Nepal is the “Seed Quality Control Center”.
This has been conducted by obtaining accreditation from an international community of seed certification.
Establishment/functional organization which have duties and responsibilities of seed test and also has the power to notify the kind and varieties.
In the Nepalese context, seeds are properly labeled and recorded in the register, the following information should be included in the list like the species (Latin name and Nepali name), date of collection, place of collection, district, Zone.
The seed certification system includes the maintenance of the growth of new varieties with its multiplication.
The varieties to be grown are to be subsequently produced with their quality assurance.
Their supply is also checked. The basic steps in this include:
- Thoroughly checking of the seed-producing bodies,
- Land, location of the seed-producing areas are checked,
- Source and class of the seeds are also checked,
- Field inspection of the seed crops and the agricultural practices followed are also observed.
- Seed sampling for inspection and the tests of their quality is also done,
- bagging, tagging, sealing, and grant of certification tags are followed later
Certified Seed grower produces seed from breeder seed in small amount and multiply them in isolation to prevent the contamination from other varieties of crops and need to be harvested at the stage of maturity.
Then, seeds need to be collected. The production and handling should follow the standard set up by the certifying agency.
After when seeds are collected, they are transferred to the seed store or the nursery for sowing or storage, the seed lot should have a certificate indicating species, date of collection, locality factors like aspects, elevation, soil condition, climatic conditions, method of storage, name of the collector, quantity of seeds, date of dispatch, condition of seed at the time of dispatch.
It includes field inspection, seed quality tests, and pre-& post quality check. The general seed certification standards, field standards have to be followed.
The minimum number of field inspections in the required growth stages of the specified crop species is done.
The minimum isolation meters are checked according to the crop varieties. The seed standard of the crop also differs.
The main responsible seed certifying body is the Seed Quality Control Center (SQCC), MoAD. Regional Seed testing labs also work on their certification procedures.
A well-organized seed certification should be able to accomplish the following objectives of systematically increasing of superior varieties, identification of new varieties, and their rapid increase, provision for a continuous supply.
Maintaining a certain ‘Seed Multiplication Ratio (SMR)based on its demand and requirement, the number of seeds produced from a single seed is SMR.
There are six classes of quality seed. These are nucleus seed, breeder seed, foundation seed, certified seed first-generation, certified seed second generation, and improved seeds.
Nucleus seed is the original handful of seed obtained by the breeder through individual plant selection of a particular variety to purifying and maintaining the variety by originating plant breeder.
Breeder seed is the progeny of nucleus seed. Breeder seed is produced by the research institute and agricultural universities under the supervision of plant breeders to provide genetically pure seed for foundation seed production.
They are available in very little quantity, are very costly, and have a golden yellow tag.
Foundation seed is the progeny of breeder seed and has a white tag in it.
Production of foundation seed is generally done by government farm or by a certain organization (NARC, AIC, cooperatives, National seed corporation in Nepal).
Certified seed first generation is the progeny of foundation seed and has a tag with a blue border in it.
Certified seed first generation’s production is also done by government farms or by a certain organization.
Certified seed second generation is the progeny of certified seed first generation and has a tag with a green border.
It is produced in the seed-producing farmer field with the supervision of seed certifying agencies. The improved seed is the progeny of certified seed second generation.
It is produced in the farmer’s field with the supervision of certifying agencies. It has yellow tags and is used for commercial cultivation of crops.
Farmers should use improved seed which has a yellow tag in it.
Swastika Sharma
Pakhlihawa Krishi Campus, Bhairahawa.
