Breeder seed: Breeder seed is seed or vegetative propagating material directly controlled by the originating or sponsoring plant breeder of the breeding programme or institution and/ or seed whose production is personally supervised by a qualified plant breeder and which provides the source for the initial and recurring increase of foundation seed. Breeder seed shall be genetically so pure as to guarantee that in the subsequent generation i.e. certified foundation seed class shall confirm to the prescribed standards of genetic purity. The other quality factors of breeder seed such as physical purity, inert matter, germination etc. shall be indicated on the label on actual basis.
The colour of the breeder label shall be Golden yellow.
Certified Foundation seed: Foundation seed shall be the progeny of Breeder seed or be produced from foundation seed, which can be clearly traced to Breeder seed. Thus foundation seed can even be produced from foundation seed. During the production of Foundation Seed the minimum seed certification standard shall be the same for both foundation seed stage-I and II. The production of foundation seed stage I and II shall be supervised and approved by the certification agency and be so handled as to maintain specific genetic identity and genetic purity and shall be required to confirm to certification standards specified for the crop / variety being certified.
The certification tag shall be of white colour both for foundation stage-I and II seed class.
Certified Seed: Certified seed shall be the progeny of foundation seed and its production shall be so handled as to maintain specific genetic identity and purity according to the standards prescribed for the crop being certified. Certified seed may be the progeny of certified seed provided this reproduction does not exceed three generations beyond foundation seed stage-I.
The certification tag shall be of blue colour for Certified seed class.
- The first generation resulting from crossing of two varieties or parents. Hybrid(certified) seed is the first generation resulting from the cross of two approved inbred lines or parents , one of which is male sterile.
The seed notified under Section 5 of the Seeds Act, 1966, such seed sold in the market has to be labeled as prescribed under Section 6(a) and (b) of the Seeds Act Such seed is called Labeled Seed.
Seed Certification is done in six phases
- receipt and scrutiny of application;
- verification of seed source, class and other requirements of the seed used for raising the seed crop;
- field inspections to verify conformity to the prescribed field standards;
- Supervision of post-harvest stages including processing and packaging;
- Seed sampling and analysis, including genetic purity test and/or seed health test, if any, in order to verify conformity to the prescribed standards;
- and Grant of certificate and certification tags, tagging and sealing.
Agencies (State Governments or Autonomous Bodies), which are notified under Section 8 of the Seeds Act are authorized for certification of seeds. At present there are 21 state Seed Certification Agencies in the country.
Anybody willing to come forward to produce certified seed can produce certified seed. At present State Seeds Corporations, National Seeds Corporation, State Departments of Agriculture, Private Companies, Cooperatives and individual farmers are producing certified seed.
Seed Replacement Rate is the percentage of area sown out of total area of crop planted in the season by using certified/quality seeds other than the farm saved seed
Genetically Modified seed is developed by application of biotechnology wherein a specific gene from other genus is inserted by genetic manipulation to make it resistant against certain characteristics like insect pest resistance, for example in the Bt. cotton, Cry1 AC gene has been incorporated in the cotton seed from a soil bacteria i.e. Bacillus thirugenesis which make it resistant against the attack of boll worm.
Govt.of india enacted legislation known as Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 to protect plant breeder’s rights. The main objectives of the legislation are to (a) stimulate investments for research and development both in the public and the private sectors for the development of new plant varieties by ensuring appropriate returns on such investments; and (b) facilitate the growth of seed industry in the country through domestic and foreign investment which will ensure the availability of high quality seeds and planting material to Indian farmers. PVP & Farmer’s authority is being set up.
If any person contravenes any provisions of the Seeds Act/Rules, on conviction be punishable:
- for the first offence with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, and
- in the event of such person having been previously convicted of an offence under this section, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
If any person contravenes any provisions of the Seeds Act/Rules, on conviction be punishable:
Export/import are governed by EXIM Policy of 2002-07 issued by Ministry of Commerce. Under EXIM Policy, provision is made to import which governed by the New Policy on Seed Development, 1988 read with Plant Quarantine Order, 2003 and amendments made thereon. For restricted items the EXIM committee of DAC is empowered to take decision of import/export.
Individual growers/ Producers who intends to take up certified seed Production shall approach the concerned Senior Seed Certification Officer for offering areas for certification.
Seed producers could get their seed sample tested in the TSSCA Seed Testing Laboratories by paying fee prescribed to obtain the result to be used as information for selling or labeling purposes.
Certification sample means a sample of seed drawn by a certification agency or by a duly authorised representative of a certification agency established under section 8 or recognised under section 18 of the Act.
DUS stands for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability. This is a criteria on the basis of which the Plant Breeders’ Rights will be granted to a variety by the Authority. DUS test will be used as main criteria for deciding the novelty of a variety. The formulation of National test guidelines for DUS testing has been entrusted to ICAR. Out of 35 crops DUS test guidelines for 30 crops are already prepared. Balance 5 is under finalization.
Certified seed producer means a person/organization who grows or distributes certified seed in accordance with the procedures and standards of the certification.
Certified seed producer means a person/organization who grows or distributes certified seed in accordance with the procedures and standards of the certification.
Certified Seed means, seed that fulfills all requirements for certification provided by the Act and the rules and to the container of which the certification tag is attached.
In a single application, the maximum area that can be offered for certification is 25 acres only. Additional area will be treated as separate unit.
No refund of inspection and registration fee will be made, once the seed plot is visited/ inspected by the seed certification officer around the date of planting reported in Form No I, irrespective of the fact that whether sowing or planting is done or not by that date.
Service sample means a sample submitted to the Central Seed Testing laboratory or State Seed Testing Laboratory for testing, the results to be used as information for seeding, selling or labeling purposes.
