Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 209 - Arkansas Agriculture Department › Division 02 - State Plant Board › Rule 209.02.05-006 - Circular 15 - Official Standards for Seed Certification in Arkansas

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
OUTLINE OF STEPS TO FOLLOW IN CERTIFYING
				SEED
1. Write for regulations
			 and application blank for the crop you want to certify. These are furnished by
			 the Plant Board. Study these regulations carefully.
2. Secure approved source of seed. Check the
			 regulation on this point.
3. Send
			 completed application to Plant Board Office, Little Rock. Unless you use your
			 own certified seed, be sure to include with your application a copy of the
			 invoice showing purchase of the seed, a set of tags from one of the bags and
			 about a one pound representative sample of the seed. Check the regulations for
			 each crop as to time applications should be made.
4. Completely clean all planting equipment of
			 other seeds and plant the seed for certification in a field which is relatively
			 free of noxious weeds, and one which conforms to the regulations as to
			 isolation from other crops and to crops grown on this field in previous years.
			 Check the regulations on these points for the seed you are
			 certifying.
5. Prior to the field
			 inspection by the Plant Board, be sure to rogue your field of noxious weeds,
			 other crops and off-type plants. This is a very important point and if the job
			 is done well it may mean the difference of the seed being certified or
			 disqualified.
6. Be sure to notify
			 the Plant Board office about two weeks ahead of the expected harvest date so
			 that the necessary field inspection can be made.
7. Completely clean all harvesting equipment
			 and storage of all other seeds so that no mixture will occur at this point. The
			 method of harvesting and the storage should be approved by the Plant Board
			 (check the cotton regulations for special requirements as to ginning and
			 storage of seed).
8. After harvest
			 is completed, report to the Plant Board the number of bushels of seed saved for
			 certification.
9. Keep a close
			 check on the seed in storage to see that the moisture content is low enough to
			 prevent heating. Before cleaning send in a representative sample for a
			 preliminary test. This would not be an official test.
10. Use the best equipment available for
			 cleaning and treating seed.
If you are using someone else's facilities to
			 clean your seed, you may request that the Plant Board inspect the cleaning
			 equipment just prior to the cleaning of your seed.
11. New containers, approved reusable
			 containers, or dedicated bulk bins must be used for seed that is for
			 certification.
12. After the seed
			 have been cleaned, notify the Plant Board and an official representative sample
			 for an analysis and moisture test will be taken. This is the final step, and if
			 the analysis conforms to the regulations, you are in line for tags or bulk
			 certificates on your seed. Cottonseed may be officially sampled before being
			 cleaned either in bulk or bags. (Note: only certified blue-tag grade may be
			 sampled in the bulk and be eligible for tags or certificates.)
13. Tags and/or bulk certificates are issued
			 when ordered by the applicant.
14.
			 By carefully following the outline above you should not experience too much
			 difficulty in getting your seed certified. If at any time you have questions or
			 are in doubt about the next step to take, please feel free to contact the Plant
			 Board office.
NOXIOUS WEEDS OF ARKANSAS
Every certified seed grower should know and learn to recognize
				the noxious weeds of the state. By knowing these weeds a certified seed grower
				is in a much better position to successfully rogue his fields, thus enabling
				him to conform more easily to the regulations. The noxious weeds of Arkansas
				are as follows:
1. Field Bindweed
(Convolvulus arvensis)
2. Nutgrass
(Cyperus
			 rotundus)
3. Crotalaria
(Crotalaria spp.)
4.
			 Wild onion and/or wild garlic
(Allium spp.)
5. Johnsongrass
(Sorghum
			 halepense)
6. Dodder
(Cuscuta spp.)
7.
			 Bermudagrass
(Cynodon dactylon)
8. Cheat or Chess
(Bromus secalinus
			 and/or Bromus commutatus)
9.
			 Darnel
(Lolium temulentum)
10. Corncockle
(Agrostemma
			 githago)
11. Horsenettle
(Solanum carolinense)
12. Purple nightshade
(Solanum
			 elaeagnifolium)
13. Buckhorn
			 plantain
(Plantago lanceolata)
14. Dock and/or Sorrel
(Rumex
			 spp.)
15. Blueweed
(Helianthus ciliaris)
16. Morning Glory
(Ipomoea
			 spp.)
17. Hedge bindweed
(Calystegia sepium)
18. Giant Foxtail
(Setaria
			 faberi)
19. Cocklebur
(Xanthium spp.)
20.
			 Moonflower
(Ipomoea turbinata)
*
			 21.Balloonvine
(Cardiospermum halicacabum)
*22. Itchgrass
(Rottboellia cochinchinensis)
*23. Serrated Tussock
(Nassella
			 trichotoma)
24.
			 Barnyardgrass
(Echinochloa crusgalli)
*25. Tropical Soda Apple
(Solanum viarum)
*Prohibited in both Field Standards and Cleaned Seed Standards
				for all crops certified.
When found in rice, the following weeds shall, in addition, be
				classed as noxious, and their presence must be indicated in accordance with the
				requirements for other noxious weeds:
(a)Red Rice
(Oryza sativa var.),
(b) Curly indigo
(Aeschynomene spp.),
(c) Tall indigo or coffee bean
(Sesbania macrocarpa).
REQUIREMENTS FOR BECOMING A STATE LICENSED PLANT
				BREEDER
(A) Any person wishing
			 to secure a license as a plant breeder shall first apply to the Board for a
			 Qualification Data Sheet, which must be filled out in complete detail and
			 returned to the Director, who shall place on file said data sheet and keep it
			 available for reference at all times.
(B) Only such persons bearing a reputation
			 for honesty, competency, and fair dealing will be favorably considered as
			 applicants.
(C) In order to obtain
			 a certificate as a state licensed plant breeder, all persons applying to the
			 board for seed registration will be required to appear before the Director at a
			 designated time and place, and stand a written examination on the scientific
			 principles and economic phases of plant breeding, the questions to be made out
			 and graded by the Agronomy Department, College of Agriculture and Home
			 Economics, University of Arkansas.
(D) In case any person applied to the Board
			 for a certificate who, operating a well established seed breeding unit
			 regularly, has in his employment under contract (a copy of which must be
			 furnished to the Director) one or more technically trained plant breeders, only
			 the employed plant breeder shall take the examination. The certificate, if
			 granted, shall be issued in the name of the applicant, but the name of the
			 plant breeder passing the required examination must appear thereon.
(E) A grade of seventy-five will be
			 considered a passing grade and any person making such a mark, or above, shall
			 when he has complied with all other requirements, and produced a commercial
			 quantity of Foundation or Registered seed, be issued a certificate as a
			 licensed plant breeder, and be entitled to purchase a sufficient number of
			 Foundation or Registered seed tags to cover the production of seed from the
			 acreage that has passed all requirements.
(F) Provided, that in addition to passing the
			 written examination the applicant shall maintain a breeding program which shall
			 be under the observation of the Director for a period of three years, and if at
			 the end of that time the methods used and the results obtained, are scientific
			 and worthy, then the certificate shall be issued. Or provided, that the
			 applicant shall employ one or more qualified plant breeders who shall have a
			 Master's or Doctor's degree in plant breeding, and only the employed plant
			 breeder shall take the examination, and as soon as a breeding program is
			 started the certificate shall be issued. In addition to the name of the
			 applicant the name of the breeder shall appear on the certificate. And
			 provided, that if for any reason the applicant's breeding program in any crop
			 shall be discontinued then the certificate covering that crop shall be revoked.
			 Also, any person having a doctorate degree in plant breeding and three years
			 experience would not be required to take the examination.
(G) Any person passing the written
			 examination or the field observations will not be required to pass an
			 additional examination, unless the certificate should be revoked, or his crop
			 should fail for a period to pass the necessary field inspection.
(H) Foundation seeds shall be produced only
			 by a person holding a certificate from the Board, entitling said person to be
			 officially designated as a licensed________breeder (name of crop to be inserted
			 in blank as said person may qualify).
(I) Any person seeking a certificate as a
			 producer of Foundation or Registered seed must own or control land necessary in
			 the breeding and production of seed of high purity and excellency. If the said
			 person does not own his land, it will be necessary to furnish the Director with
			 copies of all contracts or their equivalent, showing actual possession of the
			 land.
(J) All seed eligible for
			 Foundation grade and which is registered in the name of any person shall be his
			 own or his employed plant breeder's selection, except that a licensed plant
			 breeder may obtain Breeder seed of the crop for which he is licensed from
			 another licensed plant breeder, or Agricultural Experiment Station, or the
			 USDA, and produce Foundation seed from this material; provided he has written
			 approval from the organization releasing the variety concerned. In emergency
			 cases where there is no source of Foundation seed of a variety still in demand,
			 any licensed plant breeder may be permitted to take the variety for
			 purification, if necessary, and subsequently produce Foundation Seed.
1. Approval of new varieties: Those varieties
			 (and hybrids) approved by the State Plant Board in cooperation with the
			 Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Arkansas will be eligible
			 for certification. Approval shall be based on:
(a) The variety must possess superior germ
			 plasm. That is, the performance of the variety or hybrids in Experiment Station
			 or other suitable tests (minimum of three years) is such that it will compare
			 favorably with the varieties of the crop group now recommended by the
			 University of Arkansas for commercial production in the state.
(b) Blends, varietal mixtures and mass
			 crosses are not acceptable.
(c)
			 Varieties produced under a recognized name outside of the state are not
			 eligible for certification in the state under another name (same germ plasm
			 used).
(d) In addition to the
			 above, the following conditions must be met:
(1) If the variety is a pure line selection,
			 the variety or material from which the selection was made must be
			 indicated.
(2) If the variety
			 resulted from hybridization, the application must state who made the cross. If
			 the line originated from a source other than the applicant's breeding nursery,
			 a copy of written approval for use of the material from which the line was
			 derived must accompany the application.
(3) The name must be satisfactory.
(4) The variety must be phenotypically
			 different or possess some characteristics such as plant height, grain color, or
			 disease resistance, etc., which will identify it from known
			 varieties.
(5) The variety must be
			 uniform in simply inherited plant and seed characters.