Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND MARKETS › Sub-Agency 031 - PLANT INDUSTRY DIVISION › Chapter 003 - SEED CERTIFICATION REGULATIONS › Section 20 031 003 - SEED CERTIFICATION REGULATIONS

Current through June, 2024
INTRODUCTION
While many farmers will concede that certain aspects
				of their industry involve taking a gamble, the selection of seed need
				not fall among that group of risks.
By choosing certified seed for planting, the
				purchaser is assured that certain standards for production have been
				met. Certification is a means by which the genetic purity of a crop
				variety is maintained. To become certified, the seed crop must meet
				standards of pedigree, isolation from similar crops, freedom from
				certain weeds, backed by field inspections, and laboratory
				tests.
The Vermont Legislature authorized the Commissioner
				of Agriculture to provide a seed certification program to the people
				of the state. Standards are approved by the Director of the Vermont
				Agricultural E xperiment Station.
By applying for and following procedures established
				for a respective crop, applicants may become involved in this
				program.
The Vermont standards are higher than the minimum
				standards established by the International Crop Improvement
				Association and are equivalent to the standards in other states and
				should be acceptable outside the state.
GENERAL SEED CERTIFICATION STANDARDS
A. Type of Certifying Organization
Under the power authorized by
				6
				V.S.A., Sections 611 to
				618 inclusive,
				the Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Agriculture is
				empowered to promulgate such rules and regulations as deemed
				necessary regarding the growing and grading of certified seed,
				subject to the approval of the Vermont Agricultural Experiment
				Station. The Vermont Department of Agriculture in conjunction with
				the Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station has been designated as
				the Certifying Agency in Vermont.
B. Purpose of Certification
The purpose of seed certification is to maintain and
				make available to the public, high quality seeds and propagating
				materials of superior crop plant varieties so grown and distributed
				as to insure genetic identity. Only those varieties that contain
				superior germ plasm are eligible for certification. Certified seed is
				high in varietal purity and of good seeding value. Varieties eligible
				for certification may have been in use for some years, or they may
				have been produced recently through scientific plant breeding or
				selection. In either case there is danger of their loss through
				ordinary handling without a planned method of production that is
				consistently carried forward. Seed certification is such a
				plan.
Varietal purity is the first consideration in seed
				certification, but other factors such as weed and disease control,
				high viability, cleaning, and grading are also important in the seed
				certification program. Seed certification is designed, therefore, to
				maintain not only the genetic purity of superior crop varieties, but
				also reasonable standards of seed condition that insure, insofar as
				it can be insured, satisfactory performance of that resultant
				crop.
C.
			 Eligibility Requirements for Certification of Varieties
1. General Requirements - The
			 certifying agency may require the applicant for crop seed
			 certification to make the following available when eligibility for
			 certification is requested.
a. The
			 name of the variety.
b. A
			 statement concerning the variety's origin.
c. A detailed description of the
			 morphological, physiological, and other characteristics of the plants
			 and seed that distinguish it from other varieties.
d. Evidence supporting the identity
			 of the variety, such as comparative yield data, insect and disease
			 resistance, or other factors supporting the identity of the
			 variety.
e. A statement
			 delineating the geographic area or areas of adaptation of the
			 variety.
f. A statement
			 of the plans and procedures for the maintenance of seed classes,
			 including the number of generations through which the variety may be
			 multiplied.
g. A
			 description of the manner in which the variety is constituted when a
			 particular cycle of reproduction or multiplication is
			 specified.
h. Any
			 additional restrictions on the variety, specified by the breeder,
			 with respect to geographic area of seed production, age of stand or
			 other factors affecting genetic purity.
i. A sample of seed representative
			 of the variety as marketed. Certification is limited to those crop
			 varieties approved by the Vermont Certifying Agency.