International Seed Testing Association News Bulletin No.

160 October 2020

COVID-19 HITS
THE SEED SECTOR
How the seed sector deals
with a pandemic situation

ISTA ACCREDITATION SCOPE 53 GMO HANDBOOK 28 APSA/ISTA COOPERATION 63

Revision of the crop groups The way forward as discussed in the Seed Quality Management
in the accreditation scope GMO Committee and Vigour Workshop

WWW.SEEDTEST.ORG
 14 20

8
16

18

From the Editor 2

23 Calendar 3
President’s Report 4

Featured Articles
How the Global Seed Company DLF was Affected During Three
Months of Lockdown in 2020 8

Association News
Rules Changes for 2021 Edition of the International Rules for Seed
Testing (ISTA Rules) 13
Advanced Technologies Committee 14
Bulking and Sampling Committee 15
Forest Tree and Shrub Seed Committee 16
Germination Committee 18
Moisture Committee 20
Nomenclature Committee 21
Proficiency Test Committee 22
Purity Committee 23
Rules Committee 24
Seed Health Committee 25
Seed Science Advisory Group 27
Statistics Committee 28
Tetrazolium Committee 28
Variety Committee 29
Vigour Committee 31
ISTA Welcomes Karen De La Rosa 32

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 31

CONTENTS
New ISTA Members 33
Designing GMO Testing Plans and Analysing Associated Results 34 International Seed Testing Association News Bulletin No. 160 October 2020

ISTA Special Project 19-1 40 COVID-19 HITS

THE SEED SECTOR
ISTA Special Project 19-2 41 How the seed sector deals
with a pandemic situation

ISTA Special Project 19-3 of the Germination and Vigour Committees 42

Obituary – Prof. Murray Hill 44
OECD Seed Schemes Meeting – Milano 2020 45
African Seed Trade Association Meeting – Zambia 2020 46
ISTA ACCREDITATION SCOPE 53 GMO HANDBOOK 28 APSA/ISTA COOPERATION 63
Revision of the crop groups The way forward as discussed in the Seed Quality Management
in the accreditation scope GMO Committee and Vigour Workshop

WWW.SEEDTEST.ORG

Meeting with the New FAO Directory General 47

Inside cover:
ISTA Secretariat Passes ISO 9001:2015 Re-Certification Audit 48 Rules Changes
Restarting ISTA Accreditation Audits During COVID-19 Times 49 2021: Approved
Meeting New ISTA Members in the Republic of Kosovo 49 Changes to the
ISTA Rules 2021
Accreditation
Achievement of ISTA Accreditation for Corteva Agriscience (Pioneer Hi-Bred) Rosslyn Centralized Laboratory 50
SciCorp Laboratories (Pty) Ltd Attain ISTA Accreditation 51
Achievement of ISTA Accreditation for Klein Karoo SeedProduction, Seed Quality Services 52
ISTA Accreditation Scope: Revision of the Crop Groups 53
Interactive ISTA Certificate Learning Tool 57
Laboratory Accreditation Changes 59

Seed Science
Fresh in the Field 60

Training and Education

Report on the APSA/ISTA Seed Quality Management Seminar and Vigour Workshop 63

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 1

FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers,
WHEN ISTA WAS STRUCK BY COVID-19

First of all, I hope this message finds you well and in a good and healthy situation.

At the beginning of this year, I hoped to meet most of you in the beautiful,
Seed Testing International
No. 160 October 2020 picturesque city of Verona. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic struck Italy
ISSN 1999-5229 most severely as the first country in Europe. After the spring meeting of the ISTA
Executive Committee in Bologna, it became apparent that a meeting in May would not be possible.
Produced on behalf of the
ISTA Executive Committee Travel restrictions were implemented and even with the best intentions, it was not possible to bring
people together.
The views and opinions expressed in
this publication are not necessarily
those of the International Seed Testing Further to this, COVID-19 meant that all other meetings, accreditation audits and ISTA workshops
Association (ISTA). Every effort is made worldwide could not take place. This brought the ISTA Secretariat into a tough position. A lot of
to ensure the published text is accurate.
ISTA shall not be liable in any way for work in cancelling, postponing and rescheduling of meetings and travel plans followed. This was
possible errors or omissions. ISTA makes complicated by the fact that the Secretariat had to switch to 100% home working in Switzerland
no expressed or implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particular during the first two months of the pandemic.
purpose or otherwise, concerning the
use of any product or representation
Fortunately, the Secretariat was able to stay operational using Office365, which was introduced in the
that is expressed or implied. In addition
ISTA shall not be liable in any manner last quarter of 2019. Even where personal meetings were not possible, we could continue to work for
whatsoever for direct, indirect, the Association and even deliver ISTA International Seed Testing Certificates to member laboratories
incidental, consequential, or punitive
damage resulting from the use of, access in a shut-down situation. The efforts made by all members of the Secretariat were tremendous. My
of, or inability to use this information. No personal thanks go to all our staff, who managed these tasks with great efficiency.
endorsement of any non-ISTA products
or services mentioned in this publication
is given or implied by ISTA. Due to the COVID-19 regulations imposed by the Swiss government, it became legally possible to hold
the Ordinary General Meeting through voting by correspondence. Forty-eight Designated Voting
Chief Editor
Members took part in this voting, which was an all-time high. The ISTA Budget and the changes in the
Andreas Wais
ISTA Rules could be approved; a great achievement.
Editor
Florina Palada, Sejal Patel All ISTA members were also able to discuss the Rules in a virtual meeting before the voting. The
International Seed Testing discipline of all participants in these virtual meetings was perfect and all discussions could be made
Association (ISTA) online without great delays. We also received positive feedback from the ISTA Designated Authorities.
ISTA Secretariat These successes will make us think about how to keep everyone involved in the future, maintaining
Zürichstrasse 50
the good things we have learned during this critical situation.
CH-8303 Bassersdorf,
Switzerland
We wanted to celebrate the International Year of Plant Health in 2020 with several events, and we had
Phone: +41 44 838 60 00
Fax: +41 44 838 60 01 scheduled a tremendous number of workshops, not only related to seed health topics. These all had to
E-mail: ista.office@ista.ch be cancelled, but we will take them up again as soon as travelling is safe and no longer restricted.
Internet: www.seedtest.org
Seed Testing International No. 161 The ISTA Accreditation and Technical Department made great efforts to enable the restart of
Deadline for article submission: accreditation audits. Commencing in Greece, other audits will follow this year in countries where
15th January 2021
travelling is safe, where we face no restrictions concerning COVID-19 regulations, and where auditors
Publication date: April 2021
Circulation: 1,746 are allowed to travel by their organisations.
No. of copies printed: 2,500
Instructions to contributors: A questionnaire sent to accredited members showed that during the first wave of the pandemic, most
www.seedtest.org/STI
ISTA laboratories were still running, at least for issuing ISTA International Seed Testing Certificates.
Follow ISTA This has secured safe transit of seeds in international trade. It was good to see that governments
regarded the seed sector as essential and important for food security and achieving #ZeroHunger.
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ISTA will continue to monitor the situation globally.

With all of this news and hopefully an improving situation, I hope you have some fun in flicking
through this issue of Seed Testing International.

Stay healthy,
Andreas Wais

2 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 CALENDAR

Calendar
2020
11–13 October EuroSeeds Congress 2020, virtual event www.euroseedcongress.com
07–10 December American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Seed Expo, virtual event

2021
25–28 January Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Technical WG Meeting, Paris, France
31 May–03 June ISTA Annual Meeting, Cairo, Egypt
07–11 June OECD, Annual Meeting, Tallinn, Estonia

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SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 3

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President’s Report
Steve Jones, MRSB
ISTA President
AS I WRITE THIS REPORT, WE ARE JUST
OVER HALFWAY THROUGH 2020 and the
2019–2022 Executive Committee (ECOM) have
completed their first 12 months of a new team
working together for ISTA. So far it has been
a very memorable year for all of us but maybe
not for the best of reasons. The COVID-19
pandemic has affected everyone and will
continue to affect how we work and travel
internationally for many years to come. As
many countries start to move out of lockdown,
people are planning for the future but with a
careful eye on any recurrence of outbreaks.
For ISTA as a global association, restrictions
on international travel mean that meetings
like ISTA’s Annual Technical Committee
(TCOM) Meeting, the Ordinary General
Meeting (OGM), workshops and audits, all
need to be reconsidered and we must be ready
with a ‘Plan B’.
4 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
ISTA’s 2020 OGM, held virtually
ECOM Meeting Bologna,
“For ISTA as a global
February 2020
association, restrictions on
In February 2020 the ISTA ECOM met for its
five-day annual business meeting in Bologna,
Italy. Just prior to the meeting, Craig McGill
(ISTA Immediate Past President), Keshavulu
Kunusoth (ISTA Vice-President), Andreas Wais
international travel mean that
(ISTA Secretary General) and myself visited
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) meetings… all need to be
HQ in Rome, the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) HQ in
Paris and the International Seed Federation
reconsidered and we must be
(ISF) HQ in Geneva. The aim of the meetings
was to continue collaboration and discuss
ready with a ‘Plan B’.”
joint initiatives with these key associations
that share common goals with ISTA.
ideas, saw different sights and over a weekend,
We travelled through multiple airports, then Keshavulu and I visited Mont Blanc. In
by bus, taxi, metro and train. We met many the cable car that took us to the top of the
different people face to face and exchanged mountain we were packed tightly side by side

with other tourists eager to see the spectacular
views from the top. It was an excellent social
visit for us on our weekend break between
meetings, but how different the situation is
now. With social distancing the cable car
would probably hold far fewer people, and we
would all be wearing masks and be concerned
about COVID-19.
The ECOM meeting in Bologna focused on
regular business decisions, finances, strategy,
Rules proposals and made plans for the
Verona OGM. For both the ECOM and TCOM
activity reports, see the OGM documents at
www.seedtest.org/en/approved-documents-_
content---1--3518.html.
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
By March, the world was going into lockdown
to mitigate the spread of COVID-19: plans
“… governments realised the
essential nature of the work
that seed testing and agricul-
ture plays in the food chain.”
were adjusted and new or revised decisions
made. A new way to work had to be developed
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
ISTA TCOM/ECOM virtual meeting
for ISTA and across the world. ISTA is a
global organisation and faced a number of
challenges. Andreas Wais, as the manager of
the ISTA Secretariat, needed to ensure the
Secretariat was safe and initiated emergency
plans for staff to work from home, which was
facilitated by the use of the Office 365 tools
that had been introduced last year. The ECOM
started to meet more by email, phone and
virtual meetings.
Decisions were made to cancel the Verona
meeting and following the emergency Swiss
covid laws, the OGM vote was held by email.
Although this presented a difficult situation,
the result was that 48 out of the 53 ISTA
ISTA ECOM virtual meeting
5
PRESIDENT’S REPORT

ISTA ECOM Membership

ECOM:
ECOM:Steve
SteveJones
Jones(Canada),
(Canada),Keshavulu
KeshavuluKunusoth
Kunusoth(India),
(India), Craig
CraigMcGill( New Zealand), Ignacio Aranciaga
McGill (New Aranciaga
(Argentina), Valerie Cockerell (United Kingdom), Sylvie Ducournau (France), Ruel Gesmundo (Philippines),
(Argentina), Valerie Cockerell (United Kingdom), Slyvie Ducournau (France), Ruel Gesmundo (Philippines),
LeenaPietilä
Leena Pietilä(Finland),
(Finland),Berta
BertaKillermann
Killermann(Germany),
(Germany), Cliad
Claid Mujaju
Mujaju (Zimbabwe), Rita Zecchinelli (Italy)
(Italy)
ISTAHonorary
ISTA HonoraryPresident:
Life President:
AttilioAttilio
LovatoLovato
(Italy)(Italy)
Global spread of ISTA ECOM membership

Designated Voting Members eligible to vote
for their countries/distinct economies voted
on the annual OGM agenda topics, and on the
“Resilience, adaptation and
change is something that is
becoming an everyday
occurrence, now more
than ever.”
ISTA Rules proposals we had discussed via the
virtual meetings. This is the largest number
of eligible ISTA members voting for many
years. Ways to ensure continued input from
the full ISTA membership is something I want
to work on long term; feedback on the virtual
meetings and options for the future are always
welcome from you all. For links to the YouTube
videos of the virtual meetings: Rules session
at www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fHyeXld0ag
and the OGM information session at www.
youtube.com/watch?v=Il74Ol2wkc0. In
particular I would like to thank Stefano Conti
from ASSOSEMENTI (Associazione Italiana
Sementi) for his excellent overview of the
Italian seed sector during the virtual session
and Rita Zeccinelli, the ECOM representative
from Italy, for her heartfelt introduction to
the session. We had also hoped that during
the Verona meeting we could visit with ISTA’s
Honorary Life President, Attilio Lovato, in
his home country of Italy. Hopefully this can
happen, the next time when ISTA visits Italy
for a future annual meeting.
Labs Stay Open to Maintain
Critical Services to Agriculture
Not just in Switzerland, the HQ of ISTA, but
across the globe people stopped going into
work, and organisations moved to telework
and video conferences. The ISF’s virtual
meeting in June focused on how the covid
pandemic affected the seed sector. There
is an article in this edition of Seed Testing
International on how it has affected different
labs and countries.
Many of you kept working as your
governments realised the essential nature
of the work that seed testing and agriculture
plays in the food chain. This reinforces the
message we heard from the FAO’s Director
General, QU Dongyu, in our meeting with him
in Rome, about the need to work together to
help fight global poverty and hunger with his
‘Hand-in-Hand’ initiative.

6 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org


Future ISTA Meetings
As we start to come out of our homes again,
to shop and travel, what will the new normal
look like for future ISTA meetings? ISTA
has started the preparations to mark its 100
years with a project looking at the history of
seed testing and perspectives from a socio-
economic viewpoint. Before then, however, we
need to plan for the next ISTA Annual Meeting
which is set for 31 May to 3 June 2021 in Cairo,
Egypt. We hope this physical meeting will
go ahead, but ‘Plan B’ is being worked on if it
cannot, and we will keep you all informed.
Feedback on this year’s virtual information
sessions were very positive, so we will look
to provide some form of virtual meeting on
a more regular basis. For example, whether
the physical meeting in Cairo goes ahead or
not, we are planning to have a virtual Rules
proposal information session prior to the
Annual Meeting, and possibly followed by a
virtual meeting session for the Designated
Authorities.
ISTA Committee Work
Continues
The 20 ISTA TCOMs and working groups
(WGs) have all continued with their excellent
work for ISTA and their activity reports are
included in this edition of Seed Testing
International. This is another change from
the norm, as the TCOMs would usually
present their reports at the Annual Meeting.
There was not enough time during the virtual
information session held on 28 May to include
everything. Shortening the Annual Meeting
from three days to two 2-hour virtual sessions
certainly restricts discussions on some topics.
During the usual three-day meeting, seed
technologists and researchers involved in the
different TCOMs/WGs of ISTA would not just
report to the membership but would have
meetings with the ECOM to network, plan and
discuss different projects which often lead to
new ideas, things to do, plans for workshops
and would also often result in new ISTA Rules
proposals. As Chair of the ECOM Technical
Committee WG, Valerie Cockerill led a virtual
TCOM/ECOM meeting to discuss issues and
plans for the TCOMs. The meeting went very
well and future virtual meetings are planned.
The work of the ECOM has also continued
and we are now having regular monthly
virtual meetings to help facilitate our work
for ISTA. The different time zones for the
ECOM members is a challenge and we all have
attended virtual meetings at very different
times of day.
Our February 2021 meeting is planned to
be held as a physical meeting in Saskatoon,
Canada. This would be a great chance for
myself and Ruojing Wang (ISTA Purity Chair
and a member of other ISTA TCOMs/WGs)
to show the ECOM where we work in the
Seed Science and Technology Section of the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It would
also be an opportunity to visit Agriculture
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) where Axel
Diederichsen, a long-term member of ISTA’s
Nomenclature TCOM, is the curator and
researcher at Canada’s national gene bank
for plant genetic resources for food and
agriculture (Plant Gene Resources of Canada,
PGRC) which is also located in Saskatoon.
The CFIA’s Seed Science and Technology
Section is led by Janine Maruschak, who
also represents Canada on the Association
of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA) board, and
is organising the AOSA Annual Meeting
in Saskatoon in June 2021. ISTA and AOSA
have had a long-term relationship and have
members from both associations on each
other’s TCOMs and Rules Committees,
actively working toward shared goals in seed
testing. Canada is a founding member of both
ISTA and AOSA and continues to be an active
member in both associations. The ISTA ECOM
February meeting in Saskatoon may not
“… if you are interested in
serving on the ECOM from
2022 as a Member-at-Large,
or as the ISTA Vice-President,
now is a good time to
start making plans.”
happen but we hope the AOSA meeting in June
2021 does go ahead.
If the February 2021 ECOM meeting becomes
a virtual one, it may need to be held as several
2-hour meetings spread over different weeks.
The ECOM will wait and see what our options
for travel are by October 2020, then adapt
and plan accordingly. Resilience, adaptation
and change is something that is becoming an
everyday occurrence, now more than ever.
New Initiatives
The ECOM WGs are continuing with existing
projects (see the ECOM activity report from
the OGM at www.seedtest.org/en/approved-
documents-_content---1--3518.html) and
starting new ones. Keshavulu Kunusoth is
leading two of these new initiatives: to develop
Young@ISTA and to explore ways to support
initiatives in developing countries. These are
two of the things Keshavulu wants to focus
on during his tenure as ISTA President, which
starts in May 2022, at the end of the 2022
Congress in New Zealand. Keshavulu will be
working with a new Vice-President and ECOM
who will be elected at the 2022 OGM. This
might seem a long way away, but if you are
interested in serving on the ECOM from 2022
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
as a Member-at-Large, or as the ISTA Vice-
President, now is a good time to start making
plans. Perhaps you need to get support from
your employer and/or government, or you
want to find out about the time commitment
and work involved. If you are interested in
working on a future ECOM, or in other roles in
ISTA, please contact myself or Andreas Wais to
discuss possibilities.
Other new ideas that are being discussed
are how to develop virtual training within
the TCOM WG chaired by Craig McGill,
as well as ways to deal with audits during
the covid outbreak. Ongoing Secretariat
projects include redesigning the ISTA
website to provide a platform to deliver ISTA
International Certificates (Orange and Blue) as
e-Certificates. The newly released Interactive
ISTA Certificate training tool (www.learn-
ista.org/) is one of the recent ISTA projects
developed to help laboratories. The interactive
tool is also available for anyone to help them
understand how ISTA test results are reported
on the ISTA Certificates.
Remembering Others
At different times in our lives we have lost,
and will continue to lose people that we have
known well. ISTA was recently informed
about the death of Murray Hill; an obituary for
him can be found in this edition of STI. I met
Murray and his wife Karen, who passed away
in August 2014, at several ISTA meetings. I had
many enjoyable discussions with them both
over the years. I wish his family and friends
well; he will be missed.
Thanks to You All
Thanks to all of you who attended the virtual
meetings, the Designated Voting Members
for attending and voting, and to the ECOM
and TCOMs, and all the members of the ISTA
Secretariat for their continued work and
dedication to ISTA. Particular thanks to Olga
Stoeckli and Andreas Wais, for making the
virtual membership meetings happen.
As we plan for 2021, let us continue to work
together with resolve and resilience as we
adapt to a new normal for our own and
ISTA’s work. Stay safe, be well and look after
yourselves.
7
FEATURE ARTICLE

How the Global Seed Company DLF was Affected

During Three Months of Lockdown in 2020
Dot Vittrup Pedersen (Member of ISTA Purity and Germination Committees)1, Stig Oddershede2

1
Head of Quality Management
DLF Seeds A/S, DKML03, DKML04, Denmark
2
Head of Corporate Communication
DLF Group, Denmark
https://www.dlf.com/

This article gives you some background information about DLF, the links
to ISTA and how DLF was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the six
ISTA accredited laboratories located in different regions of the world.

DLF SEEDS IS A GLOBAL SEEDS COMPANY with facilities on

six continents and 2000 employees in more than 20 countries. The
presence of companies and breeding and testing facilities in the largest
production and consumption areas ensures that products are well
adapted, trialled and tested in local climate conditions.

With a 50% market share in Europe and 30% worldwide, there is a good
chance the animals that provide your milk, meat and wool, gathered
the nutrition they need from our grass. If you enjoy sport, you may well
have seen your favourite team score on a pitch turfed with our grass.
And if you like relaxing on your own garden lawn, that too may well
have begun life as a bag of our DLF seeds. The map shows the countries (green) where DLF has legal entities and
employees. The blue dots mark R&D centres. In addition, DLF has several
trial sites for demonstration and evaluation purposes.
The company was founded in 1872 in Denmark and over the last 30
years, it has developed a market leading position within temperate
forage and turf seeds, supplying seeds to more than 100 countries.
Under the slogan ‘We turn Science into Growth’, DLF drives the world’s
largest research and development programme in forage and turf to make sure that seed production takes place in accordance with
species. certification rules and that variety purity is approved.

DLF is owned by Danish seed growers through the co-op DLF AmbA
and the Danish production base consists of approximately 2800 seed
growers. The portfolio includes seeds of forage, turf and cover crops as
well as strategic crops like sugar- and fodder beets, seed potatoes and
vegetable seeds.
Vertical Integration Through the Value Chain
New improved varieties are developed by DLF’s plant breeders and
seed scientists in a global testing and trialling network. More than
10% of the workforce in DLF are engaged in R&D. Local trials ensure
that new varieties and products are adapted to the local climatic and
environmental conditions. For many years, the breeding goals have
focused on sustainable features like higher yields and digestibility
for forage, higher output with lower input, and higher resilience and
robustness to climatic and environmental challenges like drought and
disease. Plant breeding requires a lot of testing, and both traditional
and advanced testing technologies are needed in order to get reliable
results.
Seed Production in Many Regions
Seed production takes place where the right climate for reliable yields
and a high seed quality can be obtained. The largest seed production
areas are in Denmark, the Netherlands, Oregon and New Zealand.
In the European Union (EU), the production of all forage and turf seed
is certified, as well as the production of proprietary varieties in other
regions. Field inspections are carried out by authorised personnel
Sampling for Quality Tests
When delivered, the seed is processed in an efficient large-scale setup.
Seed samplers accredited by ISTA collect representative samples of the
seed lots at different stages in the production life cycle. This is also the
case if a germination test expires and a repeat germination test must be
carried out to document the seed viability.
“DLF drives the world’s largest research and devel-
opment programme in forage and turf species.”
Representative samples of machine dressed seed are analysed for
purity, other cultivated species, weeds and germination capacity, in-
house by DLF’s private ISTA accredited seed labs or externally in official
labs. The results of the analysis are the foundation for payment of the
seed grower: the better the quality, the higher the price. The analysis
also documents the quality, when seed lots are ready to continue their
travel to the end users.
Distribution in Multiple Channels
Seeds from DLF are processed for many customer groups; from
pure clean seed for common markets to highly processed seed for
demanding markets. Some seed types are highly developed with

8 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 FEATURE ARTICLE

specific traits to adapt to specific conditions. This includes animal
friendly endophytes that protect grass from damaging insect attacks
and disease and/or drought tolerant plants adapted to stressful
climate and environmental conditions. Seed coating technology is
also developing rapidly, and some markets demand seed coating with
hydroactive water management technology. The coating contains
nitrogen and a wetting agent that promotes a more efficient use of
water, and a stronger and faster establishment. For the wholesale
channel, components and mixtures are delivered for further processing
by DLF customers and for the distribution channel, components and
mixtures are handled in end user packaging.
Forage seed is distributed through rural merchants and retailers.
Professional turf products are targeted for turf and facility
management, landscapers, sod producers, municipalities and
environmental management. Consumer turf products are available for
private garden owners in chains, DIY stores and garden centres.
Step 2, Accreditation
In 2000, ISTA decided that private and seed companies could be
accredited by ISTA to issue international seed certificates. By
December 2001, DLF-Denmark had already been audited by ISTA at
three laboratories in Denmark and in 2002, two more DLF laboratories
were accredited, one in Denmark and one in the Netherlands.
For many years DLF managed five ISTA accredited laboratories, with
more than 40 authorised seed samplers on ten production sites. The
operation of so many laboratories incurs high costs, including ISTA
fees, ISTA re-accreditation costs, daily quality control and external
audits from Certification Agencies. For this reason, two laboratories in
Denmark were closed.
Since 2012, DLF-Denmark has maintained two ISTA laboratories with
approximately 50 accredited seed samplers, and in Kapelle in the
Netherlands, DLF has one ISTA accredited laboratory.

Journey to ISTA Accreditation Benefits of ISTA Accreditation

DLF has tested grower samples in company laboratories for more
than 100 years. These tests have been conducted according to ISTA
Rules although the laboratories were not ISTA accredited. The test
results formed the basis for grower settlement. After cleaning, each
seed lot was sampled, sealed and labelled by a governmental seed
sampler (ISTA accredited) and the sample was tested at the official ISTA
laboratory, the Danish Plant Directorate, for the purpose of certifying
the seed lot.
In the late 1990s, seed companies in the EU could be authorised by
the official authorities to do the sampling and testing, and the results
of the testing could then be used as part of the official European
Commission (EC) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) certification. DLF was authorised according to
EU requirements in 1999.
Step 1, Authorisation
The journey was a big change for the staff at the laboratories and the
productions sites. To obtain authorisation the laboratories needed to
establish a quality manual describing all procedures, quality controls,
etc. All the requirements and procedures were not new for the staff,
but the details had never been written down. So, the biggest job was to
establish all the instructions/SOPs. Even though our (about 40) analysts
had been testing seeds for many years, they had to pass an examination
– species by species – in purity testing, other seed determination by
number, germination testing and use of tolerance tables.
The seed samplers had to participate in a four-day training course
and pass both theoretical and practical examinations. DLF’s facilities
at the cleaning plants and laboratories, including equipment, were
monitored, audited and approved by the official seed testing station.
For DLF, the decision to have company laboratories with ISTA
accreditation has made a big change for the business. Of course, the
reduced cost in seed testing had a big impact on the decision to get ISTA
accreditation, but the benefit for the full supply chain from seed grower
to the customer is much higher.
One Sample Instead of Two
Before ISTA accreditation we had internal costs for testing grower
samples plus external expenses for the testing of the certification
samples. With ISTA accreditation we only test one sample internally
and the results are more efficiently used for the grower settlement, for
certification purposes and for issuing the ISTA certificate.
Prioritisation and Optimisation
Another benefit of accreditation is that only DLF samples are tested
in DLF laboratories, which gives the opportunity to prioritise specific
samples before others, according to customers’ demands. Everyone
is able to follow each seed lot/sample in our ERP system, from date of
sampling and date of dividing, but can also view the results during the
tests (purity, germination – first count and final count). This gives full
traceability to all departments to make decisions based on the daily
updated results (Example: recleaning or starting packing if the results
fulfil the EU requirements).
The laboratory is also able to stop testing a purity sample even if the
whole sample is not finished, if it does not meet our DLF quality norms.
This reduces our time spent on one sample because we do not have to
finish a test if the seed lot needs to be recleaned. For the laboratory and
the analysts, all samples are anonymised by a number, meaning that
we are not able to see the name of the grower.

ISTA’s links with DLF Group

DLF has many seed analysis laboratories around the world and six of these laboratories are ISTA accredited:

DKML03 – DLF Seeds Roskilde, Denmark; main species: Lolium spp., Festuca spp., Poa pratense, Dactylis glomerata, Trifolium spp.

DKML04 – DLF Seeds Randers, Denmark; main species: Lolium spp., Festuca spp., Poa pratense, Dactylis glomerata, Trifolium spp.

DKML08 – MariboHilleshög, Holeby, Denmark; main species: Beta vulgaris, Spinacia oleracea, Brassica napus, Hordeum vulgare

SEML09 – MariboHilleshög, Landskrona, Sweden; main species: Beta vulgaris

NLML05 – DLF, Kapelle, Netherlands; main species: Lolium spp., Festuca arundinacea

NZML05 – PGG Wrightson Seeds; main species: Lolium spp., Festuca spp., Trifolium spp., Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare

The scope of accreditation of the accredited laboratories is available on the ISTA website:
https://www.seedtest.org/en/memberlaboratories-step2.html.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 9

FEATURE ARTICLE

Harvest Quality
Our laboratories are in very close contact with growers at the beginning
of the harvest, especially the cleaning and planning departments.
Information about the seed quality is shared and discussed among the
laboratories and different departments to identify:
The last part of this article will focus on how seed sampling and
testing were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how various
solutions in the different DLF locations made it possible for us to
continue our work – in a new way – but without any negative effect on
our business or sales.

• potential problems in cleaning; DLF Seeds A/S, Roskilde, Denmark

• purity or germination problems; and
• the density of the seeds, which has an effect on the volume in our boxes.

It is a big benefit for the DLF business to have this kind of in-house seed
knowledge.

Knowledge and Advanced Technologies
Denmark has not had an official seed testing laboratory since 2012,
meaning that our staff has not had the possibility to participate
in official training courses, workshops or examinations. ISTA
Accreditation has given DLF a great opportunity to build internal
knowledge for trainers, supervisors and teachers. DLF has a training
programme for both seed samplers and analysts, and from time to time
DLF offers purity and germination workshops for external laboratories.
We have also been working to develop new technologies like the
SpectraSeed project in grass seed, run in collaboration with Aarhus
University.
The laboratory has 12 full-time employees and is managed by
Mrs. Susanne Andersen, who is a member of the ISTA Proficiency
Committee. The laboratory has been ISTA accredited since 2001
(grasses, small legumes, other agricultural crops). Annually, nearly
3000 samples are tested for certification purposes and an additional
1000 samples are tested for internal use only. The laboratory issues
3000 Orange International Certificates each year.
Roskilde During COVID-19

“Accreditation has given DLF a great

opportunity to build internal knowledge for
trainers, supervisors and teachers.”
In the laboratory, we have taken spectromorphological photos of
germinating seeds, and have found a good correlation between the
number of early radicles and the number of normal seedlings. This
means that it is possible with measurements, on day four in ryegrass
and day five in fescue, to predict the number of normal seedlings, and
thereby the germination capacity of the whole sample. In the long term,
this enables us to dispose over seed lots with different qualities faster
in relation to mixing, packing and logistics. Furthermore, we save time
in our work with warehouse samples and other internal germination
tests. ISTA is currently examining whether the method can be applied
and approved in more species.
Customer Reactions
Our seed customers trust the ISTA certificate because of our worldwide
‘uniformity in seed quality evaluation’. DLF has never had negative
reactions to the fact that tests results were conducted by themselves
and not an official governmental laboratory. Annually, our ISTA
laboratories have visits from many customers where they are informed
about the training programme for the staff, 5%-check control samples,
internal blind tests and the ISTA Proficiency Test programme.
Customers see and approve our quality control programme for
equipment, our training and maintenance programme for staff and our
procedure for customer complaints.
On 11 March, the Danish Prime Minister announced that all public
institutions should lock down and the staff should not go to work or
should work from home. As a private company, DLF decided that as
many people as possible should work from home, but production
departments and laboratories should continue to work at the DLF
locations to ensure the export of seeds to our customers.
The management team of DLF discussed various possibilities of how to
continue to test all samples, considering the safety of our employees.
Different solutions were presented to the staff in the laboratories in
Roskilde and Randers, but they did not like the available opportunities.
Within one day the staff presented their own solution, which was
approved and the day after, implemented: half of the staff was moved
to a meeting room. The room was changed into a purity laboratory
with cameras and microscopes, seed books, etc. but without all the
equipment which needs to be controlled and calibrated, like balances,
seed blowers and seed dividers.
The staff in the ordinary laboratory received and divided the samples
and prepared the working samples. Following this, the samples were
placed outside the meeting room for team 2, who did the purity tests
and other seed determination by numbers. The samples returned to
team 1 in the laboratory, where they were tested for germination. Until
mid-June the two groups did not mix, so avoided infection risk.

Conclusion DLF Seeds A/S, Randers, Denmark

Customers trust ISTA certificates, whether they are issued by a
governmental, private or company laboratory.

Effects of COVID-19 on DLF Group

DLF has six ISTA accredited laboratories located in Denmark (DKML03,
-04, -08), Sweden (SEML09), the Netherlands (NLML05) and New
Zealand (NZML05). In all these countries the seed sector was regarded
as essential to ensuring food and feed security, and all laboratories
have remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The laboratory has eight full-time employees and is managed by Mrs.
Birte Krogh, who is a member of the Bulking and Sampling Committee.
The laboratory has been ISTA accredited since 2001 (grasses, small

10 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 FEATURE ARTICLE

legumes, other agricultural crops). Annually, approximately 2300

samples are tested for certification purposes and an additional 3000
samples are tested for internal use only. The laboratory issues 2000
Orange International Certificates each year.

Randers During COVID-19

The laboratory kept on working and testing during the pandemic. The
staff started working in two shifts to avoid risks as much as possible.
The people on the early shift were not in physical contact with the late
shift. For people working in production and in the laboratories, who all
had to go to work every day, a lot of new measures were implemented.
For example, the staff had to clean all equipment several times a day
and leave everything washed and cleaned before the next shift started.
If the laboratory had been forced to close down for a period of time, the
laboratory maintained close contact with the mother company DLF
Seeds in Denmark and the two ISTA laboratories, which would have
been able to test the samples.

MariboHilleshög ApS, Holeby, Denmark

The laboratory worked with full capacity but like Roskilde, was divided
into two rooms. The laboratory manager and one administrative
staff member worked from home, because they also had to take care
of children as the schools were in lockdown. Only the laboratory
managers had direct contact with both groups. Both groups did of
course implement new hygiene measures and distancing like the rest of The laboratory has 23 full-time employees and is managed by
the DLF staff. Mrs. Birthe Arleth. The laboratory has been ISTA accredited since
2011 (cereals, other agricultural crops and vegetables). Annually,
Both laboratories did manage to run with full capacity for a period of approximately 900 samples are tested for certification purposes and
three months. In mid-June, some staff started vacation and the rest additionally, many thousand internal process samples are tested. The
moved back to the laboratories. During this period the recommended laboratory issues 3800 Orange International Certificates each year.
distance between people was reduced from 2 metres to a 1-meter
distance. Nobody has become sick with COVID-19 and there has been Holeby During COVID-19
less sick leave over this time due to colds and the flu.

DLF BV, Kapelle, Netherlands

The laboratory has eight full-time employees and is managed by Mrs.

Margriet van Eekelen. The laboratory has been ISTA accredited since
2004 (grasses and small legumes). Annually, approximately 3200
samples are tested for certification purposes. The laboratory issues
about 100 Orange International Certificates each year.

Kapelle During COVID-19

The employees who had administrative tasks (non-lab) worked from

their home offices. The lab was open through the lockdown but as the
high season for delivery of seeds was over, some working desks could
be moved to create greater distance between employees. In addition,
some staff members from the laboratories were moved to other tasks
– in the fields and greenhouses. All agreed to the decisions made to
protect against COVID-19. Everyone showed great responsibility to the
company and to the colleagues. A good effect of this period has been
to see how all employees stick closer together and are ready to solve
any problem related to a pandemic. Our canteen has been closed, so
lunchtimes were held among a new group of colleagues, which has
been a good experience.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 11

FEATURE ARTICLE
MariboHilleshög, Landskrona, Sweden
The laboratory has four full-time employees and is managed by Mrs.
Britt Louise Lennefors. The laboratory has been ISTA accredited since
2006 (other agricultural crops). Annually, 120 samples are tested of
which some are for certification purposes. The laboratory issues 120
Orange International Certificates each year.
Landskrona During COVID-19
In Sweden there has not been a lockdown of any businesses, schools,
universities or governmental offices during the corona pandemic. The
laboratory has been run ‘business as usual’ but with all the restrictions
of other countries such as social distancing (we have kept a 2-metre
distance from each other). We have been carefully washing our hands
with soap and ethanol. The working places have been regularly sprayed
with ethanol. Staff members have used specific restrooms and specific
equipment in the kitchen and because of nice weather, the staff has
mainly been sitting outside during breaks. Nobody has been sick in the
lab during these months and a lesson is that higher hand hygiene really
minimises the risk for people from getting even the ‘normal’ flu. To
understand risks in the near future and how they can be remedied, the
laboratory plans to make an ongoing risk assessment.
PGG Wrightson Seeds Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
The laboratory has seven full-time employees and is managed by Mrs.
Jenny Sutherland. The laboratory has been ISTA accredited since 2013
(grasses, cereals, small legumes, pulses, other agricultural crops).
Annually, nearly 5200 samples are tested but not for certification
purposes. The laboratory issues 160 Orange International Certificates
each year.
Christchurch During COVID-19
The lab was open through the lockdown as an essential service but
most other staff members on site were required to work from home.
The staff was very much involved on how to handle the COVID-19
situation: the lab staff met and created a plan for how they would
manage the work during lockdown. The plan was then approved by the
HR person in charge of our COVID-19 response. The lab team members
were split, with half working in the lab and half working in a meeting
room, the manager working from home. The teams were alternating
each day so that they all got time to use the lab facility. Our company
reopened in stages in accordance with the alert level rules imposed
by our government. The staff returned but had to practice distancing
and hygiene at work and used their own workspace for meal breaks.
All work surfaces and equipment used was disinfected with wipes at
the end of each day. The management team and team members have
learned a lot of good things during this hard period, for example, there
are ways to work effectively under very different circumstances. We
will retain our plan for use in future if need be as it worked well.
12 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
Lessons Learnt from COVID-19
DLF has seen that our dedicated employees stick together in difficult
times and knows that everyone will help each other in similar
situations in the future – both across departments and DLF companies.
As managers we do not have to come up with a solution for problems,
we just have to explain the problem and the goal to the staff, and they
will solve it to their own benefit and for DLF. We have also learnt not to
be plan-driven but purpose-driven. Even if we have the perfect plan, we
must deliver it in a new reality. At the end of the day, we should all be
driven by a sense of purpose – take that away and the team fails.
The Glue of DLF Group
An organisation’s culture is the glue that holds the company – including
DLF – together and gives employees a sense of security. This is what we
need now more than ever.
• Empowerment
The staff has been empowered during the last few months. People
have shown initiatives, taken decisions, communicated with other
departments and reached better and faster solutions.
• Flexibility
Some of the younger staff had to take care of children during the day,
because the schools were closed. In cooperation with colleagues
their work was planned differently which made them able to work on
very early hours or during weekends. This flexibility could also be a
possibility in the future.
“Overcoming a crisis involves realising one’s
own mistakes, shortcomings, deficiencies,
readiness to respond to the crisis and
constant work on combating it.”
• Working from home
For administrative staff and laboratory managers, the lessons learnt
from the last few months have been that working from home provides
time for immersion, great concentration and more efficiency, in
connection with large tasks, projects of preparation of teaching
materials, meetings and audits. During the pandemic we have only
met through short video calls and matters can be dealt with far more
efficiently (and effectively), still reaching satisfactory results, solutions
and decisions. We have also learned to stop sending emails for quick
interactions – save emails for formal communication, like requests
or information dissemination; use chat or quick video calls to keep
connected on more ad-hoc (and less formal) activities.
• Taking a sick day
We have learned that if you are feeling sick, just stay at home; do not be
a martyr and come to work with symptoms.
We can overcome these circumstances only through cooperation,
development of collective spirit, great social responsibility and
implementation of preventive measures.
Successfully overcoming a crisis does not only mean successfully
eliminating its consequences and reducing its negative impact.
Overcoming a crisis also involves realising one’s own mistakes,
shortcomings, deficiencies, readiness to respond to the crisis and
constant work on combating it. We will overcome the crisis if we take
something from it and if we learn lessons that will allow us to be more
prepared and resilient when we face new risks in the future.
 ASSOCIATION NEWS

Rules Changes for 2021 Edition of the International

Rules for Seed Testing (ISTA Rules)
Ernest L. Allen

ISTA Rules Chair

ON 17 JUNE 2020, THE ISTA Sue and I look forward to seeing you at the
SECRETARIAT REPORTED VOTING ISTA Annual Meeting in Cairo, Egypt in 2021!
RESULTS FROM RULES PROPOSALS
submitted during the virtual 2020 Ordinary
Summary of Approved ISTA
General Meeting (OGM). ISTA Designated
Rules Proposals
Members voted on documents OGM20-05
A.1. Editorial corrections
and OGM20-06: ‘Proposed Changes to the
C.3.1 Revision of Table 3A
ISTA International Rules for Seed Testing 2021
C.4.1 Complete test (update to definition)
Edition’ and the associated method validation
C.4.2 Reduced test (update to definition)
reports. Official counts revealed that the 48
C.5.1 Germination method for Brassica napus
Designated Members participating in voting
(update to temperature options)
met quorate requirements as specified in
C.5.2 Precision of light for germination tests
Article 11 of the Articles of the International
(clarifies LED usage within ISTA Rules)
Seed Testing Association.
C.5.3 Reporting results
C.5.4 Change in germination evaluation
Excluding ten editorial changes, there
of roots for Helianthus annuus to allow for
were a total of 16 proposals submitted to
secondary roots
the members for vote. All proposals were
C.7.1 Sample and subsample size (updates to
approved by the membership in addition to
current method)
all editorial changes. The approved changes
C.7.2 Identification criteria (7-007 Detection
will become effective on 1 January 2021.
of Alternaria linicola, Boytrytis cinerea, and
Noteworthy changes for the 2021 edition
Colletotrichum lini in Linum usitatissimum)
include: removal of 20<=>30°C temperature
C.7.3 Safety precautions (safety
option for the germination of Brassica napus;
considerations when using ethidium bromide)
modifying the wording in Chapter 9 to
C.9.1 Changes to use of ‘must’, ‘should’ and
improve clarity on when a laboratory ‘must’
‘may’
perform an action, versus when a laboratory
C.9.2 Containers for moisture testing in
‘should’ perform an action; and the removal
Chapter 9
of several species from Table 3A that are no
C.9.3 Use of ‘mesh’ instead of ‘meshes’
longer being traded.
C.9.4 Clarification of working sample
C.9.5 Moisture method for Carica papaya
The Rules Vice-Chair, Sue Alvarez, and I
C.15.1 Clarification of assessment of radicle
would like to thank the ISTA Secretariat
emergence for Zea mays and Triticum
for working with us in preparing the Rules
aestivum subsp. aestivum in radicle
documents presented at this year’s virtual
emergence test
Rules sessions and OGM. We would also like
to extend our sincere gratitude to all ISTA
Technical Committee chairs and members.
Their continued dedication to ensuring that
yearly updates are technically sound, and
the methods remain relevant to global seed
marketing, play a critical role in creating
uniformity in seed quality evaluation
worldwide.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 13

ASSOCIATION NEWS
Advanced Technologies Committee
Bert van Duijn and Francisco G. Gomes-Junior
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-atc.html
RAPIDLY INCREASING SCIENTIFIC
DEVELOPMENTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATIONS DO NOT ONLY PROVIDE
THE SEED TESTING WORLD WITH NEW
OPPORTUNITIES, they also require seed
testing to constantly be evaluated in view
of new possibilities and demands. Among
other activities, the Advanced Technologies
Committee (ATC) aims to provide
information on advanced technologies to
the ISTA community and by doing so, form
a bridge between the world of research and
development, and ISTA’s other Technical
Committees. The Committee studies new
developments and collects information
from scientific and technical literature. The
information is presented in the form of review
papers and presentations. Furthermore,
the Committee organises workshops on
the use of advanced and new technologies.
Currently, ATC is working on imaging
technologies (3-D X-ray, multispectral
imaging, etc.), mathematical modelling,
AI and nanotechnology. The activities of
ATC fit in with ISTA’s mission to be the
leading international organisation for seed
science and technology, where innovative
research makes the link between scientific
developments and applications in seed
sampling and testing, and enables meeting
the needs of the seed sector.
14
ATC organising the Seed Image Analysis workshop that was due to take place in Bologna, Italy this year
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
In 2019 ATC continued to work on collecting
information on new technologies and
developments that are of interest from a
seed testing perspective. ISTA’s strategy
and goals include the encouragement
of the application of new and emerging
technologies where appropriate in seed
sampling and testing, to increase efficiency
and to meet the needs of stakeholders. In
addition, ISTA wants to develop mutually
beneficial collaborative opportunities with
other science and technology organisations.
In line with this, ATC has acquired, together
with the Purity Committee (PUR), an ISTA
sponsored project on ‘New technologies for
other seeds determination (OSD)’. Members
of ATC and PUR participate in this research
project. In addition, together with PUR and
the Germination Committee (GER) another
ISTA sponsored research project was granted,
entitled ‘Assessment on available technologies
of imaging and image analysis for other seeds
determination (OSD), purity analysis and
germination’. Both projects have started and
ATC is closely involved. Preparation of a third
ISTA sponsored research project with the Seed
Health Committee (SHC) was carried out and
the application has been submitted.
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
ATC worked hard on the organisation of the
new edition of the workshop on ‘Seed Image
Analysis’ which was scheduled for June
2020 in Bologna, Italy. Unfortunately, the
workshop had to be postponed, but a new date
will be set soon. This workshop also offers
a demonstration day for new technologies,
open to non-workshop participants. For
this, a company demonstrator sponsor and
promotion package has been developed.
Interested companies may contact the ISTA
Secretariat to learn about the possibilities and
rates.
ATC members participated in the ISTA
Working Group on New Technologies (chaired
by Leena Pietilä, ECOM), as well as the ISTA
Working Group on Technical Committees
(chaired by Valerie Cockerell, ECOM). In the
framework of the Working Group on Technical
Committees, ATC and the ISTA Secretariat
organised a survey among TCOM members
and analysed the data. As a follow up, a
workshop was organised for TCOM members
at the Annual Meeting in Hyderabad last year.
A report on this workshop was published in
STI 159 (April 2020).

Bulking and Sampling Committee
Eddie Goldschagg
PO Box 72981, Lynnwood Ridge 0040, Pretoria, South Africa
bsc.chair@ista.ch
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-bsc.html
THE BULKING AND SAMPLING
COMMITTEE (BSC) is mainly responsible for
updating Chapter 2 of the ISTA International
Rules for Seed Testing. Ongoing revision and
improvement of the seed sampling rules
are required, to take into account new and
upcoming seed sampling technology and
changes to quality assurance systems in seed
companies. In addition, the Committee has
the role of increasing scientific knowledge
about uniformity in seed lots.
Sampling forms the link between the Orange
International Certificate (OIC) and the specific
seed lot it relates to. As such, sampling is a
connection between a seed testing laboratory,
a seed company and a seed certification
agency. The Committee considers scientific
and commercial aspects, as well as regulatory
requirements when developing new rules or
considering changes to the existing rules.
Therefore, the Committee has a broad
representation in all these areas and is a
forum for the fruitful exchange of experience
in order to ensure representative seed
sampling, so that test results accurately reflect
the seed lot from which the sample has been
taken.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
Rules Development
The BSC submitted six rule change proposals
during 2019, of which five were approved by
the ISTA Membership at the 2019 ISTA Annual
Meeting held in Hyderabad, India. The other
proposal was withdrawn.
Training Workshops
BSC members participated as lecturers in two
ISTA training workshops, as well as an OECD
workshop on Seed Certification:
• an ISTA Workshop on Quality Assurance
and ISTA Accreditation for Beginners, held
in April 2019 in Pejë, Kosovo. This workshop
was attended by 16 participants from six
different countries. For the full workshop
report see https://issues.ink/ista/158-october-
2019/?page=54.
• an ISTA Joint Workshop on Sampling, Purity,
Germination and Moisture in Hyderabad,
India, which was held just after the ISTA
Congress in July 2019. The workshop was
attended by 23 participants from seven
countries. For the full workshop report
see https://issues.ink/ista/158-october-
2019/?page=60.
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
• a two-week capacity building workshop
on OECD Seed Certification, held in Arusha,
Tanzania during October 2019. This workshop,
which included two days of training on ISTA
sampling methods and principles, with
practical demonstrations and exercises, was
attended by 32 participants from Tanzania.
Development of Training Videos
The BSC Working Group, with technical
assistance from Science and Advice for
Scottish Agriculture (SASA), continued
with the development of training videos on
sampling and sampling equipment. We added
four
new videos to the ISTA YouTube channel
(www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJ5b-
hXLHbDtYTjzAtCeAA) and updated the
existing ones. You can now watch the
following:
• ISTA Centrifugal divider
• ISTA Hand halving
• ISTA How to use a cargo sampler
• ISTA How to use a Nobbe trier
• ISTA How to use a sampling stick
• ISTA Nobbe trier technique
• ISTA Spoon method
Development of a Sampling Calculator
Application
The BSC has created a sampling calculator,
which can be installed as an application on
a desktop, Android or iOS device. With this
application, technicians no longer need to
carry the ISTA Rules with them when they are
going to sample seed lots; they will have all the
information they need on their smartphone.
The ISTA Sampling Calculator application
automatically calculates the minimum
number of primary samples to be taken
(including for heterogeneity testing) of
all kinds of seeds, all sizes and types of
containers and packaging, as well as the seed
stream. All that the technician needs to do
is to enter a few variables pertaining to the
specific seed lot being sampled.
The application also provides all relevant
information of the species being sampled,
such as maximum seed lot size, submitted
sample size (including for moisture testing),
as well as the working sample sizes for purity
and other seed determination.
You can download the application by clicking
on this link: https://sampling-calculator.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
seedtest.org/. Please send any comments
or suggestions for improvement of the
application to sampling.calculator@seedtest.
org.
Change in BSC Membership
Five long-serving members of the BSC stepped
down from the Committee at the end of the
triennium, at the ISTA Congress in Hyderabad.
We would like to express our heartfelt
appreciation to them all for their participation
in the activities of the BSC; all have been great
assets to the Committee, some for more than
20 years. They are:
• Steve Jones, Canada – now the BSC Liaison
officer
• Maria Elena Duter, New Zealand
• Mable Simwanza, Zambia
• Jean-Claude Stephan, France
• Dot Vittrup Pedersen, Denmark
The BSC has since welcomed the following
new members to the Committee, making the
Committee complete again:
• Corinne Guimier, France
• Birte Krogh, Denmark
• Cza Realubit, The Philippines
• Justin Salter, New Zealand
• Evans Tembo, Zambia
Bulking and Sampling
Committee Notices
Two ISTA Workshops on Seed Sampling
and Quality Assurance are planned for the
second half of 2021, one in Denmark and one
in Turkey. The dates for these two workshops
have not yet been finalised. The BSC is always
available to present ISTA training workshops
on sampling in any country or region, where
there is a laboratory that is willing to host the
workshop and carry out the local organisation.
15
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Forest Tree and Shrub Seed Committee
Dave Kolotelo, Edoardo Vincenti, Isolde Dorothea Kossmann Ferraz, Shelagh MacCartan, Magdalena Beza and Elisa Vieira
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-fts.html
FOREST TREE AND SHRUB SEED
COMMITTEE (FTS) WENT THROUGH
A RESTRUCTURE OVER THE LAST
TWO YEARS and is currently composed
of members from different regions of South
and North America, Europe and India. The
activities of the Committee relate to the
definition, uniformity and standardisation of
tests for the quality evaluation of forest and
shrub seeds which show proper characteristics
(supply of seeds, seed morphology, etc.). These
activities are in agreement with the main
mission of ISTA, ‘uniformity in seed quality
evaluation worldwide’. In terms of knowledge
dissemination in the area of seed science,
the Committee plays an important role in
forest seed studies in the case of recalcitrant
seeds, as this characteristic is typical of forest
species. In the last few years, the Committee
has received requests related to the
introduction of new forest species to the ISTA
Rules with emerging economic importance
in terms of food and reforestation. Some of
the Committee members have been striving
to achieve the definition of germination test
methodology for these species, the subsequent
validation of these methods and their
inclusion in the ISTA Rules. Such requests
reinforce the value of forest and shrub species,
their national and international market and
the necessity of uniform tests for seed quality
evaluation. It is also important to emphasise
the collaboration between FTS and other ISTA
Technical Committees such as Germination
and others, contributing to new tests for seed
quality evaluation for several forest and shrub
species.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
In 2019 the following activities were concluded:
1. Publication of the English version of the
book Guide to Amazonian Fruits, Seeds and
Seedlings
This book is co-authored by Isolde Dorothea
Kossmann Ferraz who is a member of the
FTS and was first published in Portuguese.
The English version will contribute to
the availability of information about the
Amazonian flora. Seventy-five tree species
are presented with descriptions of the
fruits, seeds and seedlings, the germination
processes, comparative foliar morphology of
seedlings and adult plants, and reproductive
phenology. Identification of species at
different stages of development is possible
using the figures and text content of the book.
16 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
As well as identification of the Amazonian
flora, the authors expect that the book
will increase knowledge about the natural
history of species and the understanding of
forest dynamics, thus contributing to the
conservation and use of the flora resources in
a responsible manner. The book is useful for
nurseries, farmers, conservationists, students,
teachers of courses such as Ecology, Biology,
Botany, Agronomy and Forestry Engineering,
and also for laboratories that conduct seed
analysis of Amazonian species.
2. Validation test for the use of phyto agar
as approved germination media for Pinus
sylvestris.
This method validation test was organised
by the Germination Committee with the help
of David Johnston (author of ‘ISTA Validation
Test Plan for Pinus sylvestris Using Phyto
Agar’) and Magdalena Beza (Kostrzyca Forest
Gene Bank, Poland), who is a member of FTS.
Activities included preparing samples of P.
sylvestris seeds, collected from three maternal
trees located in Poland, and distributing
them to six participating laboratories in
the Czech Republic (1), Poland (1) and USA
(4). Seeds used for the test were of varying
quality and origin, confirmed with DNA tests
(needles were the reference material). The
pure seeds were sown on top of phyto agar
and on top of paper. Tests were conducted
using a combination of temperatures 20°C
and 20<=>30°C. Germination in an agar
substrate is a new methodology for P. sylvestris
seed germination and it was suggested as a
means to decrease pathogen contamination
during the germination test. The results
confirmed this hypothesis and the details of
the validation test will be presented by the
Germination Committee.
The cited activities are in accordance with
ISTA’s missions. The release of the Guide
to Amazonian Fruits, Seeds and Seedlings
English version contributes to knowledge
dissemination in seed science and technology
and of important information for the seed
analysis of Amazonian tree species. The
method validation test of P. sylvestris seed
germination in agar substrate, leads to a new
method of germination test to be applied for
seed analysis laboratories around the world,
facilitating P. sylvestris seed trade, as it is a
species of economic importance.
It is worth highlighting that global food
production is directly associated with
forest maintenance and reforestation,
and their effects on climate change. In
this way there is a global initiative to
plant trees for which it is necessary to
quantify seed quality.
Forest Tree and Shrub Seed
Committee Notices
• The Committee is looking for laboratories
interested in participating in the validation
of Jatropha curcas seed germination testing.
Interested laboratories should contact Elisa
Vieira (FTS.chair@ista.ch).
• There is a vacancy in the Committee and
we would warmly welcome seed analysts and
scientists from Africa, Asia or Australia to
join us. Those interested should contact Elisa
Vieira (FTS.chair@ista.ch).
 ASSOCIATION NEWS

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 17

ASSOCIATION NEWS
Germination Committee
Gillian Musgrove
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-ger.html
Figure 1. Chenopodium quinoa seedlings
THE GERMINATION COMMITTEE WORKS
TOGETHER TO ENSURE ‘UNIFORMITY
IN SEED QUALITY EVALUATION’ by
maintaining and adjusting the Germination
chapter (and related chapters) of the ISTA
International Rules for Seed Testing, for it
to remain fit for purpose and to give clear
information to users. The Committee also
ensures the ISTA Handbook on Seedling
Evaluation remains up to date. The Handbook
complements and provides additional
information on the methods described in the
ISTA Rules and is an essential supplementary
aid for analysts in seed quality testing
laboratories. Method Validation Studies are
carried out to include new species to be added
to the ISTA Rules and to improve existing
germination methods, for example, where a
change to the requirements for germination
may be needed. Method validation is essential
to ensure methods are robust, reproducible
and repeatable. The Committee is grateful
to the input of the Statistics Committee
and collaborations with all other Technical
Committees (mostly with the Flower Seed
18 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
Testing Committee as well as the Forest
Tree and Shrub Seed Committee) where
we learn from each other and share our
expertise. Workshops including the subject of
germination are carried out and this allows
the flow of information and knowledge to be
provided to seed analysts. The Germination
Committee increased its membership from 15
to 17 in December 2019 and we work together
to answer queries from laboratories and other
parties, to assist and ensure uniformity in
seed testing.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
The Germination Committee worked on a
number of projects in 2019 with the main
focus being on preparing Rules proposals for
presentation at the 2020 ISTA Annual Meeting
and further Method Validation Studies for
inclusion in future Rules proposals.
A Method Validation Study was carried out to
examine the evaluation of roots for Helianthus
annuus to allow the judgement of sufficient
secondary roots as normal, when the primary
roots were defective. This work was led by
Takayuki Okuda, Takii & Company Ltd, Japan.
The results showed that secondary roots of
H. annuus compensated for the damage to the
primary root and supported the modification
of the seedling evaluation criteria of H. annuus
root system. The change of classification from
A-2-1-1-1: ‘the primary root is essential’ to
A-2-1-1-2: ‘the primary root may be replaced
by secondary roots’ is now also in accordance
with the evaluation criteria in the viability test
by the topographical tetrazolium test.
A further Method Validation Study was
carried out on Brassica napus germination
temperatures, led by Ruojing Wang (Chair
of the Purity Committee) and Julie Lu (both
Canadian Food Inspection Agency). The aim
was to provide scientific data and evidence
for an ISTA Rule proposal and harmonisation
of the temperatures used. The outcome of
this study was to keep the temperature of
20°C, add the alternating temperature regime
of 15<=>25°C and remove the alternating

temperature regime of 20<=>30°C. This
approach was a first for the Germination
Committee, as in the past we have added
new temperatures or substrates to the Rules
rather than removing them. However, the
Method Validation Study findings showed
there was clear evidence for 20<=>30°C to be
removed. As with all our work, we are always
very grateful to the leaders, participating
laboratories and reviewers for their valuable
contributions.
The Germination Committee also proposed
a Rule change regarding light, where the
aim was to allow LED lights to be used.
This proved to be quite difficult to get the
proposal just right. The information in the
ISTA Rules regarding light is for lamps or LED
equivalents to cover the range of 3000–4000K.
It is a recommendation to help laboratories
with managing their lighting requirements
and auditors will not look for evidence of this
during ISTA audits.
The Germination Committee also presented a
Rules proposal to help clarify the reporting of
results. This proposal was to make it clear that
only the percentage of germination is reported
when the germination test is terminated due
to a predetermined germination level (ISTA
Rules, 5.9 Reporting results). Hopefully this
will help laboratories when they are reporting
results.
As well as the Rules proposals, the
Germination Committee has been working
on a number of other projects throughout the
year. We hope some of these will be presented
during the ISTA Annual Meeting in Cairo in
2021. These include, but are not limited to, the
following Method Validation Studies:
• Work has continued and a further study
has been completed for the addition of a
germination method for Chenopodium quinoa
to be proposed, led by Lesly González and
Ignacio Aranciaga. C. quinoa is an important
crop as both a food source and for its
medicinal use. Seedlings grown during the
study are shown in Figure 1.
• The work on the addition of crepe cellulose
paper (CCP) as a further substrate for Glycine
max is continuing, led by David Johnston
and Sarah Dammen. An example of a G. max
seedling grown on this substrate is shown in
Figure 2.
• Sylvie Ducournau is leading the work
investigating the temperature regimes used
for the germination of pelleted and non-
pelleted seeds of Beta vulgaris, as a follow up
to the ISTA Proficiency Test 18-1, where very
variable results were obtained.
• Collaborative work with the Forest Tree and
Shrub Seed Committee, led by David Johnston
continues, with two projects ongoing. For the
first, the objective is to propose the ‘between
paper’ (BP) substrate for the germination of
Spartium junceum, instead of ‘top of paper’
(TP). David is also leading the work looking
at the introduction of agar substrate for Pinus
sylvestris.
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
ASSOCIATION NEWS
• Collaborative work also continues
with the Flower Seed Testing
Committee and projects are
ongoing for Eustoma exaltum, with
the proposals to add 20°C for E.
exaltum (led by Rita Zecchinelli)
and Papaver somniferum (led by
Vladislava Gregorová, CZ).
• Hortense Faucher has been
working on the harmonisation of
the evaluation of Zea mays (ISTA/
AOSA) examining the evaluation
criteria regarding the leaf extending
less than halfway up into the
coleoptile.
• Aidin Hamidi was active on a
number of projects including
the introduction of germination
methods for dwarf saltwort
(Salicornia bigelovii and Salicornia
persicum), saatar (Zataria
multiflora) and camelthorn (Alhagi
camelorum).
The Germination Committee
took part in the ISTA Workshop
on Sampling, Purity, Germination
and Moisture held after the 32nd
ISTA Congress in Hyderabad, India.
The germination aspect was led
by Augusto Martinelli and we are
very grateful to him for sharing his
knowledge and expertise. During
2019 a number of workshops were
being planned for 2020 and 2021.
The Germination Committee
is involved in two ISTA Special
Projects collaborating with the
Vigour Committee (1) and the
Purity and Advanced Technologies
Committees (2). These Special
Projects will be reported separately;
they cover two areas:
1. Development of rapid tests to
predict germination and vigour and
their potential for automation using
image analysis.
2. Assessment on available
technologies of imaging and
image analysis for other seeds
determination (OSD), purity
analysis and germination.
All members of the Germination
Committee are active and very
involved in the work of the
Committee. As well as the above
ongoing projects and those still to
be announced, members actively
answer the many questions
submitted. It is through this
collective way of working that we
are able to fulfil our commitments.
We appreciate the support of the
ISTA Secretariat and the ECOM.
I am also very grateful to the
members of the Germination Figure 2. Glycine max seedling grown on crepe
Committee for their continued and cellulose paper (CCP)
valued contribution.
19
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Moisture Committee
Jette Nydam, Laura Bowden and Axel Goeritz
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-moi.html
Some of the participants and assistants from the Workshop on Moisture Testing, Hyderabad
THE MOISTURE TEST IS USED DURING
ALL STEPS OF THE SEED PRODUCTION
PROCESS, to predict harvest time in the field,
to monitor seed drying, during processing
to prevent mechanical damage and during
storage for longevity. The moisture test is used
for routine purposes and in research, as well
as for seed certification. To ensure uniformity
in moisture determination, precise rules and
method descriptions, as well as a high level
of quality assurance tasks within a moisture
determination laboratory, are very important.
20 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
Highlights of 2019 Rules change proposals were approved during
(1 January–31 December) the Congress.
Rules Change Proposals
It is very important that the ISTA Rules are New Method for Papaya Seed
MOI Committee member Wen-Ju Yang has
easy to understand so that all laboratories
done tremendous work in developing a
can determine moisture content correctly.
moisture determination method for papaya
The Moisture Committee (MOI) has therefore
seeds (Carica papaya L.). Wen-Ju led the
endeavoured to make the Rules clearer and
working group and together with her co-
easier to follow and at the same time to
worker, wrote up the Method Validation
ensure that they are less open to different
Report. The method was voted on and
interpretations. The time limits connected
introduced into the ISTA Rules in 2020. The
to moisture determination are now given in
a simpler way, and the requirement for oven method involves constant low temperature
performance has been reformulated. All of the and no grinding is required.

Coarse Grinding
Coarse grinding in the ISTA Rules is given
mainly for large legumes to get all moisture
out of the seed without heating the sample
while grinding. Depending on the moisture
content, it can be very tricky to fulfil the
requirements, controlled by sieving the
ground material. Tests with samples of
different moisture content from Lupinus
angustifolius, Glycine max, Vicia faba and V.
sativa have shown that there is at least one
mill that can fulfil the requirements.
Workshop on Moisture Testing
Directly after the ISTA Congress in Hyderabad
a joint ISTA Workshop on Sampling, Purity,
Germination and Moisture was held, with 23
participants from seven countries (STI 158,
October 2019) in a friendly atmosphere. Axel
Goeritz lectured on the principles of water in
seeds, different testing methods and mainly
about the ISTA reference oven method. In the
practical session, each participant prepared
samples for the oven method, either without
grinding, by fine grinding and by coarse
grinding, and the test results were then
calculated. After practising the different
Nomenclature Committee
Melanie Schori (Chair)
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-nom.html
THE NOMENCLATURE COMMITTEE
(NOM) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR
EVALUATING AND APPROVING
UPDATES AND CHANGES TO THE ISTA
LIST OF STABILISED NAMES, now in its
seventh edition. The Stabilised List provides
accepted scientific names and synonyms for
commercial seed taxa. The Committee is most
active during the year preceding the release
of a new version of the List; the next edition is
scheduled for 2025.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
The seventh edition of the ISTA List of
Stabilised Names was posted in January and
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
steps several times, almost everybody was
successful at achieving results within the
given limits.
Moisture Calculator
The Committee developed and tested an Excel
tool to help with moisture calculations which
is now available to download from the ISTA
website (www.seedtest.org/en/moisture-
calculator-_content---1--3514--1233.html).
The tool calculates moisture content values
(including calculations for moisture tests
that require pre-drying), highlights whether
replicates are out of tolerance and rounds
up final moisture content results following
the correct rules. The Committee are often
asked questions about how to correctly round
results, and it is hoped that this tool will
provide confidence that the correct results are
being reported.
Questions to the Moisture Committee
The many questions received by the MOI
each year are a very good tool to help the
Committee to improve the ISTA Rules and
direct work within the Committee. Many of
the clarifications to the Rules have been made
is available as a PDF and a Microsoft Excel file
on the ISTA Technical Committees documents
webpage (www.seedtest.org/en/technical-
committees-documents-_content---1--3496.
html).
During this period, the NOM Chair has
answered questions related to the new edition
Stabilised List. Most queries were related
to the inclusion of author names when the
scientific name is reported, or the proper way
to list the ISTA accepted name when it does
not match the name accepted by another
organisation. Answers to frequently asked
questions will be included in a future ISTA
newsletter.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
based on questions sent to the Committee. A
common question is:
Can you report moisture content on an
Orange International Certificate (OIC)
if no method is available?
The answer is: Yes, if the species is listed in
Table 2C Parts 1, 2 & 3 of the ISTA Rules (2020).
The result for the moisture content must then
be reported under ‘Other determinations’, and
it should be stated that the method used for
determination of the moisture content is not
covered by the ISTA Rules.
Moisture Committee Notices
• After 6 years (2013–2019) years leading the
MOI, the very friendly and inspiring Jette
Nydam had to step down as the Chair in 2019.
Unfortunately, her successor Laura Bowden,
had to step down as well within her first year
in this position. Axel Goeritz has become
Chair of the Committee since April 2020.
• The Committee currently consists of 11
members from 11 countries spread over four
continents.
Nomenclature Committee
Notices
Seed analysts and Committee members who
are evaluating new taxa not included in the
current Stabilised List are encouraged to
contact the NOM Chair to ensure that the
appropriate scientific names are added to
the next edition of the List. Taxa commonly
encountered as contaminants, especially in
tropical countries, may also be added to the
List. Please send requests for additions to
melanie.schori@usda.gov.
21
ASSOCIATION NEWS

Proficiency Test Committee

Didier Demilly and Branislava Opra Accredited labs
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-ptc.html
(785 participations)
2% 1%
ONE MAJOR OBJECTIVE OF ISTA IS 10%
TO PROMOTE TESTING UNIFORMITY
BY APPLICATION OF STANDARD
Accredited labs A
PROCEDURES for evaluation of seeds
involved in international trade. The ISTA
(785 participations) B

accreditation scheme is combined with the C

Proficiency Test (PT) programme to guarantee
2% 1% 87%
BMP
the competency and harmonised results of
accredited laboratories worldwide.
10%
A
The goals of the Proficiency Test Committee B
(PTC), for the most frequently used standard
tests, are: to develop and evaluate the TOTAL C
technical performance of laboratories 87%
(accredited and non-accredited); to ensure 1222 BMP
technical performance of ISTA accredited
laboratories; and to identify training needs
and opportunities for method improvement
(ISTA TCOMs).

Standard PT tests include purity (PUR), other TOTAL

1222
Voluntary participants
seed determination (OSD), germination (GER),
moisture determination (MOI), viability with

tetrazolium analysis (TZ), vigour (VIG) and
the Orange International Certificate (OIC)
completion exercise.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
As expected, PT18-3 results on Oryza sativa
were delivered in May 2019. Samples for PT
19-1 on Galega orientalis (PUR, OSD, GER,
MOI) and PT19-2 on Brassica napus (PUR,
OSD, GER, TZ) were shipped in April and
August as predicted. PT19-3 on Hordeum
vulgare (PUR, OSD, GER, TZ) was delayed
in the beginning of 2020 as the first lot
selections were not satisfactory. In 2019,
for the three PTs, PT leaders prepared 2610
samples, performed 27 heterogeneity tests,
and added 22 120 seeds in the samples
for OSD. Statistical analysis was carried
out and individual reports were sent to
laboratories by the Quality Management and
Standard PT Coordinator (7742 preliminary
and final reports). Summary reports
are available on the ISTA website: www.
seedtest.org/en/proficiency-test-rounds-_
content---1--3461--1193.html.
The PT ratings for Galega orientalis and
Brassica napus for all laboratories (accredited
versus voluntary participants) and all tests,
have been captured in Figure 1. The data show
a very high level of A plus B ratings. Compared
to 2018, A plus B ratings show an increase of
+2% to reach 97% for accredited laboratories
and an increase of +7% to reach 90% for
voluntary participants.
(437 participations)
3%
2%
7%
Voluntary participants A
B
(437 participations) C
88%
3% BMP
2%
7%
A
B
Figure 1. Laboratory ratings from PT19-1 and PT19-2 for all tests and all participants, comparing be-
tween accredited and voluntarily participating laboratories C
88%
BMP
The 2020–22 PT Programme Plan was finalised A new position has been created within the
and validated during the ISTA Congress in Committee, that of Quality Management and
Hyderabad (www.seedtest.org/upload/cms/ Standard PT Coordinator. Branislava Opra,
user/StandardProficiencyTestProgramme who has filled this role, interacts daily with the
Plan2020-2022website.pdf). Four members PT Chair and the PT leaders and is recognised
left the Committee for retirement or new as an observer within the Committee.
activities: Andrea Jonitz (Germany), Benno
Voit (Germany), Mari Jürman (Estonia), Dot Proficiency Test Committee
Vittrup Pedersen (Denmark). Many thanks for Notices
their contributions, especially as PT leaders With COVID-19 and restricted conditions
within their membership. Four members in many laboratories including those of PT
joined the Committee: we welcome Susanne leaders, we have delayed preparation and
Andersen (Denmark), Pernilla Andersson distribution of PT20-1 and potentially PT20-2.
(Sweden), Irena Gera (Poland) and Monika The deadlines for results reporting will be
Holubicová (Slovakia) as new members of the postponed accordingly.
Committee and the new PT round leaders.

22 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 ASSOCIATION NEWS

Purity Committee
Ruojing Wang

www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-pur.html

SEED PURITY REPRESENTS THE

QUALITY OF A SEED LOT FOR ITS
PLANTING VALUE AND PLANT HEALTH
RISKS brought to the fields, environment and
seed storage. The Purity Committee is one
of the core Technical Committees of ISTA,
playing an essential role in achieving the
ISTA mission for seed quality assurance in
seed testing rules, laboratory accreditation,
analyst skills training and seed certification.
The Committee is responsible for the tests
for purity analysis, other seed determination
(OSD), thousand-seed weight, coated seed
testing, X-ray analysis and more, in the
ISTA International Rules for Seed Testing.
Purity analysis and tests are the essential
components of seed certification with a long
history from the first approval of the ISTA
Rules in 1931, to the purity test according
to the quicker method in 1950, to the first
pure seed descriptions in 1976 (Hans Arne
Jensen, 1998), and to the current ISTA Rules.
As advanced technologies are becoming more
available and accessible, the Committee
faces more challenges and opportunities
to continuously promote research and new
applications in purity analysis or tests, as well
as training activities.

The goal of the Purity Committee is to

research, develop, validate and propose
science and evidence-based testing rules and
methodologies to ensure testing uniformity of Some members of the Purity Committee at the 2018 ISTA Annual Meeting in Japan: (from left) Selma
purity analysis in seed certification and trade. Kurt, Ruojing Wang, Gerarda de Boer-Raatgever, Axel Goeritz, Andrea Jonitz and Dot Vittrup Pedersen

Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
Since 2018, the Purity Committee has been
responsible for delivering a training exercise
using a seed mixture, transferred from the
Proficiency Test Committee. The exercise
sample consists of seeds of multiple species
prepared by a host laboratory, for participants
to practise seed separation and identification.
The seed mixture Round 8 was delivered by
the former Purity Chair, Ms. Gerarda de Boer-
Raatgever, to over 130 laboratories around the
world.
A three-day workshop was organised by
the Purity Committee and delivered by Dr.
Andrea Jonitz and Prof. Norbert Leist on
Seed Morphology and Seed Identification for
Purity and OSD, in Hyderabad, India with
24 participants from 13 countries. In June
2019, Gerarda de Boer-Raatgever delivered
the Purity session in the ISTA Workshop on
Sampling, Purity, Germination and Moisture,
with 23 participants from seven countries.
The Purity Committee developed and
submitted five ISTA Rules revisions or
proposals to be voted in 2020, in response to
requests from ISTA members or gaps identified
by the Purity Committee members.
The Committee answered inquiries from
auditors, accredited laboratories and
other Technical Committees about rule
clarification. We also assisted in seed
identification and other testing needs. The
inquiries or requests for assistance came
from accredited laboratories in more than ten
countries.
The Purity Committee also reviewed and
revised the species names in the ISTA
Universal List of Species and chapters of the
2020 ISTA Rules to synchronise with the newly
released ISTA List of Stabilised Plant Names, 7th
Edition.
Purity Committee Notices
The former Purity Chair, Gerarda de Boer-
Raatgever from the Netherlands, and
members Zita Ripka from Hungary and
Charan Jeet Metha from India stepped down
in 2019 and 2020.
One vacancy is waiting to be filled, with a
few applications submitted on which the
Committee will vote. The Purity Committee
welcomes two new members who joined in
2019: Erik van Egmond from the Netherlands
and Mary Reid from the United Kingdom.
We are looking for more ISTA members who
would like to become involved in the work of
the Purity Committee in 2020–2022, by joining
a project as working group members. If you are
interested, please review the working program
of the Purity Committee at: www.seedtest.org/
en/documents-_content---1--3485.html.
Due to COVID-19, two prepared workshops
were cancelled until further notification.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 23

ASSOCIATION NEWS
Rules Committee
Ernest L. Allen (Chair)
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-rul.html
THE RULES COMMITTEE IS RESPONSIBLE
FOR UPDATING AND MAINTAINING
THE ISTA INTERNATIONAL RULES FOR
SEED TESTING by reviewing the annual
Rules proposals and ensuring the proposals
are technically consistent between different
chapters. Issues with the proposals are
discussed within the Committee prior
to submitting a final proposal document
to the Executive Committee (ECOM) for
their approval. Approved proposals are
subsequently submitted for voting to the
Designated Members at the Ordinary General
Meeting.
The Rules Committee is composed of the
Honorary President, all the Chairpersons of
the Technical Committees, the Chief Editor
of Seed Science and Technology (SST), an
24
observer from the ISTA Secretariat, the Rules
Committee Chair of the Association of Official
Seed Analysts (AOSA) and the Co-Chair of the
Society of Commercial Seed Technologists
(SCST). As part of joint initiatives with AOSA,
the AOSA/SCST Rules Chairs are ex-officio
members with voting privileges within the
ISTA Rules Committee, and the ISTA Rules
Chair is an ex-officio member of the AOSA
Rules Committee. The Chair and Vice-Chair
of the Rules Committee are appointed by the
ISTA ECOM.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
Throughout the last year, several changes
have occurred within the Rules Committee,
aimed at increasing efficiency within the
Rules process and to deal with the coronavirus
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
pandemic. Perhaps the biggest change this
year included holding the Rules session
virtually. Due to the positive feedback
received from the session, we are considering
adding a virtual review session each year,
as part of the normal review process. This
extra review session would allow a larger
portion of the membership to comment on
Rules proposals that will be discussed at the
Annual Meeting. It will also allow for a more
thorough review and vetting of the final Rules
document.

Seed Health Committee
Valerie Grimault
valerie.grimault@geves.fr
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-shc.html
THE SEED HEALTH COMMITTEE (SHC)
is composed of 15 members from every
continent, who work on developing and
validating methods to detect pests on seeds
and organise proficiency tests and workshops.
The Committee contributes to the ISTA vision
of uniformity in seed testing and to global
biosecurity in ensuring the movement of
healthy seeds. Thirty-two validated seed
health test methods are available for detection
of viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes
on seeds. The methods use a variety of
techniques such as: plating on blotter or
media, staining, dilution and plating on
media, grow-outs, ELISA and PCR based tests.
The Committee has continued to add PCR
methods to the range of tests, which allow
a faster result. When in combination with
biotests, these PCR methods show that the
pathogen is viable and able to cause disease.
SHC also contributes to the ISTA Reference Pest
List, in about 40 non-vegetable plant species,
for scientific knowledge on transmissibility
of seed-borne pests, and consequently, to
define if seed is a pathway of dissemination
for certain pests. This list aims at helping
countries to define their requirements
for import regulations and phytosanitary
passports.
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
During this year, the Committee worked on
rules proposals with editorial modifications of
the rules to harmonise descriptions of sample
and subsample size and of hypochlorite
pre-treatment and to include new safety
information. Further editorial modifications
were included in rules proposals to improve
the description of Alternaria linicola conidia
in validated method 7-007. A validation test
report for Ustilago nuda on barley was written,
which concluded that to improve visualisation
and detection of the Ustilago nuda mycelium
in the embryo, it is optional for some labs to
include a dye to stain fungal mycelium. The Figure 1. Spores of different Tilletia spp. (courte-
addition of staining will be submitted to rules sy of Stephan Briere, Canadian Food Inspection
proposals at the end of 2020. Agency, CA)
The Committee currently has three important
new method validation projects. For the Fusarium spp. on cereal seeds, using plating
first, on Tilletia spp. on wheat seeds (Figs. on media and PCR identification on colonies
1 and 2), a questionnaire was circulated in combination with a pathogenicity test.
to laboratories to identify what methods
were currently used. The report to define Two members of SHC and the Proficiency
the protocols for comparison during the Test (PT) organiser from GEVES worked in
validation is in progress. Two test plans collaboration with the Chair of the Proficiency
have been commenced for the validation of Test Committee (PTCom) to define the gaps
detection methods of Fusarium oxysporum between basic organisation and seed health
f.sp. lycopersici on tomato seeds (Fig. 3) and PTs. PT organisers from SHC (FR, NL, IT, JP,
25
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Figure 2. Bunted ears (left) and seed (right) of
wheat (courtesy of Geoffrey Orgeur, GEVES, FR)
RU) organised a web meeting to define a SOP
to better harmonise between PTs and with the
PTCom.
Since 2018, one of the main projects of the
Committee has been to update the ‘ISTA blue
book’ which has led to the ISTA Reference Pest
List. A researcher is working on the literature
review for pests associated with seeds of non-
vegetable species in order to define whether,
for a certain pest/crop combination, seed is a
pathway for dissemination and establishment.
Figure 4. ISTA Reference Pest List: evidence that seed is a pathway for the introduction and dissemination of 118 pathogens in ten crops
26 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
Figure 3. Petri dishes showing tomato seeds
infected by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici
(courtesy of Ruud Barnhoorn, Naktuinbouw, NL)
He is co-ordinating groups of experts in the
domains of academia and industry, to review
research papers and give scientific advice to
conclude whether there is evidence for a seed
transmission pathway. Tables for each crop
have been produced and reviewed by the
SHC. Ten crops have already been published
on the ISTA website and 34 are in progress.
Interviews with national plant protection
organisations have been undertaken to
highlight the International Year of Plant
Health (Fig. 4).
Insects are increasingly an issue in the
international movement of seeds but there
are currently very few methods described
to detect insects in and on seeds. The SHC,
together with the Advanced Technologies
Committee, has set up a collaboration
with the European Reference Laboratories
for insects. A project proposal has been
written and submitted to the ISTA Executive
Committee (ECOM) for funding. This project
aims to compare different techniques to
detect insects, both in and on seeds.
Seed Health Committee
Notices
• In 2021, the SHC will organise a workshop
in South Africa on a range of seed health
methods: plating on blotter to detect
Fusarium on corn, ELISA and indexing of
Tobamoviruses, dilution plating on media to
detect Xanthomonas hortorum pv. carotae
and Clavibacter michiganensis subsp.
michiganensis.
• A SH symposium is planned in Canada
followed by a workshop on qPCR for detection
of Leptosphaeria maculans on Brassica napus
(rapeseed).

Seed Science Advisory Group
Alison A. Powell (Chair)
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
a.a.powell@abdn.ac.uk
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-ssag.html
THE SEED SCIENCE ADVISORY GROUP
(SSAG) HELPS TO BRING TOGETHER
RESEARCH IN SEED SCIENCE AND
ITS APPLICATION IN SEED QUALITY
EVALUATION. This is achieved in three
ways. The first is to identify research within
the seed science community that may have
potential for practical use in seed testing.
Following discussion with appropriate
Technical Committees (TCOMs), we can then
help develop a work programme in which the
potential application for the research can be
evaluated in several ISTA laboratories using
commercial seed material. Positive results
from this research may be the catalyst for the
development of new seed testing approaches
or methods. Secondly, we use our background
in applied seed science research to evaluate
the efficacy of new seed testing developments.
This may be equipment that apparently fulfils
the same aims as a routine ISTA test, or a new
approach to seed testing. The SSAG evaluates
the evidence available from published work,
the equipment manufacturers and advertising
material to determine if this supports the
claims made for the equipment and that it is
therefore fit for purpose. Our third function is
to provide advice and proposals on scientific
issues to the TCOMs and the Executive
Committee (ECOM).
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
1. Our main activities have related to the
project established in collaboration with
the Germination Committee, in which we
assessed the potential for early counts of
radicle emergence (RE) to predict differences
in normal germination. The first phase of
this project took place from 2016–2019 and
involved nine ISTA laboratories who focussed
mainly on seed lots taken from three species,
Brassica napus (85 seed lots), Lolium perenne
(110 seed lots) and Cucumis sativus (23 seed
lots). The laboratories carried out single RE
counts as part of their regular germination
testing on these species, so that both a
RE count and a final normal germination
percentage were available for each seed lot. In
L. perenne and
B. napus all laboratories used the same
germination test conditions, while for C.
sativus, two laboratories used different
accepted temperatures. The results of
this project illustrated clear potential
for prediction of differences in normal
germination by a single early count of RE
in all three species. Thus, both when the
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
same or different test conditions were used,
differences in germination were clearly
identified. However, in C. sativus, use of an
alternating temperature during germination
resulted in a higher RE count due to the period
of higher test temperature, than was observed
when a single temperature was used. Thus,
the first stage of this project has provided
evidence from three species in support of the
hypothesis that a single RE count can predict
differences in normal germination.
We reported the above data during the ISTA
Congress in Hyderabad, as oral presentations
to the whole ISTA meeting and in more detail
to the open meeting of the SSAG, and as a
poster (Seed Science Advisory Group, 2019).
During 2019, we also wrote an article for Seed
Testing International in which we outlined the
basis of this project and its objectives (Seed
Science Advisory Group, 2020). We explained
that we hope this project may eventually
provide substantial evidence to determine
whether a new approach to assessing
differences in normal germination is feasible
for a range of crops, either through manual
assessments of RE, or through an automated
assessment using image analysis.
In the next phase towards obtaining more
evidence to support this approach, we began
to set up the following step of the project
in autumn 2019. Six member laboratories
of the Germination Committee from Chile,
France, Israel, Iran and UK (2 laboratories)
have volunteered to work on six different
species, taken from the different crop groups
for germination. These species are Capsicum
annuum L., Eruca sativa Mill., Pisum sativum
L., Phaseolus vulgaris L., Sorghum bicolor (L.)
Moench subsp. bicolor and Triticum aestivum
L. subsp. aestivum. The species were selected
in consultation with the laboratories. The
ISTA Rules for these species allow for use of
different germination temperatures and/or
dormancy breaking conditions. Therefore,
in this phase of the project, each laboratory
will use their normal research method of
germination testing and take single early RE
counts at specific times before continuing
to an assessment of normal germination.
We were encouraged to take this approach
following our observation in C. sativus that
the same relationship occurred using different
germination temperatures.
We have been encouraged by the enthusiasm
and commitment of the 11 ISTA laboratories
ASSOCIATION NEWS
who have collaborated with the SSAG on this
project.
2. As part of a further project which aims
to determine the potential for the practical
application of research activity, we have
engaged with four laboratories (France,
Germany, Italy, UK). In this project we shall
examine the potential for tetrazolium chloride
staining to assess germination of wildflower
species.
3. We have also prepared a proposal for
consideration as a possible new area of
work for ISTA, initially for consideration by
the ECOM. Our proposal was a response to
the interest in more ecological emphasis in
farming, a reduction in chemical inputs, and
an increase in the market for biostimulant
and biocontrol seed treatments. There
are, however, no guidelines or general
methodologies for evaluating these
treatments on seeds. Our proposal provided
the background to these developments. We
then posed the question as to whether ISTA
could have a new field of activity with the
development of biocontrol and biostimulant
seed treatment assessment methods, as part of
its official mission to develop testing methods
for the assessment of seed quality by ISTA’s
laboratories. This proposal and a suggested
action plan were submitted for discussion by
the ECOM.
Seed Science Advisory
Group Notices
ISTA TCOMs and ISTA members are
encouraged to work with the SSAG. This
might be by drawing our attention to
research observations that they have come
across which they feel might merit further
investigation. Alternatively, they can contact
us if there is a new development / new
equipment that is marketed for use in seed
testing, for which they would like the SSAG to
evaluate the evidence to determine if it is fit
for purpose. We are also available to provide
advice to any ISTA member on a seed science
issue.
References
Seed Science Advisory Group (2019). Seed
Science Advisory Group Activity Report 2018.
Seed Testing International, 158, 30.
Seed Science Advisory Group (2020). The
potential for new approaches to seed testing:
The role of the Seed Science Advisory Group.
Seed Testing International, 159, 18–22.
27
ASSOCIATION NEWS

Statistics Committee
Jean-Louis Laffont and Kirk Remund

www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-sta.html

THE STATISTICS COMMITTEE PROVIDES
SUPPORT TO THE OTHER TECHNICAL
COMMITTEES in the following areas:
• A nalysis of validation studies by giving
guidance on the statistical tools to be used
for the analysis and by creating software
for the analysis. For example, the R Shiny
package ISTAgermMV is available for a
consistent analysis of germination validation
studies.
• Statistical consulting on questions related
to the ISTA Rules (e.g. interpretation of ISTA
tolerance tables) or to specific projects.
• Statistical tools development to support
the activities of the Technical Committees.
Different dynamic calculators can be
used to compute tolerances, for example,
and Seedcalc is used widely in the area
of genetically modified organism (GMO)
testing.
This support ensures that state-of-the art
statistical tools are used by the ISTA Technical
Committees so that objective data-driven
decisions are made for Rules development.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
Aside from the ongoing activities such as
testing plans and validation report reviews,
GMO Proficiency Test rating and statistical
consulting, the Statistics Committee has
worked on the following projects:
GMO Testing Handbook
Chapter 5 of the Handbook has been
finalised. This chapter provides guidance
for the design of GMO testing plans and the
analysis of the results. The chapter contains
many innovations regarding statistical
methodologies for GMO testing and refers to
the Seedcalc Excel workbook which has been
developed by the Committee.
Group Testing Methods
Group testing is used in many areas, in
particular in epidemiology and even very
recently for COVID-19 testing. It allows,
for example, the estimation of an infection
rate in a population of individuals without
having to test all the individuals of the
population. In seed testing, it is used a lot in
testing for adventitious presence of GMOs
in conventional seed lots. The properties
of the group testing estimator have been
broadly studied, but we found out that
these studies are all based on an erroneous
definition of the group testing underlying
distribution. The Committee has therefore
revisited the properties of the group
testing estimator considering a truncated
binomial distribution. This work was done
through participation with an International
Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Working Group as ISTA representatives.
Working Group on Vegetable Seed
Industry
We designed an experiment to quantify the
levels of heterogeneity in vegetable seed
lots across relevant species, representative
companies and seed lots.
Germination Test
Publication in Seed Science Research of the
paper ‘Exact theoretical distributions around
the replicate results of a germination test’. In
this paper, a new theorem around sampling
is disclosed as well as a new theoretical
probability distribution which provides
novel insights on the replication results of a
germination test.
Statistics Committee Notices
There are vacancies available in the Statistics
Committee. If you have an interest in statistics
for seed testing, please consider joining the
Committee.

Tetrazolium Committee
Stefanie Krämer

stefanie.kraemer@ltz.bwl.de
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-tez.html

1. Species / Genus Urtica , Urticaceae; Nettle, Brennnessel

THE MEMBERS OF THE TETRAZOLIUM Highlights of 2019 1. Species / Genus Urtica , Urticaceae; Nettle, Brennnessel

Seed tissue
COMMITTEE have a lot of experience in (1 January–31 December)
tetrazolium testing. We work together to We had three workshops on our working plan
Seed tissue

develop new methods and to spread and share
this knowledge.
for this year; However, they were postponed
due to coronavirus. It is not yet clear when
1. Species / Genus
2. Instruments
Urtica , Urticaceae; Nettle, Brennnessel
Beakers (4 x 50 ml), dissecting needle, dissecting needle
(lancet tip), scalpel, filter paper, forceps, support for
evaluation
we will be able to conduct these workshops.
Seed tissue

2. Instruments
3. Pretreatment Beakers
Soak 18 (4 x 50between
hours ml), dissecting
wet filterneedle, dissecting
paper at 20°C needle

Members of the Committee We hope to continue with our training and 4. Preparation before staining
5. Staining
(lancet tip), scalpel, filter paper, forceps, support for
Cut off transversely ¼ of distal end
evaluation
18 hours, 30°C, 1% TZ-solution
3. Pretreatment Soak 18 hours between wet filter paper at 20°C
• CHAIR: Steffi Krämer, Germany information programme next year. 6. Preparation for evaluation
2. Instruments Extract
Beakers (4 x 50 ml), dissecting
4. Preparation before staining(lancet tip), scalpel, filter paper,
embryo
needle, dissecting
Cutforceps,
off transversely
(cut longitudinally through the seed)
needle
support for ¼ of distal end
7. Evaluation (maximum area of unstained, None
evaluation

• VICE-CHAIR: Sergio Pasquini, Italy 5.3. Staining

Pretreatment Soak 18 hours between wet18
flaccid and/or necrotic tissue
4. Preparation before staining
6.5. Preparation
permitted) filterhours, 30°C, 1% TZ-solution
paper at 20°C
Cut off transversely ¼ of distal end
8. Remarks for evaluation 18 hours, 30°C, 1% TZ-solution
Extract
None embryo (cut longitudinally through the seed)
• Ignacio Aranciaga, Argentina
Staining

The Committee has finalised the third edition 7.6. Evaluation

Fig. 1: (maximum
flaccid
7. Evaluation
(maximum
Preparation for evaluation
Preparation
and/or area
areaExtract
of unstained,
step (s) None
necrotic tissue permitted)
of unstained,
None
embryo (cut longitudinally through the seed)
Fig. 2: Evaluation, examples of non-viable seeds

• Maria Aranguren, Argentina

flaccid and/or necrotic tissue permitted)

of the Tetrazolium Working Sheets, Volume 8.8. Remarks

Remarks
Fig. 1: Preparation step (s)
None
None
Fig. 2: Evaluation, examples of non-viable seeds

• Alessandra Arioli, Italy 1. This publication contains more than 200

Fig. 1: Preparation step (s) Fig. 2: Evaluation, examples of non-viable seeds

• Sunita BH, India working sheets, 19 of which are new. We hope

• Gary Duffy, Ireland that the use of the sheets becomes more
• Jose Franca-Neto, Brazil practical with this digital version.
• Soo-Yuong Kim, Korea
• Linda Maile, United Kingdom Tetrazolium Committee Notices
• Augusto Martinelli, Argentina If any organisation would like to host a
• Tauhid Parvez, Canada tetrazolium testing workshop, please contact
• Eunhee Soh, South Korea the Tetrazolium Committee or the ISTA Tetrazolium test for evaluating seed viability:
Secretariat. working sheet for Urtica

28 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org


Variety Committee
Verena Peterseil, Marie-José Côté, Ana Laura Vicario, Daniel Perry and other Variety Committee members
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-var.html
Four grow-out tests on Lolium
varieties in the greenhouse
THE VARIETY COMMITTEE IS MAINLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR DEALING WITH
VERIFICATION OF VARIETIES AND
DETERMINATION OF PURITY OF
SEED LOTS, by means of morphological
comparison, biochemical tests, protein
electrophoresis methods, and DNA-based
methods. The Committee is also involved in
validation of new methods according to ISTA
validation Standard Operating Procedures
(SOP), and on developing new methods for the
ISTA Rules. These activities are in accordance
with ISTA’s vision of ‘uniformity in seed
quality evaluation worldwide’ and ISTA’s
mission to produce internationally agreed
rules for seed testing.
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
In recent years, a primary objective has
been the introduction of DNA-based variety
identification methods into Chapter 8 of the
ISTA Rules. Wheat was the first crop for which
DNA-based testing methods were included in
the Rules (2017), followed by maize in 2018.
With the aim to accomplish ISTA’s vision
and mission, a semi-performance based
approach (SPBA) has been applied for DNA-
based methods and for laboratories seeking
accreditation. Under the SPBA, laboratories
are permitted to choose some components of
the test method while other components are
prescribed. Specifically, polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) primers are prescribed, while
ASSOCIATION NEWS
analytical procedures used to test those
markers are left to the discretion of individual
laboratories, as long as the procedures have
been evaluated as fit for purpose and the end
result meets acceptable standards as set by
ISTA.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
The main activities of the Variety Committee
have been focused, for the last few years, on
developing DNA-based methods for variety
verification: the use of anonymous markers
such as microsatellites (also known as simple
sequence repeats or SSR) and the use of a
specific marker for identification of a trait or
specific cultivar condition.
29
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Use of Anonymous Markers
for Variety Verification:
Comparative Tests
The goal of a comparative test (CT) for a given
crop species is to select a set of microsatellite
markers to be introduced into Chapter 8 of the
ISTA Rules as a new method for that species. In
2017–2018, initial comparative tests (CT1) were
conducted for barley, oat, pea and soybean. A
survey carried out among the ISTA members
in 2019, showed that there was not enough
interest to follow up with additional testing
(CT2) for soybean but there was sufficient
support for barley, oat and pea.
The aim of a CT2 is to compare results among
more participating laboratories and evaluate
whether it is possible to obtain the same SSR
marker profiles and allele sizes using different
reagents, equipment and working protocols,
and to test more varieties. For each crop, all
participating laboratories use the same panel
of varieties and the same SSR markers. Each
participating laboratory has the responsibility
to acquire their own set of the SSR markers, to
test the panel and report results.
Canada prepared the CT2 oat and pea panels
in early 2020, and shipped them along with
technical information including a document
to score results, to participating laboratories
in South Africa, Spain, Austria, Italy, France
and four laboratories in Canada, in February
this year. For each crop, participants received
two tubes per variety, each containing a
subsample of a pool of 40 crushed seeds. In
addition to samples of the varieties in the
CT2 panels, participants were also given
samples of three varieties for which the
microsatellite profiles were predetermined
to act as standards for the calibration of their
lab systems for allele calls. For each crop, 24
varieties are being analysed using the same
microsatellite markers as tested in CT1: nine
markers for oat and 11 markers for pea. The
original deadline for results submission was
11 May, 2020; however, due to the current
COVID-19 situation, only two laboratories
have managed to report results and the
deadline has been extended to 15 October,
2020 for the remaining participants. We plan
to be able to collate the data for a final report
by the end of 2020.
The first barley CT was completed in
summer of 2019. In order to expand the field
of application in terms of supplementary
varieties with different genetic backgrounds
from regions other than Europe, a second CT
started in January 2020.
Eight barley varieties from Iran, Estonia
and Lithuania were tested. Additionally, an
Austrian variety, which had already been used
in the first CT was used to test repeatability.
Samples were sent as ten crushed single seeds
and two pooled samples, consisting of 40
crushed seeds per sample. Participants were
asked only to send results for eight single
30 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
seed samples and one pooled sample. The
additional samples were backup in case of
unpredictable problems. The microsatellites
were the same as in CT1: one set of four
markers and two sets of five markers.
According to ISTA’s SPBA, only the sequence
of the microsatellites was compulsory. It
was up to each laboratory to choose the DNA
extraction method and visualisation method
to obtain microsatellite results.
A total of seven participants from Austria,
Canada (two participant laboratories),
Iran, France, Germany and South Africa
are participating in this second CT. Results
were originally to be compiled by the end of
May but due to the pandemic situation, the
deadline for the results has been postponed
until the end of 2020.
Organisation of First
Proficiency Test on DNA-
Based Methods
Preparations are in progress for the launch of
the first Proficiency Test (PT) on DNA-based
methods, which will assess laboratories’
abilities to perform analyses of microsatellites
in wheat. To date we have selected appropriate
wheat varieties and obtained the necessary
seed material. Using that seed, in February
2020, we completed the development of
the reference matrix that will be used for
evaluating laboratory performance. In
collaboration with the ISTA Secretariat and
the Accreditation and Technical Department,
we are now completing the development of
procedures and other documentation. This
first PT will be for accredited laboratories only.
Use of Specific Marker for
Trait Identification: Lolium
Annual Types in Perennial
Types
A preliminary study of a real-time PCR
method for the detection of annual ryegrass in
perennial ryegrass (Lolium spp.), was initiated
using both real-time PCR and digital PCR and
involved seed of 16 perennial and six annual
ryegrass varieties obtained from US sources.
Key conclusions of this preliminary work were:
1. A
 background level of the annual ryegrass
marker was detected in perennial varieties
and this background level differed among
the perennial varieties.
2. Estimates obtained by real-time PCR
also varied considerably depending upon
which variety combination was used in the
calibrator.
Background levels of annual marker in
perennial varieties could be indicative of
actual impurity (i.e. contamination with
annual varieties) or, alternatively, could be
caused by incomplete coupling of the annual
marker with the annual trait. To investigate
these possibilities, we conducted grow-out
tests (GOT) of selected seed lots.
We found no correspondence between the
presence of annual types in the GOT and the
level of annual marker detected by real-time
PCR or digital PCR. This led to a conclusion
that the variable background levels of annual
marker detected in perennial varieties are
indeed due to incomplete coupling of the
annual marker and the annual trait.
As a final verification, real-time PCR analysis
of pure (non-blended) seed of five varieties
(same seed lots as used previously) was
repeated in a second lab. The results followed
the same patterns observed previously,
confirming that the association between the
annual marker and the annual growth habit is
incomplete and that estimates vary depending
upon which varieties are used in the calibrator.
In light of these results, the Lolium Working
Group decided to develop and investigate new
DNA markers in ryegrass. To assist with this
endeavour, we welcomed a new member from
the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA), who has considerable experience with
genome sequences of grasses.
The project plan includes the following steps:
1. S
 equence annual and perennial ryegrass
genomes and identify candidate DNA
differences between the two species.
2. Design assays for single nucleotide
polymorphism (SNP) and insertion/deletion
(indel) markers for multiple candidate DNA
differences and carry out initial tests with
these markers on small numbers of plants of
both species.
3. Validate the markers following the ISTA
validation SOP. For this we will seek
financial support from the ISTA Special
Projects budget.
4. P resent a final report and ISTA Rules
proposal in November 2021.
Variety Committee Notices
The Variety Committee is currently seeking
new members. If you are involved in variety
testing and wish to apply, please contact Ana
Laura Vicario (alvicario@inase.gov.ar).

Vigour Committee
Alison A. Powell (Chair)
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
a.a.powell@abdn.ac.uk
www.seedtest.org/en/tcom-vig.html
VIGOUR IS A RELATIVELY NEW
CONCEPT IN THE ISTA INTERNATIONAL
RULES FOR SEED TESTING and hence
much of the work of the Vigour Committee
is based on the development and validation
of vigour tests for introduction to the ISTA
Rules. This initially involves research into the
physiological basis of vigour and the nature
of vigour problems in different species. An
important aspect of this research is to ensure
that tests are fit for purpose, i.e. the test results
reveal differences in the practical outcome
of seed vigour. This involves trials of field
and/or glasshouse emergence or seed storage
potential. The outcome of this research
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
has subsequently formed the basis of new
vigour tests which are validated to confirm
that they are repeatable and reproducible
and therefore contribute to ISTA’s vision to
achieve uniformity in seed quality evaluation
worldwide. Following the introduction of a
new test we continue to research the potential
for the application of a test to new species. In
addition to development of new tests we have
looked at ways to reduce the time to complete
validated tests and therefore facilitate their
use in seed laboratories.
We aim to spread our knowledge throughout
the seed community by publication of our
ASSOCIATION NEWS
research in Seed Science and Technology,
other international journals and Seed Testing
International. In addition, members of the
Committee often present papers at the ISTA
Seed Symposium. We also provide vigour
workshops that may be a general introduction
to vigour or focus on specific tests.
Highlights of 2019
(1 January–31 December)
1. Most of our work in 2019 has focussed
on the introduction of more species to the
vigour tests in the ISTA Rules. We have mainly
concentrated on the extension of the radicle
emergence test to a range of species.
31
ASSOCIATION NEWS
The work on extension of the radicle
emergence test has included Elymus nutans
Griseb., Avena sativa L., Allium cepa L., Glycine
max (L.) Merr., Capsicum annuum L. and
Solanum lycopersicum L. Comparative tests
have been set up for E. nutans and A. sativa.
Field trials have been completed for G. max
and potential times for the assessment of
radicle emergence have been identified; these
will be compared to other validated vigour
assessments for
G. max. The work on the different species
has been completed by Vigour Committee
members from Argentina, China, France,
India, Turkey, the UK and the US.
Our work on tomato (S. lycopersicum) was
prompted by requests from the seed industry
for a vigour test for this species. Assessment
of the vigour of tomato seed lots has proved to
be demanding, however, for other researchers
as well as ourselves. One reason is the
generally high seed quality observed in this
species; another is the relative resistance of
this species to seed ageing. This means that
extreme ageing conditions have often been
ISTA Welcomes Karen De La Rosa
KAREN DE LA ROSA IS A CREATIVE
AND MOTIVATED MARKETING AND
COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL
dedicated to curating social media strategies
for diverse organisations. She is highly
adaptable with a strong multicultural
background. Karen is a Mexican national
who has lived in four different countries
including Mexico, United States, Germany
and Switzerland. She speaks Spanish, English
and some German. She has a Bachelor of Arts
in Psychology, having graduated with honors
32 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
used in vigour tests such as accelerated ageing
and controlled deterioration in order to age
the seeds. Use of extreme ageing conditions is
not ideal as many scientists have questioned
whether the process of ageing is the same in
extreme vs ambient conditions. We therefore
chose to examine the potential of the radicle
emergence test for application to tomato.
We have examined the application of the
radicle emergence test to two groups of tomato
seed lots that are used for different purposes,
namely high value glasshouse production
of tomatoes and field production. Radicle
emergence counts have been completed at
three temperatures: 20°C, 25°C and alternating
20°/30°C. Germination (to radicle emergence)
progress curves have been produced at 20°C
and 25°C. The emergence of the lots for high
value glasshouse production was tested in
commercial transplant production conditions
in three locations in Almeria, Spain and
first choice transplants and total useable
transplants were recorded. Emergence of the
lots to be transplanted into the field was tested
in plugs in the glasshouse. The germination
progress curves, and single radicle emergence
counts all showed differences between the
seed lots, indicating differences in vigour.
Transplant emergence in Spain was above
90% in two locations and lower (86%) in
the third location where the temperature
in the glasshouse was slightly lower. In two
locations, the emergence data did not reveal
clear vigour differences between the lots.
However, there was a significant correlation
between radicle emergence at 25°C and
emergence in the location having the lower
glasshouse temperature (p<0.05). This
suggests that vigour differences in tomato
may only be revealed in conditions that are
less than ideal for transplant production.
In contrast, the larger range in the plug
emergence (80–100%) of the field production
lots clearly revealed vigour differences and
there was a significant correlation with radicle
emergence at 25°C (p<0.01).
In conclusion, our work on tomato seed
lots has shown that although the seed
from Texas A&M International University in
the US and has just completed her Master of
Science in Business Administration with a
focus in Online Business and Marketing at
Hochschule Luzern in Switzerland.
Karen began working with the International
Seed Testing Association in November 2019
as a Marketing intern. She has now become
a permanent staff member and will continue
working in the Marketing Department.
industry would like to have a vigour test for
tomato, differences in vigour may not be
revealed in the number of usable transplants
produced under ideal glasshouse conditions.
Nevertheless, the radicle emergence test does
reveal differences in vigour that are evident
under less regulated conditions such as those
used in production of plugs for field tomato
growing.
2. Our second major activity this year has
been a special project developed with the
Germination Committee which began in
September 2019. As part of this project we
are examining the potential for the radicle
emergence and electrical conductivity tests to
be applied to seed lots of vegetable brassicas,
to identify differences in vigour. The use of
image analysis to assess radicle emergence
is being examined as part of this project and
may well have significance for assessments
of radicle emergence in other species. This
work is reported in detail in the ‘Report on the
Special Project of the Germination and Vigour
Committees, 2019’, in this issue of Seed Testing
International.
3. Vigour Committee members have also been
active in research into aspects of seed vigour
that may have potential for production of high
vigour seeds and the further development of
seed vigour tests. These include the influence
of environmental conditions and farm
management on wheat seed quality, the role of
DNA and protein repair in determining seed
vigour and longevity in chickpea, and radicle
emergence and longevity in cucurbits.
Vigour Committee Notices
We have no current plans for a vigour testing
workshop, but are open to invitations from
laboratories who would be willing to host a
workshop. Workshops can focus on a general
introduction to seed vigour for laboratories
that wish to introduce vigour testing. For
laboratories that already have experience, we
can focus on one or two specific tests/species.
Please contact the Committee if you would
like to discuss holding a workshop in your
laboratory.
 ASSOCIATION NEWS

New ISTA Members Status: 1 January – 30 June 2020

CONGRATULATIONS ON BECOMING ISTA MEMBERS!

Egypt Cancellations
Laboratory Members EGPM0010
Dr Ahmed Ahmed Odam
India Central Administration for Seed Certification DEML200
INML4600 (CASC) EOPC Laboratory
Karnataka State Seed and Organic Certification Agency Giza Seed Testing Station Bayer AG, CropScience Division
State of the Art Seed Testing Complex 8 Gamaa Street European Oilseeds Processing Center
Bellary Road, Hebbal PO Box 237 Alfred Nobel Street 50
Bangalore, IN-560001 Rabee EL Gezee-Giza, 12211 40789 Monheim
Phone: +91 (0)80 234 19418 Phone: +202 35 72 4721 DE-Germany
Email: dscbng@gmail.com Fax: +202 35 72 5998
Email: ahmedidam500@gmail.com FRML0600
Syngenta France
Rwanda
United Kingdom La Gragnette 2
RWML0200
GBPM0016 32220 Lombez
Rwanda National Seed Testing Laboratory
Mr. Roger Vickers FR-France
Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Develop-
ment Board (RAB) Processors and Growers Research Organisation
PO Box 5016 The Research Station, Thornhaugh EEDM0001
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE8 6HJ Dr Margus Friedenthal
Kigali
Phone: +44 (0)1780 782585 Deputy Director
Phone: +250 788 302 083
Email: roger@pgro.org Agricultural Research Centre
Email: patrick.karangwa@rab.gov.rw
Estonian Seed Testing Laboratory
Teaduse 4/6, Harjumaa
Turkey Associate Members 75501 Saku
TRML0300 EE-Estonia
Yüksel Tohum Seed Test Laboratory
Yüksel Tohum AS Spain
ESAM0013 EGPM0009
Kursunlu Mh.Madenler Sk. No:12/A Aksu Mr. Magdy Abdalla Shehab
07112 Antalya Dr Maria Teresa Mas Serra
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya Central Administration for Seed Certification (CASC)
Phone: +90 242 461 2393 Giza Seed Testing Station
Fax: +90 242 461 2346 Enginyeria Agroalimentaria i Biotecnologia
C/Esteve Terradsas 8 8 Gamaa Street
Email: info@yukseltohum.com PO Box 237
08860 Castelldefels
Phone: +34 93552 12 31 Rabee EL Gezee-Giza, 12211
Personal Members Email: maite.mas@upc.edu EG-Egypt

Spain AUAM0006
Australia Mrs. Maryanne Griffiths
AUPM0004 ESAM0014
Dr Pablo Manuel Perez Heritage Seeds
Mr. William Roland Fuller 26 Prosperity Way
Australian Seeds Authority Ltd Intersemillas SAU
Pol.Ind. de Loriguilla C/2 con C/5 Dandenory South, 317S
PO Box 187 AU-Australia
Lindfield NSW, BE 2070 46393 Loriguilla, Valencia
Phone: +61 2 9416 2943 Phone: +34961640101 ext 25
Fax: +61 2 9416 4109 Email: pablo@inveseed.es
Email: bfuller@aseeds.org.au
France
Netherlands FRAM0015
NLPM0001 Mr. Vincent Descours
Dr Robert Vreeburg Eurofins Agroscience Services
Nederlandse Algemene Keuringsdienst (NAK) Seeds Department
Seed Testing Station 3 Rue de la Porte du Bearn
Randweg 14 64330 Garlin
PO Box 1115 Phone: +33 6 76 48 09 94
8300 BC Emmeloord Email: vincentdescours@eurofins.com
Phone: +31 52 76 35 400
Fax: +31 52 76 35 411
Email: ablok@nak.nl

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 33

ASSOCIATION NEWS

Designing GMO Testing Plans and Analysing

Associated Results
Kirk Remund, Enrico Noli, Elizabeth Bates, Elena Perri, Christoph Haldemann, René Mathis, Bruno Zaccomer and Jean-Louis Laffont

Kirk Remund - Bayer Crop Science, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Enrico Noli - LaRAS - DISTAL, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Italy
Elizabeth Bates - Centre de Recherche de La Dargoire, Bayer Crop Science, Lyon, France
Elena Perri - Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, Tavazzano (LO) Italy
Christoph Haldemann - Former member and chair of the GMO Committee and former Head of GMO Laboratory at Agroscope, Switzerland
René Mathis - Laboratoire BioGEVES, GEVES, Beaucouzé Cedex, France
Bruno Zaccomer - Seed Quality Testing, Bayer Crop Science, Peyrehorade, France
Jean-Louis Laffont - Corteva Agriscience, Aussonne, France

IMPORTANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE
IN THE PREPARATION OF THE ISTA
HANDBOOK ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED
ORGANISM (GMO) TESTING with the
completion of the section on statistical
aspects. The section, presented here as a
preview, is intended as a practical guide for lab
managers and analysts for designing testing
plans, data analysis and reporting of results.
This work was initiated long ago through a
collaboration between the Statistics and the
GMO Committees, and received a significant
push with a meeting in Bologna in January
2019.
Designing GMO testing plans and performing
associated estimation, which is needed for
reporting results, are the subject of this
article. Tools used for accomplishing these
tasks are part of acceptance sampling1 and
have been further developed for the area
of GMO testing. There are many free and
commercial software packages available
for performing the computations involved.
Seedcalc 2, which can be downloaded freely
from the ISTA website, will be used to
illustrate the process.
1 Testing Plan
Making inferences about the quality
level of a seed lot requires first to obtain a
representative composite sample of seeds in
the lot. This sample is usually reduced to
form the submitted sample provided to the
laboratory. The working sample on which
the tests are made is then the whole of the
submitted sample or a subsample of it (ISTA,
2020). This working sample can be subdivided
into groups or bulks 3 of seeds as needed by
the assay. The question now becomes: what is
the appropriate number of groups and number
of seeds per group (i.e. the number of groups ×
the number of seeds per group is equal to the
working sample size)? This question will be
addressed in this section.
1.1 Definitions
The lower quality limit (LQL 4) and acceptable
quality limit (AQL 5) are two criteria to
represent consumer and producer interests,
respectively; acceptable consumer and

34 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org


producer risks are associated with the LQL
and AQL, respectively. Other parameters
which are used to determine the testing plan
are the false negative error rate (FNR 6 ), false
positive error rate (FPR 7 ), measurement
coefficient of variation (CV ), flour standard-
deviation and acceptance criteria. We refer the
reader to Remund et al. (2001) and Laffont et
al. (2005) for further details.
1.2 Minimum Size of the Working
Sample
We illustrate the determination of the
minimum size of the working sample with
Seedcalc.
For example, suppose that the LQL is set to
1%. We want to know the minimum number of
seeds in the working sample to have a chance
greater than 95%, of getting at least one GM
seed in the sample given the LQL.
In the Seedcalc Qual Plan Design worksheet,
the number 18 is entered in the yellow cell9
under ‘# Seeds per Pool10’ and 1% is entered in
the yellow cell under ‘LQL’. Starting with 100
seeds (‘# of Pools’) and a maximum number
of deviant seeds equal to 0 gives a probability
of 0.366 (‘Consumer [beta] risk’) of not having
any GM seeds in the sample, given that the
true proportion of GM seeds in the lot is equal
to the LQL:
Since the risk of not having any GM seeds in
the working sample is too high (i.e. 36.6%),
then the minimum size of the working sample
needs to be adjusted using the Find Plan11
button and selecting Zero Tolerance:
Seedcalc then gives the minimum number of
seeds in the working sample (298 seeds) which
satisfies a consumer risk of 5% of not detecting
any GM seeds in the sample:
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
The table below contains the minimum
working sample size for detecting various
quality levels (LQL), obtained using the same
approach with Seedcalc:
Minimum size of the working
LQL
sample (number of seeds)
0.10% 2,995
0.25% 1,197
0.50% 598
0.75% 398
1.00% 298
1.50% 199
2.00% 149
3.00% 99
4.00% 74
5.00% 59
Note that these minimum working sample
sizes do not consider the producer risk at a
given AQL.
1.3 Maximum Group Size
The knowledge of error rates (i.e. FNR and
FPR) of an assay is necessary for the design
of testing plans. In particular, the FNR limits
the group size. The FNR is defined as the
likelihood of a group testing negative when it
is positive (i.e. there is one or more GM seed in
the group). The maximum group size is then
defined as the group size with an acceptably
low FNR. For example, a group size of 3000
seeds might yield an FNR of 15% which may
be unacceptable, whereas a group size of 300
seeds might yield a lower FNR of 4% which
may be acceptable. 5% is the maximum
recommended for FNR 12.
The laboratory is responsible for the
assessment of the FNR by setting up an
experiment with blind positive samples,
spiked with a single GM seed in a group of
conventional seeds. The outcome from the
experiment needs to provide high confidence
that the true FNR is less than or equal to 5%.
One possible experimental design for this
objective which minimises the laboratory
workload, is the following:
ASSOCIATION NEWS
• Thirty positive groups (one positive seed
spiked into each group) are prepared and
tested; if all the tests are positive, then there is
enough confidence (i.e. 79%) that the true FNR
is less than or equal to 5%.
• If there is one negative group, then an
additional 30 positive groups are prepared and
tested. If all the additional tests are positive,
then there is enough confidence (i.e. 71%) that
the true FNR is less than or equal to 5%.
• If more than one negative group is found,
then a revision of the group size (e.g. group
size reduction) with a new assessment of the
FNR is needed.
This FNR assessment is applicable for
quantitative methods as well as for the group
testing approach.
1.4 Number of Groups
With determinations of the minimum working
sample size and maximum group size, the
appropriate number of groups can also be
considered, making a distinction between
the group testing and the quantitative assay
approaches.
1.4.1 Number of Groups for Group
Testing Approach
We illustrate here how to determine the
number of groups needed for a group testing
approach with Seedcalc.
For example, suppose the AQL and LQL are set
at 0.3% and 1.5%, respectively. The laboratory
has performed an assessment yielding a group
size of 100 seeds (i.e. the FNR was sufficiently
low for this group size). The question becomes:
how many groups are necessary and what is
the acceptance criteria, in terms of number
of deviant groups, to fulfil a producer and
consumer confidence of 95% at the AQL and
LQL, respectively?
In the Seedcalc Qual Plan Design worksheet,
the known parameters (number of seeds per
group, AQL, LQL, confidence level targets)
are entered in the yellow cells. Initial values
for the number of groups and the acceptance
criteria are entered as 1 and 0, respectively; for
the error rates, 0% is considered as a starting
point:
Note that the achieved consumer and
producer confidence levels (77.94% and
35
ASSOCIATION NEWS
74.05%, respectively) do not meet the targeted
confidence levels (95%). The following is
achieved by selecting the Find Plan button
and selecting Standard Optimization:
Seedcalc gives the number of groups (10) and
the acceptance criteria (5) which satisfy the
targeted confidence levels:
In practice, a given seed lot will be accepted if
five or fewer groups out of ten test positive.
To this point, we have considered FNR
and FPR equal to 0%. In our example, the
laboratory estimated an FNR and an FPR of
5% for a group size of 100 seeds. Let us see the
effect of these new parameters on the testing
plan:
We can see now that we are not satisfying the
targeted consumer confidence level (92.36%).
Seedcalc offers the ability to find a robust13
testing plan over a range of FPR and FNR
36 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
through the Find Plan button and by selecting
Standard Optimization and Robust:
The resulting adjusted testing plan now
guarantees that the targeted confidence levels
are met when assay error rates are considered:
Whatever the FNR and the FPR are within
the 0–5% range, the testing plan will ensure
that the consumer and producer confidence
levels are at least equal to 95.37% and 97.06%,
respectively.
Another example is when it is required to
have no observed deviant groups. This type
is called a zero deviant testing plan and it
should be noted that this type of testing plan
does not manage producer risk and should
therefore be used with caution. Considering
the same number of seeds per group, the
same FNR and FPR and the same LQL as in the
previous example, selecting Zero Tolerance
Optimization and Robust gives:
Note that for this testing plan, the producer’s
risk is very high (63.23%).
1.4.2 Number of Groups When Group
Size is Equal to One: individual seed
testing approach
The same approach as described previously
can be used for individual seed testing,
considering now that the group size is equal
to one.
1.4.3 Number of Groups for
Quantitative Methods
In addition to the number of groups, the
number of flour subsamples per group14
and the number of replications of the
measurements are taken into account in the
design of the testing plan for quantitative
methods; the workflow and the structure are
shown below:
We illustrate now how to achieve these
numbers with Seedcalc.
For example, suppose the AQL and LQL are
set at 0.25% and 1%, respectively, and that
the laboratory has performed an assessment
yielding a group size of 1000 seeds (i.e. the
FNR was sufficiently low for this group size).
The question becomes: how many groups,
how many flour subsamples and how many
replications of the measurements are
necessary, and what is the acceptance criteria
for the mean of the results to fulfil a producer
and consumer confidence of 95% at the AQL
and LQL, respectively?
In the Seedcalc Quant Plan Design worksheet,
the known parameters (number of seeds per
group, AQL, LQL, confidence level targets)
are entered in the yellow cells. The number
of groups, the number of flour subsamples
per group, the number of replications of the
measurements and the acceptance criteria are
set up arbitrarily at first (the initial acceptance
criteria should be put somewhere between
LQL and AQL):
 ASSOCIATION NEWS

At this point, three additional parameters
need to be provided: ‘Measurement CV’, ‘Flour
Sub-sample Std Dev’ and ‘b-Factor’ (details
for these parameters can be found in Laffont
et al., 2005):
of 1 (which assumes that both the reference
material and the seed lot have the same
zygosity/ploidy/copy number) are now entered
in Seedcalc:
What about the robustness of this testing
plan? For example, if we adjust the
measurement CV to 10%, the targeted
confidence levels are still satisfied, as
expected:

The achieved consumer and producer

confidence levels (90.73% and 92.21%, However, if we adjust the measurement CV to
The first two parameters can be defined respectively) do not meet the targeted 30%, the targeted consumer confidence level
from specific experiments set up in the confidence levels (95%). Now the Find Plan is no longer satisfied:
laboratory. For example, one sample of seeds button and Fixed Pool Size are selected:
with a known GMO content close to legal or
contractual threshold is ground into flour, five
flour subsamples are taken, DNA is extracted
from each and measured three times15. The
results are entered in the Seedcalc Quant
Impurity Estimation worksheet:

However, by increasing the number of

replications of the measurements from one to
three, it is again satisfied:

This gives 13.7% and 0.05% for the

measurement CV and the flour standard-
deviation estimates, respectively. If the
measurement CV is known, an estimate of
the flour standard-deviation can also be
obtained from a different type of experiment
involving multiple samples (six minimum) of
seeds with the same known GMO content and Seedcalc gives the number of groups (2), the
for which one result per sample is obtained. number of flour subsamples per group (1), the
For example, let us say that the six results number of replications of the measurements
(1) and the acceptance criteria (0.561%). The 2 Reporting Results
obtained are: 0.43%, 0.37%, 0.52%, 0.39%,
targeted producer confidence level is satisfied Chapter 19 of the ISTA Rules provides
0.57%, 0.58%. The mean of the results is equal
(99.37%) but the consumer confidence level guidelines on how to report the results from
to 0.477% and the sample standard-deviation
is marginally below the target (94.99%). By an appropriate GMO testing plan:
of the results is equal to 0.092%. Assuming
a measurement CV of 15%, then the flour manually adjusting the acceptance limit to
standard-deviation is estimated as: 0.56%, for example, the targeted confidence
levels are now satisfied:
0.0922 – (0.15 × 0.477)2 = 0.058%

Values for these parameters that could also

be considered are those which have been
estimated from the analysis of four ISTA GMO
Testing Proficiency Tests, yielding an average
measurement CV of 20% and an average flour
standard-deviation of 0.06%.

The measurement CV of 20%, the flour

standard-deviation of 0.06% and a b-factor

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 37

ASSOCIATION NEWS
There are two ways of reporting quantitative
results: providing a point estimate with a 95%
confidence interval, or providing an upper or
lower limit with an associated confidence.
In this section, we show how to fill in the
missing text above, using the output from
Seedcalc.
2.1 Reporting for Group Testing and
Individual Seed Testing Approaches
2.1.1 Upper or Lower Limit with an
Associated Confidence
Suppose that for a testing plan involving ten
groups of 150 seeds and with 5% FNR and FPR,
three deviant groups are found. Entering these
parameters and 1% for the LQL in the Seedcalc
Qual Plan Design worksheet, we get:
This leads to the report: ‘For the test target(s)
specified by the applicant, the seed lot meets
the specification of 1% maximum with 99.66%
confidence’.
Now, entering 0.7% for the LQL:
We are led to the report: ‘For the test target(s)
specified by the applicant, the seed lot meets
the specification of 0.7% maximum with
96.76% confidence’.
The same approach works for individual seed
testing by considering a group size equal to
one.
38 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
2.1.2 Point estimate with 95%
confidence interval
For the same example as shown previously,
the parameters are now entered in the
Seedcalc Qual Impurity Estimation worksheet:
This leads to the report: ‘The % of seeds in the
lot with the test target(s) was determined to
be 0.24%, with a 95% confidence interval of
[0.05%, 0.70%]’.
Note that the 95% ‘Upper Bound of True
% Impurity’ corresponds to the LQL of the
testing plan, ensuring a consumer risk of
exactly 5% as shown in the Seedcalc Qual Plan
Design worksheet, considering FPR = FNR = 0:
For individual seed testing, either enter a
group size equal to one in the Seedcalc Qual
Impurity Estimation worksheet or use the
Seedcalc Qual Purity Estimation worksheet.
As an example, for 200 individual seeds with
zero deviant seeds found, we find the following
with the two worksheets:
This leads to the report: ‘The % of seeds in the
lot with the test target(s) was determined to
be 0%, with a 95% confidence interval of [0%,
1.83%]’.
2.2 Reporting for Quantitative Methods
2.2.1 Upper or Lower Limit with an
Associated Confidence
Suppose that the testing plan involves two
groups of 1000 seeds, one flour subsample per
group, two measurements per flour subsample,
and that the measurement CV is equal to 25%
and the flour standard-deviation to 0.08%.
These parameters are entered in the Seedcalc
Quant Plan Design worksheet, as well as the
mean of the four results (i.e. the number of
groups multiplied by the number of flour
subsamples, multiplied by the number of
measurements per flour subsample), which is
equal to 0.352% under the ‘Acceptance Limit’
cell and considering an LQL of 0.75%:
This leads to the report: ‘For the test target(s)
specified by the applicant, the seed lot meets
the specification of 0.75% maximum by mass
or number of copies with 96.36% confidence’.
2.2.2 Point Estimate with 95%
Confidence Interval
For the same example as described previously,
the objective is now to determine the
confidence interval of the estimate, by finding
an AQL and an LQL ensuring producer and
consumer risks less than or equal to 2.5%.
This is accomplished through the trial and
error method. Let us first try with AQL equal to
0.15% and LQL equal to 0.85%:

The consumer risk is lower than 2.5% and the
producer risk is greater than 2.5%. Let us try
to decrease the LQL to 0.80% and the AQL to
0.12%:
Now, the consumer risk is above 2.5% and the
producer risk is lower than 2.5%. Finally, after
some attempts, an LQL equal to 0.81% and an
AQL equal to 0.14% ensures that the highest
consumer and producer risks are less than or
equal to 2.5%:
This leads to the report: ‘The test target(s)
percentage in the seed lot was determined to
be 0.352% by mass or number of copies, with a
95% confidence interval of [0.14%, 0.81%]’.
When more than one flour subsample and
more than one measurement per flour
subsample are available, the Seedcalc Quant
Impurity Estimation worksheet can be used,
although with some caution. Consider an
example where a routine test is performed
in a laboratory involving one group of 1000
seeds, two flour subsamples and three
measurements per flour subsample. The
results are:
Flour Flour
subsample subsample
1 2
Measurement 1 0.2500% 0.2100%
Measurement 2 0.3600% 0.1570%
Measurement 3 0.3400% 0.1456%
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
These values are entered in Seedcalc:
The measurement CV is equal to 19.7% and
the flour subsample standard-deviation
is equal to 0.10%. Using these results, an
overall CV characterising the precision of one
measurement can be calculated as:
(Measurement_CV × mean)2 + Flour_std_dev 2
Overall_CV =
mean
For the example, this gives:
(0.197 × 0.002438)2 + 0.0012
Overall_CV =
0.002438
It is recommended not to have an overall CV
greater than 30%, which is not satisfied here.
Therefore, a retest is performed. For example:
This gives an acceptable:
(0.122 × 0.002363)2 + 0.00042
Overall_CV =
0.002363
The result reported is then: ‘The test target(s)
percentage in the seed lot was determined to
be 0.2363% by mass or number of copies, with
a 95% confidence interval of [0%, 0.5431%]’.
Whenever possible, it is however
recommended to obtain estimates of the
measurement CV and of the flour subsample
standard-deviation using specific experiments
and to use the Seedcalc Quant Plan Design
worksheet to obtain the 95% confidence
interval.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
References
ISTA (2020). International Rules for Seed
Testing, Chapter 2: Sampling. International
Seed Testing Association, Bassersdorf,
Switzerland.
Laffont, J-L., Remund, K.M., Wright, D.L.,
Simpson, R.D. and Grégoire, S. (2005).
Testing for adventitious presence of
transgenic material in conventional seed
or grain lots using quantitative laboratory
methods: statistical procedures and their
implementation. Seed Science Research, 15,
197–204.
Remund, K.M., Dixon, D.A., Wright, D.L. and
Holden L.R. (2001). Statistical considerations
in seed purity testing for transgenic traits.
Seed Science Research, 11, 101–119.
1
Acceptance sampling uses statistical sampling to determine
whether to accept or reject a production lot of material.’
(Wikipedia contributors. ‘Acceptance sampling’. Wikipedia,
The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Nov. 2018. Web. 7 Feb. 2019).
2
Remund, K.M., Simpson, R., Laffont, J-L., Wright, D. and
Grégoire, S.. Seedcalc8, International Seed Testing Association.
Retrieved from https://www.seedtest.org/en/statistical-
tools-for-seed-testing-_content---1--3449.html.
= 45.5% 3
In Chapter 19 of the ISTA Rules, the term bulk is used to
refer to a group of seeds when using quantitative methods. To
avoid burdening the text, the generic term group is used for
any types of method.
4
The LQL is often defined as the contractual or legal
threshold.
5
The AQL is defined as the level of quality that the producer
can reasonably deliver. Retrospective analysis of production
data can be used to assess the AQL. The AQL is always less
than the LQL.
6
Sensitivity = 1 – FNR
7
Specificity = 1 – FPR
8
Entering 1 in Seedcalc under ‘# Seeds per Pool’ indicates that
individual seed testing is considered, the value under ‘# of
Pools’ then representing the number of individual seeds.
9
In Seedcalc, the yellow cells are for user input.
10
In Seedcalc, the term pool is used to refer to a group of seeds.
11
The Find Plan button facilitates the finding of an optimal
solution. Another approach can be to try to manually change
the parameters and to adjust them as needed.
12
5% for FNR and FPR often lead to reasonable (in terms of
resources) and robust testing plans which are discussed in
section 1.4.1.
13
Definition of robustness: the range of FNR and FPR that
a testing plan can accommodate and still maintain the
targeted confidence levels.
14
One flour subsample is considered as equivalent to one
DNA extraction, assuming that only one extraction is
performed per flour subsample.
15
Five flour subsamples and three measures per flour
= 20.9%
subsample are the recommended minimum number of
replicates for this type of experiment.
39
ASSOCIATION NEWS

ISTA Special Project 19-1: Assessment on available

technologies of imaging and image analysis for other
seeds determination, purity analysis and germination
Project Lead: Ruojing Wang (Canada) and Bert van Duijn (Netherlands)
Project participants from ISTA Technical Committees:
Purity – Deborah Meyer (USA), Axel Goeritz (Germany) and Selma Kurt (Turkey)
Advanced Technologies – Birte Boelt (Denmark)
Germination – David Johnston (USA), Aidin Hamidi (Iran) and Sylvie Ducournau (France)

PURITY ANALYSIS, SEED
IDENTIFICATION OR OTHER SEED
DETERMINATION (OSD), AND
GERMINATION TESTING ARE ESSENTIAL
TESTS IN SEED CERTIFICATION.
Currently, these tests or analyses face
many challenges using traditional
methods, including labour intensiveness,
time consuming processes, the lack of
required expertise, or lack of assistance
with advanced technologies. A desire to
use robotic equipment and technologies
of imaging and image analysis increases
with the availability and advancement
of these technologies. However, the
applications of these technologies require
interdisciplinary collaborations to make them
fit for the purposes of seed testing and seed
certification. It is critical to have collaboration
or co-invention between the developers of the
technologies and the end users in seed testing
laboratories. However, the understanding
and awareness of such collaborations are not
necessarily well acknowledged.
Digital and computer technologies are
promising; however, seed testing laboratories
are puzzled or overwhelmed regarding
their applications and the investment
longevity. For example, in knowing which
equipment or technology would be the most
suitable for their testing needs or meet test
requirements. The project is to conduct a
systematic assessment and evaluation of
market available technologies or equipment. It
aims to provide evidence-based analysis and
recommendations to seed testing laboratories
and their stakeholders, such as ISTA and
seed industries. The outcome of the project is
expected to provide reference information and
evidence for building strategies and fostering
technology application in seed testing.
Project Progress
With the project beginning in January
2020, the project team conducted an
initial inventory on the market available
technologies that were claimed to be used
or potentially applied in seed testing or seed
quality measurement.
While the project team continues to
search for more available equipment and
technologies throughout the project years
until the end of 2021, some technologies are
already undergoing testing. Meanwhile, two
questionnaires have been developed to better
understand the needs of testing laboratories
and the potentials from technology providers.
The two questionnaires will be available on
the ISTA website or ISTA newsletter in early
September 2020. If you are keen to apply
advanced technologies in seed testing, please
contribute and participate in the survey.
The information and data obtained will be
analysed further to assist evidence-based
outcomes or recommendations from the
project.

40 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 ASSOCIATION NEWS

ISTA Special Project 19-2: New technologies for other seeds

determination
Project Lead: Birte Boelt and Gerarda de Boer
Project members from ISTA Technical Committees:
Advanced Technologies – Aurélie Charrier and Bert van Duijn (Adviser)
Purity – Dot Vittrup Pedersen

MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING (MSI) IS A

NEW TECHNOLOGY with the potential to
improve the accuracy, consistency and speed
of seed testing. Traditional features like seed
size, shape and colour are extracted from
images captured at specific wavelengths. In
addition, MSI provides information about
seed surface structures and biochemistry –
those which are not ‘visible’ to the human
eye. These features provide a new opportunity
of determining seed quality parameters
such as morphological and biochemical
characteristics of the seed coat.

Across the seed industry, it is widely

acknowledged that quality assessment
needs to be improved with faster and more
cost-effective techniques. There is a need
to develop and apply new technologies
alongside classical testing methods, to
increase efficiency, reduce analysis time
and meet the needs of stakeholders in seed
testing. Introducing a rapid, reliable and cost-
efficient technology will stimulate capacity
building and create the potential for further
innovation, both within and among seed
companies as well as in seed regulation.

The aim of Project 19-2 is to explore the

possibility of using MSI for other seeds
determination (OSD). The project is a
collaboration between the Advanced
Technologies Committee (ATC) and Purity
Committee (PUR) and as part of the project,
dialog among ATC and PUR representatives
will be initiated to discuss the outcomes of
the project and to evaluate how this new
technology can be best tested and validated
for its potential use in seed testing.

Project Progress
During autumn 2019 seed samples from five
previous Proficiency Tests were collected in
Aarhus University (PT 12-2; PT 13-3; PT 16-1;
PT 17-2 and PT 17-3). Species included were
Brassica napus, Helianthus annuus, Trifolium
repens, Lolium perenne and Phleum pratense
with four or five test samples per species.

MSI images were acquired early in 2020,
from both crop and weed seeds with the
VideometerLab 3 instrument (Videometer A/S,
DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark) and subsequent
exploratory data analysis was performed. An
example of the outcome is shown in Figure 1
Figure 1. Oilseed rape and weed seeds, standard image (a and b) and transformed image (c)
with seeds of oilseed rape from PT 13-3 mixed Data analysis and algorithm development are
with weed seeds, showing the standard RGB currently ongoing.
image (a and b) and the transformed image (c).

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 41

ASSOCIATION NEWS

ISTA Special Project 19-3 of the Germination and Vigour

Committees: Development of rapid tests to predict
germination and vigour and their potential for automation
using image analysis
Sylvie Ducournau1 (Former Chair of the Germination Committee) and Alison Powell2 (Chair of the Vigour Committee)

1
GEVES Station Nationale d’Essais de Semences, 49071 Beaucouzé cedex, France
2
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK

Figure 1. Takashi Shinohara prepares for field emergence counts

THIS PROJECT BEGAN ON 1 SEPTEMBER
2019, WHEN DR. TAKASHI SHINOHARA
ARRIVED AT GEVES IN ANGERS, FRANCE
to begin a 6-month period of sabbatical leave
from Tokyo University of Agriculture. As a
member of the Vigour Committee, Takashi
wished to collaborate with Sylvie Ducournau,
former Chair of the Germination Committee,
and her colleagues at GEVES. When he
completed his sabbatical leave at the end of
February 2020, his work provided the basis for
subsequent work by a Masters student from
the University of Angers. Takashi worked
closely with Marie-Hélène Wagner of the
Vigour Committee and received valuable help

42 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org


from the Germination Laboratory of GEVES.
The scientific supervision of the project was
led by Alison Powell. This report summarises
the work completed from September to
December 2019.
The aim of this project is to investigate
the potential for a single count of radicle
emergence (RE) and/or an assessment of seed
leachate conductivity to predict differences
in germination and seed vigour. The possible
use of automated counts of RE using image
analysis is a further aim. The research uses
12 seed lots (3 varieties × 4 seed lots) of each
of five species of vegetable Brassica crops,
namely cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var.
botrytis), cabbage (Brassica oleracea var.
capitata), mustard (Brassica nigra), radish
(Raphanus sativus var. longipinnus) and
Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis Lour.).
All seed lots have commercially acceptable
levels of normal germination.
Initial work established the seed quality
characteristics of the seed lots. The standard
germination was assessed at alternating
20/30°C and the seed vigour would be assessed
using the controlled deterioration (CD) test
which is a validated vigour test for Brassica
spp. Any new methods of vigour assessment
could therefore be compared to this validated
assessment.
Assessments of the practical outcome of
seed vigour were completed in a field trial for
four species (excluding Chinese cabbage),
with an early count of emergence taken as
an assessment of the rate of emergence (see
Figure 1). Clear differences in the rate of
emergence and final emergence revealed
differences in seed vigour against which the
laboratory assessments could be compared.
In addition, emergence in plugs in glasshouse
conditions had been completed for three
species (cauliflower, mustard, radish) by
December 2019 and was in progress for
cabbage and Chinese cabbage. An early count
of seedling emergence assessed the rate of
emergence in plugs, and seedling height and
uniformity were determined when emergence
was complete. In these more favourable
glasshouse conditions, the three species have
revealed fewer differences in final emergence,
but differences in the rate of emergence, and
in seedling size and uniformity confirmed
that there were differences in the vigour of the
seed lots.
The laboratory evaluation of the potential
of RE to assess germination and/or vigour
began with the production of germination
curves at 20°C for all seed lots. These curves
were produced by the automated RGB system
of digital imaging that is in place at GEVES,
using four replicates of 50 seeds per lot.
Automated counts of RE were taken every
2 h for up to 72 h (radish), 120 h (Chinese
cabbage), 144 h (cabbage, cauliflower) or 156 h
(mustard). The mean germination time (MGT)
was calculated from this data. In addition
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
ASSOCIATION NEWS
to these automated assessments of RE at Assessment of the electrical conductivity
20°C, a single manual count of RE was taken (EC) of seed leachates began for all seed
during the initial standard germination test lots in December 2019 using four replicates
at 20/30°C; the timing of this count was based of 100 seeds, in 40 ml deionised water
on previous experience. We have therefore held at 20°C, with EC measurements to be
been able to relate this single count of RE at taken after 1, 3, 5, 17 and 24 h soaking. The
20/30°C and the many counts of RE at 20°C EC work has continued into 2020. Similar
using RGB image analysis, to both normal correlations to those described above will be
germination in a standard germination test determined between the EC measurements
and to vigour expressed in the field (rate of, and both normal germination and the vigour
and final, emergence) and in the glasshouse assessments.
(rate of, and final emergence, seedling size
and uniformity). The use of a second image The results so far give us confidence that
analysis system (multispectral imaging) to manual and/or automated assessment of RE
assess RE will be examined in 2020. relate to normal germination and vigour and
have potential for routine test development.
The single manual count of RE at 20/30°C Nevertheless, we have identified a single
was highly indicative of the final standard seed lot in one species that is an outlier in
germination of seed lots in four species, the relationship between RE and normal
with highly significant (p<0.01) correlation germination, and that dormancy may be a
coefficients between the RE count and problem in one variety of radish. We have
normal seedlings (%) for cauliflower and been investigating this lot and variety in more
very highly significant correlations (p<0.001) detail.
with cabbage, mustard and radish. This
relationship was not significant for Chinese
cabbage, possibly due to the very high
seed quality among the lots and only small
differences (maximum 3%) in their RE values.
Additional samples of Chinese cabbage have
been sourced to investigate this species
further. The single count at 20/30°C was also
significantly related to seed vigour (p<0.05 –
p<0.001) as expressed in the rate of emergence
(cauliflower, cabbage) and final emergence
in the field (cauliflower, cabbage, mustard),
early emergence and seedling height in
plugs (cauliflower) and final emergence in
plugs (mustard). In addition, the single RE
count was significantly correlated with the
results after the CD test (total germination
%) (cauliflower, p≤0.001; mustard, r≤0.05),
indicating that the RE count identified the
same vigour differences as the validated CD
test. The CD test is still in progress for the
other three species.
Many of the automated counts of RE, taken
using RGB digital imaging, also related
to normal germination and aspects of
seed vigour. In all species the correlations
depended on the time at which the RE
count was taken during germination and
in each species a period of time in which
the correlations were at their highest could
be identified. For example, in cauliflower,
significant correlation coefficients were
found between normal germination and
RE assessed between 80 and 104 hours
(p≤0.05), between final field emergence and
RE assessed between 72 and 120 h (p≤0.001);
and between early plug emergence and RE
assessed between 56 and 80 h (p≤0.01). Similar
observations could be made for all five species
in the data available in December 2019. The
range of times when a correlation could be
observed would allow selection of a time for a
routine test that best fits into the schedule of a
seed testing laboratory.
43
ASSOCIATION NEWS

Obituary – Prof. Murray Hill

Craig McGill

ISTA Immediate Past President

Murray Hill with Massey University Seed students

PROFESSOR MURRAY HILL PASSED

AWAY ON 10 JUNE 2020, after a short
illness. He and his late wife Karen were
members of and contributors to ISTA for many
years.

Murray began his career as an undergraduate

student at Massey University, New Zealand.
Murray then went on to join the Official
Seed Testing Station of the New Zealand
Department of Agriculture in Palmerston
North, where he eventually became Officer
in Charge of the Station. While at the Official
Seed Testing Station, Murray furthered his
study completing a Masters in Agricultural
Science in Plant Pathology in 1966. A PhD in
Agronomy on ryegrass seed production, also
at Massey University, followed in 1971. It was
during his time at the Official Seed Testing
Station that Murray’s long involvement in
ISTA began. Murray was a member of the ISTA
Seed Moisture Committee, working with Don
Grabe, and the Storage Committee.
Murray moved from the Official Seed Testing
Station to become the founding Director of the
Seed Technology Centre at Massey University
in 1975, where he remained until 1997. This
ISTA members with Murray Hill (second from right)
was followed by him setting up the New
Zealand Seed Technology Institute at Lincoln
University in 1998, where he was the Director
and Professor of Seed and Crop Science until
he retired in 2004. Both the Seed Technology
Centre and the New Zealand Seed Technology
Institute had a strong emphasis on developing
seed technology capability internationally,
through the education of students from across
the world. Through his teaching Murray
introduced many students to ISTA and the
role it plays in seed quality assurance. These
students have gone on to contribute to the
seed sectors, both in their home countries and
internationally, including within ISTA.
After retiring from Lincoln University, Murray
and Karen moved to Queensland where they
established the Seed Technology Institute
Australia, an ISTA accredited laboratory,
located on the Gatton campus of the
University of Queensland. Following Karen’s
passing, Murray returned to New Zealand
permanently, to the lifestyle block that he and
Karen had been developing in the Wairarapa,
on the east coast of the North Island of New
Zealand. This gave Murray the chance to relax
and enjoy another great passion in his life,
fishing for trout in the nearby stream.
Murray made a huge contribution to the
New Zealand and international seed sectors.
His passing ends an era for seeds in New
Zealand. We will miss his wit and humour that
combined into much good-natured banter.
While Murray may have gone, his legacy of the
many students he educated who continue to
contribute to the seed industry, will remain.

44 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org


OECD Seed Schemes Meeting – Milano 2020
Andreas Wais
ISTA Secretary General
View of the audience at the OECD Seed Schemes Working Group meeting in Milan
THIS YEARS’ MEETING OF THE
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC
COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
(OECD) SEED SCHEMES, took place in
Milan (Technical Working Group) and online
(Annual Meeting), in January and June
respectively.
Dr. Chiara Delogu (member of the ISTA
Variety Committee) gave a presentation to the
Ad Hoc Working Group (WG) on Biochemical
and Molecular Techniques (BMT), of which
ISTA is a member. Dr. Delogu, working at the
ISTA member laboratory CREA in Tavazzano,
Italy, talked about the status of BMT in
ISTA. Within the OECD Seed Schemes, ISTA
methods are regarded as well validated and
they are part of the list attached to the revised
OECD BMT document for several crops. This
list is an active document and will be annually
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
amended, as new methods will arise on
national levels.
As well as ISTA being a member of the BMT
and Labelling WGs, ISTA also became a
member of the WG on Seed Mixtures, which
was appreciated by all delegates.
The OECD Seed Schemes works hard in the
area of labelling, with the goal to eliminate
fraudulent labels. Electronic means such as
blockchain techniques are under discussion.
As ISTA is currently working on electronic
Certificates, it was agreed to cooperate closely
in this sector, to be able to learn from each
other on these large-scale projects. ISTA
was able to share information that had been
gained during a feasibility study on electronic
Certificates, with the OECD Seed Schemes
Meeting.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Dates and Locations of
2021–22 OECD Seed
Schemes Meetings
• 25–28 January 2021: Ad Hoc Working Groups
and Technical Working Group meetings,
provisionally at OECD Headquarters, Paris,
France.
• 7–11 June 2021: meetings of the Ad Hoc
Working Groups, Technical Working Group
and the Annual Meeting in Tallinn, Estonia.
Estonia has volunteered to host this meeting.
• 24–27 January 2022: Ad Hoc Working Groups
and Technical Working Group meetings,
provisionally at OECD Headquarters, Paris,
France.
• 13–17 June 2022: meetings of the Ad Hoc
Working Groups, Technical Working Group
and the Annual Meeting, provisionally at
OECD Headquarters, Paris, France.
45
ASSOCIATION NEWS

African Seed Trade Association Meeting – Zambia 2020

Andreas Wais

ISTA Secretary General

Meeting with the Zambian ISTA Designated Authorities (second from right: Mable Simwanza, former
Member of the ISTA Executive Committee, and middle: Dr. Andreas Wais, ISTA Secretary General)

Members of the AFSTA board (from left: Justin Rakotoarisaona, Secre- Joint booth of the International Seed Federation (ISF)
tary General; Riadh Gabsi, Past President; and Azariah Soi, President) and ISTA to promote their activities in Africa

AT THE BEGINNING OF MARCH 2020,
THE FIRST STRIKES OF THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC REACHED EUROPE.
The Congress of the African Seed Trade
Association (AFSTA) in Livingston, Zambia
was also affected by the COVID-19 situation,
including the participation of non-African
attendees.
ISTA was represented by the ISTA Secretary
General, Dr. Andreas Wais, and the ISTA
Events, Membership and Documentation
Manager, Olga Stöckli. Other international
participants were the Euroseeds Secretary
General, Dr. Garlich von Essen, and the Asia
and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) Executive
Director, Dr. Kanokwan (May) Chodchoey.
ISTA used the time to engage with both
organisations to deepen mutual relations.
AFSTA and ISTA agreed on further
cooperation, including a Quality Assurance
workshop for beginners to be held only in
French, which has since had to be postponed.
It will take place in Tunis, Tunisia, as soon as
the situation allows safe travel.
During the Congress, Azariah Soi from Kenya
took over the Presidentship of AFSTA from
Riadh Gabsi, Tunisia. The new President
endorsed the relationship between both
Associations, which has deepened over recent
years.
The ISTA representatives also took the
opportunity to promote next years’ ISTA
Annual Meeting to be held in Cairo, Egypt.
This should further strengthen ISTA’s relations
in Africa. A meeting with ISTA’s Designated
Authority also took place.
Date and Location of 2021
Meetings in Africa
• 01–04 March 2021: AFSTA Congress in
Marrakesh, Morocco.

46 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 ASSOCIATION NEWS

Meeting with New FAO Director General

Andreas Wais

ISTA Secretary General

Meeting with the new FAO Director General, Dr. QU Dongyu

Group picture of the FAO–ISTA meeting: (from left) Craig McGill (ISTA Immediate Past President), Dr. Andreas Wais (ISTA Secretary General),
Dr. QU Dongyu (FAO Director General), Dr. Steve K. Jones (ISTA President) and Dr. Keshavulu Kunusoth (ISTA Vice-President)

JUST BEFORE THE SPRING MEETING
OF THE ISTA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
ISTA officers had the opportunity to discuss
issues related to seed testing with the new
Director General of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr.
QU Dongyu. The meeting took place in Rome.
During the meeting, further opportunities for
joint initiative cooperation were discussed,
including a common publication of a fully
revised version of the Project Seed Laboratory
2000–5000 and common workshops, for
example in Africa to promote seed testing. The
workshops will be held once the COVID-19
pandemic will allow, but the common
publication is already under preparation.
These projects will be in cooperation with
the FAO Plant Production and Protection
Division. The ISTA officers talked to the
Deputy Director of this division, Rémi Nomo
Womdim, among other colleagues.
The Director General further asked for ISTA
support to the FAO Hand-in-Hand initiatives,
which are now under discussion in the ISTA
Executive Committee.
Another meeting was held with the Secretariat
of the International Plant Protection
Convention (IPPC), where topics on the
International Year of Plant Health as well as
a closer involvement of ISTA into the work of
IPPC were discussed. These discussions are
still ongoing.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 47

ASSOCIATION NEWS

ISTA Secretariat Passes ISO 9001:2015 Re-Certification Audit

Andreas Wais

ISTA Secretary General

Relaxed after a successful audit day

ISTA Secretary General, Dr. Andreas Wais, presenting management Quality Service Zürich auditor, Jürg Bachofner,
documentation during the audit during the audit of the ISTA Secretariat

EVEN DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
THE ISTA SECRETARIAT WAS AUDITED
BY QUALITY SERVICE ZÜRICH for their
ISO 9001:2015 compliance. Unfortunately, it
was not possible to perform the audit later in
the year.
The main challenge for the audit was the
condition set by the Swiss government, that
only five people were allowed to be together
in one room. The Secretariat decided to use
Office365, which had been implemented in
the fourth quarter of 2019 coordinated by Sejal
Patel. It was possible to have discussions, with
some members of the Secretariat joining in via
Microsoft Teams. At the same time the Quality
Service Zürich auditor, Jürg Bachofner, had all
the documentation in his hands.
The physical audit took place at the ISTA
Secretariat in Bassersdorf. The audit was
led by the ISTA Quality Manager, Branislava
Opra, in collaboration with Florina Palada and
Andreas Wais.
When the audit was completed, the Secretariat
finally received a report, containing just one
minor non-conformity. We are now pleased
to hold the new ISO 9001:2015 Certificate in
our hands. As Secretary General of ISTA, I am
proud of this achievement and appreciative
of all members of staff. Special thanks
go to Branislava Opra for her impeccable
preparation of the audit day.

48 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org


Restarting ISTA Accreditation Audits During COVID-19 Times
Andreas Wais
ISTA Secretary General
IN MARCH THIS YEAR, WHEN
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL STOPPED
AND MOST ECONOMIES WENT INTO A
LOCKDOWN, the ISTA accreditation program
was also affected. Physical audits were
no longer possible and the ISTA Executive
Committee decided that audits could be
postponed by a maximum of a year, with the
accredited laboratories and sampling entities
not losing their accreditation status.
As the COVID-19 situation improved a little in
some areas, and travelling was deemed safer
without major restrictions by governments,
ISTA restarted the accreditation program. The
first two audits took place in Greece in the
beginning of July and were very successful.
Our special thanks go to Christine Herzog and
Dr. Joël Lechappe.
The situation is still very fragile, but ISTA
would like to perform as many audits as
soon as possible to reduce the backlog,
when travel is safe and not restricted. This
is an enormous task to organise for the ISTA
Audit, Accreditation and Proficiency Test
Meeting New ISTA Members in the Republic of Kosovo
Andreas Wais
ISTA Secretary General
DURING A MEETING WITH THE LATVIAN
DESIGNATED AUTHORITIES IN OCTOBER
2017, a few months after I joined ISTA, I was
introduced to a project which should bring
seed testing in the Republic of Kosovo up to
speed. Since then I have been in close contact
on this topic with the former Designated
Member of Latvia, Dr. Velta Evelone. We
agreed that ISTA could help on this matter by
conducting a Quality Assurance workshop in
Kosovo, when the time was right.
The workshop took place in spring 2019 (see
report in Seed Testing International 158, pg.
53). Shortly after that, the Kosovo Institute
for Agriculture in Peja became an ISTA
member laboratory. A Moisture workshop was
scheduled for 2020 but could not take place.
At the end of 2019, a visit to the new member
laboratory was agreed between the Director
of the Institute, Dr. Fehmi Geci, the Head of
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
Administrator, Neelam Lagah, together with
the ISTA travel agent. The auditors are of
different nationalities, travelling from various
locations to the audits, and back to their home
bases. This task is difficult to handle under
regular conditions, but is almost impossible
with flights being cancelled within hours and
immigration restrictions that might change
by the day. Thanks to Dr. Florina Palada (in
the Secretariat and Head of the voluntary
auditors) and her whole team, for taking this
burden.
As Secretary General, I took part in the
first audit visit to Greece. My participation
was scheduled long before the COVID-19
situation came up, as discussions with the
ISTA Designated Authorities were planned.
The talks, on how the collaboration could be
closer between ISTA and the Hellenic Ministry
of Rural Development and Food, were very
successful for both parties. The Deputy Head
of the Directorate of Propagating Material
of Cultivated Plants and Plant Genetic
Resources, Dr. Sotiris Kosmas, also spent the
whole day at the official Greek seed testing
the seed testing laboratory, Berisha Pranvera
(see an interview with her in this issue of Seed
Testing International, #Young@ISTA), and
myself.
The visit was designed to discuss future
collaboration on the seed testing activities
between Kosovo and ISTA. The discussions
were initially held at the Kosovo Institute for
Agriculture in Peja with the whole leadership
team. I found them to be a young team with
great enthusiasm. They were taking the
opportunities of their ISTA membership, by
discussing problems with members of the
ISTA Technical Committees.
The role of the Republic of Kosovo in ISTA was
also discussed during a meeting in Pristina
with the newly appointed Kosovo Minister of
Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development,
Besian Mustafa. It was good to know that he
supports seed testing and the participation
ASSOCIATION NEWS
ISTA auditors in Greece during the first audits
after the COVID-19 pandemic struck Europe
(from left: Dr. Joël Lechappe and Christine
Herzog)
laboratory in Athens, the Testing Station of
Vegetative Propagating Material and Seeds,
during their audit.
As the first person travelling from the ISTA
Secretariat after the lockdown, I became
aware of the difficulties that can occur and
which safety measures are needed during
these times, to protect people travelling on
an ISTA mission. These measures have now
been implemented by the ISTA Secretariat and
will be made available to all travellers, when
applying for a travel permit.
The leadership team at the Kosovo Institute
for Agriculture in Peja (second from right:
Director Dr. Fehmi Geci)
of the Kosovo Institute for Agriculture in
ISTA activities. This will secure seed quality
for farmers in Kosovo and will ensure food
security in a young distinct economy.
After we have passed the COVID-19 crisis,
ISTA is looking forward to having more
workshops in Peja and collaborating further
in the introduction of seed testing in the
Republic of Kosovo.
49
ACCREDITATION
•
Achievement of ISTA Accreditation for Corteva Agriscience
(Pioneer Hi-Bred) Rosslyn Centralized Laboratory
THE ROSSLYN CENTRALIZED SEED
QUALITY TESTING (SQT) LABORATORY
WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED IN JANUARY
2017, at the Pioneer Hi-Bred site at Rosslyn in
Pretoria, South Africa. The purpose of this lab
is to serve and support in seed quality testing
as the regional SQT Laboratory for Africa
Middle East (AME) region.
The Rosslyn SQT Laboratory is part of the
eleven global Corteva Agriscience SQT
Laboratories. It has been beneficial to
collaborate with the other laboratories and
to share best practice through operational
excellence, improving seed quality testing
and ensuring that we provide our customers
with reliable, repeatable and accurate quality
results
on time!
In the AME region, we specialise and support
seed quality testing for the following crops:
maize, sunflower, cereals, forages and
pastures, testing 35 000 samples per year
on average.
Our Journey to ISTA
Accreditation (ZA04)
As we began this journey in 2017, it was
amidst many challenges: the building of the
laboratory was under way and many systems
and processes needed to be aligned and
streamlined to provide an efficient service to
our stakeholders and customers. However,
through it all we learned, grew and excelled
in operational excellence and innovation
through technology, developing new improved
processes and systems to better serve our
customers.
50 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org
In 2018 we received our laboratory registration
through the Official Seed Testing Laboratory,
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries (DAFF), to operate as a private seed
quality testing laboratory within the South
African regulations, in line with the Plant
Improvement Act 1976.
During this time, preparations for ISTA
accreditation were under way and we became
affiliated as an ISTA member laboratory. As
part of the ISTA accreditation standard, for
all ISTA member laboratories who seek ISTA
accreditation it is mandatory to participate in
ISTA Proficiency Tests. These are performed
in the form of seed quality testing ring tests
amongst all global ISTA members and ISTA
accredited laboratories. This is to build the
competency and standardisation in seed
quality testing at a global level.
In 2019 we achieved the minimum score
required to move to the next step of the ISTA
accreditation process, which meant we were
eligible to share our quality procedures and
processes with the ISTA auditors for further
assessment and to provide objective evidence
of our level of proficiency and competency in
seed quality testing. The auditors approved
our quality documents and we were eligible to
be audited on 27 November 2019.
The audit proved to be a great exposure for
the Rosslab team in that it highlighted our
strengths and opportunities for improvement.
I remember how proud the Rosslab team was
to be part of such an awesome experience!
The findings from the audit provided another
step towards our growth in seed testing. I
am also proud to share that one of the key
commendations that the ISTA auditors
observed during our audit process was that
our biggest strength lay in our technical skills.
After our final submission and review of
opportunities for improvement, we were
awarded the ISTA accreditation certification
with effect from 27 April 2020. Our scope
includes cereals (e.g. maize) in sampling;
purity analysis (which includes other seed
determination) and germination testing.
What Does This Mean for
Corteva Agriscience and the
Rosslyn Laboratory?
1. The Rosslyn SQT Laboratory is now able
to issue the Orange International Certificate
(OIC), which is recognised worldwide to
facilitate the exportation of seed.
2. The accreditation provides confidence
to our stakeholders and customers that the
quality test results reported are accurate,
reliable and repeatable.
3. The level of proficiency and competency of
our seed quality testing specialists has been
confirmed.
4. We now form part of the global ISTA
accredited laboratories.
In Conclusion
I would like to extend a word of gratitude
and appreciation to my Rosslab team, our
Corteva Agriscience Global Laboratory
colleagues, the SQT Global Leadership team
(Jeremy Bergstrom and Rodney Gilbert) and
everyone that supported us on this journey.
We are proud to be part of the ISTA family as
an accredited laboratory. The hard work now
begins as we sustain and maintain our ISTA
accreditation to best support our stakeholders
and customers in the AME region.
 • ACCREDITATION

SciCorp Laboratories (Pty) Ltd Attain ISTA Accreditation

Pietermaritzburg Team (PMB) team

WE ARE DELIGHTED THAT WE ACHIEVED ISTA

ACCREDITATION FOR OUR SEED QUALITY TEST DEPARTMENT
(ZA05).
Our highly specialised team of seed analysts and scientists have more Pretoria Team (PTA) team
than 100 years of collective experience.

Dr Tertia Erasmus, Managing Director of SciCorp Laboratories in

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, said: ‘This accreditation is a significant
achievement for us, as well as for the agricultural industry. It adds an
international level of excellence to our service offering.’

SciCorp Laboratories (Pty) Ltd evolved from a management buyout of

the state-of-the-art Analytical Services Laboratory of Incotec South
Africa. This move by management enabled the team to use their vast
fields of expertise to grow service delivery beyond existing seed testing
services.

We are an independent testing facility, registered as a Biotechnology

Laboratory with ISO 17025 accreditation for qualitative and
quantitative GMO testing and food safety testing services.

SciCorp Laboratories offer their services from Pietermaritzburg and

Pretoria to the agricultural, food and feed industries.

We provide:
• Seed Quality Testing
• GMO Testing
• Plant Breeding Support
• Food Safety Testing (Microbiology and Chemistry)
• Tissue Culturing
• Contract Research

This highly sought after ISTA accreditation ensures that SciCorp will
continue to set global standards, exceeding the needs of its customers.

For more information visit our website:

www.scicorplab.com.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 51

 ACCREDITATION
•
Achievement of ISTA Accreditation for Klein Karoo Seed
Production, Seed Quality Services
SEED QUALITY SERVICES, THE SEED
TESTING LABORATORY OF KLEIN
KAROO SEED PRODUCTION, is excited
and proud to have become an ISTA accredited
laboratory (ZA06) in January 2020.

We received the news amidst a national

lockdown in South Africa, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. This was a really
positive outcome in a very uncertain time all
around the world. We would like to thank the
ISTA accreditation team for their quick and
effective service delivery.

Located in the beautiful Klein Karoo region of

South Africa, Seed Quality Services are in the
heart of seed production country. Klein Karoo
Seed Production have been specialists in seed
production since 1980. Our ISTA accreditation
coincides with our 40th anniversary in the
seed industry.

ISTA accreditation will provide a much needed

service to seed production and seed marketing
companies in South Africa. Being able to issue
Orange and Blue International Certificates
will lead to faster turnaround times for the
exportation of vegetable seeds from South
Africa to the rest of the world. We are looking
forward to delivering these services to our
current, as well as new, clients.

We moved into our newly built laboratory

in June 2018. This new facility provided
more space as well as a more effective flow
of laboratory processes. Accreditation was
always the goal. We started participating in
the ISTA Proficiency Test rounds in January
2018. We became an ISTA member laboratory
in August 2018 and from there on it was ‘all
hands on deck’ to achieve the goal. Our ISTA
audit was highly anticipated and was such a
positive experience for us. It really set the tone
for the audits to follow!

Our scope of accreditation includes

manual sampling, purity and other seed
determinations, germination and weight
determination on grasses, cereals, small
legumes, pulses, other agricultural crops and
vegetables.

We want to thank our laboratory team, we are

proud of you!

For more information contact us at: ischoltz@

kleinkaroo.com or visit www.seedproduction.
co.za. Have a look at our Facebook page:
@KleinKarooSeedProduction.
Klein Karoo Seed Production, Seed Quality Services team

52 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 • ACCREDITATION

ISTA Accreditation Scope: Revision of the Crop Groups

Rita Zecchinelli, Florina Palada

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (ECOM)
ACCREDITATION WORKING GROUP
(AWG) formed by Steve Jones (ISTA President),
Rita Zecchinelli (Chair), Berta Killermann,
Valerie Cockerell, Sylvie Ducournau, Andreas
Wais and Florina Palada, has worked to revise
and improve the table of crop groups that
serves as a reference in the framework of ISTA
accreditation. The crop groups represent an
important criterion for defining the scope of
accreditation for laboratories.
Levisticum was initially introduced in crop
group 8, because the leaves can be used
as an aromatic herb, but the seeds can be
considered a spice and the root consumed as a
vegetable. For these reasons, in the revision it
is also listed in group 6.
For some ISTA laboratories, a possible
consequence of the approved changes is a
reduction of their accreditation scope (e.g.
several laboratories are accredited for group 5
because they test Brassica vegetable species;
or a laboratory interested in testing Salvia
hyspanica will not be obliged to extend the
accreditation scope to the flower species
group thanks to the changes).
We hope that this simplification will lead to
better administration of the audit time and
more appropriate participation in the ISTA
Proficiency Test programme.

The revision required the following activities:

• Table 2C Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the ISTA Rules were
carefully checked versus the crop groups table.
• A few missing species were added in the
crop groups table the Bulking and Sampling,
Purity, Germination, Tetrazolium and the
Forest Tree and Shrub Seed TCOM chairs were
consulted.
• The scientific names of the genera were
aligned to the revised ISTA List of Stabilised
Plant Names, 7th edition.
• All genera were listed in groups 7 (forest
species) and 8 (flower species). (In the previous
version of the table there was just a reference
to the ISTA Rules Table 2C, Part 2 or 3.)
• In some cases, a genus was added in more
than one crop group (e.g. genera with species
that can be cultivated for different purposes).
• The subgroups within the groups were
removed, as the ISTA accreditation is granted
for each crop group and not for subgroups.
Below you will find four tables:
1. t he ‘old’ crop groups table (as it was in the
application for re-accreditation);
2. t he ‘new’ table, clean and with the genera
in alphabetical order (as approved by the
ECOM in June 2020);
3. t he ‘new’ crop groups table with colours
(used to highlight the changes);
4. t he crop groups for viability tests using
the tetrazolium method, with the changes
highlighted and the scientific name
aligned with the revision of the ISTA List of
Stabilised Plant Names, 7th edition
We would like to give some examples of the
changes and the rationale behind these
changes.
Brassica was under group 5 only and it was
added to group 6 as well, as several brassicas
are in fact vegetable species.
Salvia was initially listed only in group 8
(flower species), but now we have it in crop
group 6 (vegetable species) and group 5 as
well (other agricultural species), due to the
new addition to the ISTA Rules of Salvia
hyspanica (chia). It is to be noted that for the
ISTA Rules 2022, a proposal is prepared by
the Bulking and Sampling Committee to add
Salvia hyspanica, in Table 2C Part 1, as it is
considered a ‘food’ crop in several countries,
especially popular in South America.
Table 1. Crop groups for purity, other seed determination and germination tests before the table revision
Crop group Size Species belonging to the following genera
A Poa pratensis, Poa trivialis, Dactylis
Agrostis, Anthoxanthum, Cynodon, Cynosurus, Deschampsia, Eragrostis,
B
Holcus, Phleum, Poa, Schizachyrium
Agropyron, Alopecurus, Arrhenatherum, Beckmannia, Bromus, Ehrharta,
1 C Elymus, Elytrigia, Festuca, xFestulolium, Koeleria, Lolium, Pascopyrum,
(grasses) Phalaris, Piptatherum, Psathyrostachys, Pseudoroegneria, Trisetum, Zoysia
Andropogon, Astrebla, Bothriochloa, Bouteloua, Cenchrus, Chloris,
D
Dichanthium, Pennisetum, Sorghastrum
Axonopus, Brachiaria, Digitaria, Echinochloa, Eleusine, Melinis, Panicum,
E
Paspalum, Pennisetum glaucum, Setaria, Urochloa
2 A Avena, Hordeum, Secale, xTriticosecale, Triticum
(cereals) Oryza, Sorghum, Zea
B
Aeschynomene, Alysicarpus, Anthyllis, Astragalus, Centrosema, Chamae-
3
crista, Securigera, Crotalaria, Desmodium, Galega, Hedysarum, Kummero-
(small A
wia, Lespedeza, Leucaena, Lotus, Macroptilium, Macrotyloma, Medicago,
legumes)
Melilotus, Onobrychis, Ornithopus, Securigera, Trifolium, Trigonella
A Vicia (small)
4 Cajanus, Cicer, Lathyrus, Lens, Mucuna, Phaseolus coccineus, Pisum,
B
(pulses) Psophocarpus, Vicia (large)
C Arachis, Cyamopsis, Glycine, Lablab, Lupinus, Phaseolus, Pueraria, Vigna
Beta, Brassica, Crambe, Dichondra, Hibiscus, Linum, Plantago, Sinapis,
5 A
Spergula, Raphanus
(other
agricultural
B Cannabis, Carthamus, Fagopyrum, Helianthus
species)
Achillea, Anethum, Anthriscus, Apium, Arctium, Atriplex, Atropa, Cameli-
na, Campanula, Carum, Chrysanthemum, Glebionis, Cichorium, Claytonia,
Cuminum, Daucus, Eruca, Fragaria, Lactuca, Lepidium, Solanum, Solanum
A hybrids, Marrubium, Matricaria, Melissa, Mentha, Nasturtium, Nicotiana,
6 Ocimum, Oenothera, Origanum, Papaver, Petroselinum, Phacelia, Physalis,
(vegetables, Pimpinella, Portulaca, Rheum, Rosmarinus, Rumex, Satureja, Sesamum,
including Stylosanthes, Taraxacum, Thymus, Valerianella
fruits,
Allium, Asparagus, Capsicum, Corchorus, Coriandrum, Cynara,
spices and
B Foeniculum, Pastinaca, Raphanus, Sanguisorba, Scorzonera, Solanum,
condiments)
Spinacia, Tragopogon
Abelmoschus, Borago, Cucumis, Cucurbita, Cucurbita hybrids,
C Citrullus, Gossypium, Ipomoea, Lagenaria, Luffa, Momordica, Ricinus,
Tetragonia
7
(forest See Table 2C Part 2 of the ISTA Rules
species)
8
(flower See Table 2C Part 3 of the ISTA Rules
species)

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 53

ACCREDITATION
•
Table 2. Crop groups for purity, other seed determination and germination tests, revised – groups 1 to 8 cover species/genera of Table 2C Parts 1, 2 and 3

Crop group Species belonging to the following genera

Agrostis, Anthoxanthum, Agropyron, Alopecurus, Arrhenatherum, Andropogon, Astrebla, Avenella, Axonopus, Beck-
mannia, Bothriochloa, Bouteloua, Bromus, Cenchrus, Chloris, Cynodon, Cynosurus, Dactylis, Deschampsia, Dichanthium,
1
Digitaria, Echinochloa, Ehrharta, Eleusine, Elymus, Eragrostis, Festuca, xFestulolium, Holcus, Koeleria, Lolium, Megathyrsus,
(grasses)
Melinis, Oloptum, Panicum, Pascopyrum, Paspalum, Pennisetum, Phalaris, Phleum, Poa, Psathyrostachys, Pseudoroegneria,
Schizachyrium, Setaria, Sorghastrum, Thinopyrum, Trisetum, Urochloa, Zoysia

2
Avena, Hordeum, Oryza, Secale, Sorghum, Triticum, xTriticosecale, Zea
(cereals)

3 Aeschynomene, Alysicarpus, Anthyllis, Astragalus, Calopogonium, Centrosema, Chamaecrista, Crotalaria, Desmodium,

(small Galega, Hedysarum, Kummerowia, Lespedeza, Leucaena, Listia, Lotus, Macroptilium, Macrotyloma, Medicago, Melilotus,
legumes) Onobrychis, Ornithopus, Securigera, Trifolium, Trigonella

4 Arachis, Cajanus, Cicer, Cyamopsis, Glycine, Lablab, Lathyrus, Lens, Lupinus, Mucuna, Neonotonia, Neustanthus, Phaseolus,
(pulses) Pisum, Psophocarpus, Pueraria, Vicia, Vigna

5
(other Beta, Brassica, Cannabis, Carthamus, Crambe, Dichondra, Fagopyrum, Gossypium, Helianthus, Hibiscus, Linum, Nicotiana,
agricultural Plantago, Phacelia, Raphanus, Salvia, Sinapis, Spergula
species)

Abelmoschus, Achillea, Allium, Anethum, Anthriscus, Apium, Arctium, Asparagus, Atriplex, Atropa, Beta, Borago, Bras-
6 sica, Camelina, Campanula, Cannabis, Capsicum, Carum, Chrysanthemum, Cichorium, Citrullus, Claytonia, Corchorus,
(vegetables, Coriandrum, Cucumis, Cucurbita, Cuminum, Cynara, Datura, Daucus, Eruca, Fragaria, Foeniculum, Gossypium, Glebionis,
spices, herbs, Ipomoea, Lactuca, Lagenaria, Lepidium, Levisticum, Luffa, Malva, Marrubium, Matricaria, Melissa, Mentha, Momordica,
and medicinal Nasturtium, Nicotiana, Ocimum, Oenothera, Origanum, Papaver, Pastinaca, Petroselinum, Phacelia, Physalis, Pimpinella,
species) Portulaca, Raphanus, Rheum, Ricinus, Rosmarinus, Rumex, Salvia, Sanguisorba, Satureja, Scorzonera, Sesamum, Silybum,
Solanum, Spinacia, Stylosanthes, Taraxacum, Tetragonia, Thymus, Tragopogon, Valerianella, Valeriana, Verbena

Abies, Acacia, Acer, Aesculus, Ailanthus, Alnus, Amorpha, Berberis, Betula, Calocedrus, Caragana, Carica, Carpinus, Casta-
nea, Catalpa, Cedrela, Cedrus, Chamaecyparis, Cornus, Corylus, Corymbia, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Cryptomeria, Cupres-
7
sus, Cydonia, Cytisus, Elaeagnus, Eucalyptus, Euonymus, Fagus, Fraxinus, Ginkgo, Gleditsia, Ilex, Juniperus, Koelreuteria,
(forest
Laburnum, Larix, Ligustrum, Liquidambar, Liriodendron, Malus, Morus, Nothofagus, Picea, Pinus, Platanus, Platycladus,
species)
Populus, Prunus, Pseudotsuga, Pyrus, Quercus, Robinia, Rosa, Salix, Senegalia, Sequoia, Sequoiadendron, Sorbus, Spar-
tium, Styphnolobium, Syringa, Taxodium, Taxus, Tectona, Thuja, Tilia, Tsuga, Ulmus, Vachellia, Viburnum, Zelkova

Abutilon, Achillea, Adonis, Ageratum, Agrimonia, Alcea, Althaea, Alyssum, Amaranthus, Amberboa, Ammobium, Anchusa,
Anemone, Angelica, Antirrhinum, Aquilegia, Arabis, Arctotis, Armeria, Artemisia, Asclepias, Asparagus, Aster, Aubrieta,
Aurinia, Bassia, Begonia, Bellis, Betonica, Brachyscome, Briza, Browallia, Brunnera, Calceolaria, Calendula, Callistephus,
Campanula, Celosia, Centaurea, Cerastium, Chelidonium, Chrysanthemum, Clarkia, Cleome, Cleretum, Cobaea, Coix,
Coleostephus, Consolida, Convolvulus, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Cyclamen, Cymbalaria, Cynoglossum, Dahlia, Datura, Del-
phinium, Dianthus, Digitalis, Dimorphotheca, Doronicum, Echinacea, Echinops, Echium, Erigeron, Erysimum, Eschschol-
zia, Eustoma, Fatsia, Felicia, Freesia, Gaillardia, Galega, Galeopsis, Gazania, Gentiana, Geranium, Gerbera, Geum, Gilia,
Glandularia, Glebionis, Gomphrena, Goniolimon, Grevillea, Gypsophila, Helenium, Helianthemum, Helianthus, Heliopsis,
8
Heliotropium, Hesperis, Heteranthemis, Heuchera, Hibiscus, Hippeastrum, Hypericum, Hyssopus, Iberis, Impatiens, Inula,
(flower
Ipomoea, Jacobaea, Kalanchoe, Kniphofia, Lathyrus, Lavandula, Lavatera, Legousia, Leontopodium, Leonurus, Leucanthe-
species)
mum, Levisticum, Liatris, Lilium, Limonium, Linaria, Linum, Lobelia, Lobularia, Lomelosia, Lonas, Lunaria, Lupinus, Lysima-
chia, Malcolmia, Malope, Malva, Marrubium, Matricaria, Matthiola, Melissa, Mentha, Mimosa, Mimulus, Mirabilis, Moluccella,
Myosotis, Nemesia, Nemophila, Nepeta, Nicotiana, Nierembergia, Nigella, Oenothera, Papaver, Pelargonium, Penstemon,
Pericallis, Perilla, Petunia, Phacelia, Phlox, Pholistoma, Physalis, Pimpinella, Plectocephalus, Plectranthus, Portulaca, Prim-
ula, Psephellus, Psylliostachys, Ranunculus, Reseda, Rheum, Rhodanthe, Rudbeckia, Ruta, Saintpaulia, Salpiglossis, Salvia,
Sanvitalia, Saponaria, Scabiosa, Schefflera, Schizanthus, Senecio, Silene, Silybum, Sinningia, Solanum, Symphyotrichum,
Tagetes, Tanacetum, Thunbergia, Thymus, Torenia, Tripleurospermum, Tropaeolum, Vaccaria, Valeriana, Verbascum, Verbe-
na, Vinca, Viola, Xeranthemum, Xerochrysum, Zinnia

54 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 • ACCREDITATION

Table 3. Crop groups for purity, other seed determination and germination tests, with the changes highlighted – groups 1 to 8 cover species/genera of
Table 2C Parts 1, 2 and 3

Crop group Species belonging to the following genera

Agrostis, Anthoxanthum, Agropyron, Alopecurus, Arrhenatherum, Andropogon, Astrebla, Avenella, Axonopus,

Beckmannia, Bothriochloa, Bouteloua, Bromus, Cenchrus, Chloris, Cynodon, Cynosurus, Dactylis, Deschampsia,
1
Dichanthium, Digitaria, Echinochloa, Ehrharta, Eleusine, Elymus, Eragrostis, Festuca, xFestulolium, Holcus, Koeleria,
(grasses)
Lolium, Megathyrsus, Melinis, Oloptum, Panicum, Pascopyrum, Paspalum, Pennisetum, Phalaris, Phleum, Poa,
Psathyrostachys, Pseudoroegneria, Schizachyrium, Setaria, Sorghastrum, Thinopyrum, Trisetum, Urochloa, Zoysia

2 (cereals) Avena, Hordeum, Oryza, Secale, Sorghum, Triticum, xTriticosecale, Zea

Aeschynomene, Alysicarpus, Anthyllis, Astragalus, Calopogonium, Centrosema, Chamaecrista, Crotalaria, Desmodium,
3
Galega, Hedysarum, Kummerowia, Lespedeza, Leucaena, Listia, Lotus, Macroptilium, Macrotyloma, Medicago, Melilotus,
(small legumes)
Onobrychis, Ornithopus, Securigera, Trifolium, Trigonella

4 Arachis, Cajanus, Cicer, Cyamopsis, Glycine, Lablab, Lathyrus, Lens, Lupinus, Mucuna, Neonotonia, Neustanthus,
(pulses) Phaseolus, Pisum, Psophocarpus, Pueraria, Vicia, Vigna

5
(other Beta, Brassica, Cannabis, Carthamus, Crambe, Dichondra, Fagopyrum, Gossypium, Helianthus, Hibiscus, Linum,
agricultural Nicotiana, Plantago, Phacelia, Raphanus, Sinapis, Spergula, Salvia
species)
Abelmoschus, Achillea, Allium, Anethum, Anthriscus, Apium, Arctium, Asparagus, Atriplex, Atropa, Beta, Borago,
Brassica, Camelina, Campanula, Cannabis, Capsicum, Carum, Chrysanthemum, Cichorium, Citrullus, Claytonia, Corchorus,
6
Coriandrum, Cucumis, Cucurbita, Cuminum, Cynara, Datura, Daucus, Eruca, Fragaria, Foeniculum, Gossypium, Glebionis,
(vegetables,
Ipomoea, Lactuca, Lagenaria, Lepidium, Levisticum, Luffa, Malva, Marrubium, Matricaria, Melissa, Mentha, Momordica,
spice, herbs,
Nasturtium, Nicotiana, Ocimum, Oenothera, Origanum, Papaver, Pastinaca, Petroselinum, Phacelia, Physalis, Pimpinella,
and medicinal
Portulaca, Raphanus, Rheum, Ricinus, Rosmarinus, Rumex, Salvia, Sanguisorba, Satureja, Scorzonera, Sesamum, Silybum,
species)
Solanum, Spinacia, Stylosanthes, Taraxacum, Tetragonia, Thymus, Tragopogon, Valerianella, Valeriana, Verbena

Abies, Acacia, Acer, Aesculus, Ailanthus, Alnus, Amorpha, Berberis, Betula, Calocedrus, Caragana, Carica, Carpinus,
Castanea, Catalpa, Cedrela, Cedrus, Chamaecyparis, Cornus, Corylus, Corymbia, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Cryptomeria,
7
Cupressus, Cydonia, Cytisus, Elaeagnus, Eucalyptus, Euonymus, Fagus, Fraxinus, Ginkgo, Gleditsia, Ilex, Juniperus, Koel-
(forest
reuteria, Laburnum, Larix, Ligustrum, Liquidambar, Liriodendron, Malus, Morus, Nothofagus, Picea, Pinus, Platanus, Platy-
species)
cladus, Populus, Prunus, Pseudotsuga, Pyrus, Quercus, Robinia, Rosa, Salix, Senegalia, Sequoia, Sequoiadendron, Sorbus,
Spartium, Styphnolobium, Syringa, Taxodium, Taxus, Tectona, Thuja, Tilia, Tsuga, Ulmus, Vachellia, Viburnum, Zelkova

Abutilon, Achillea, Adonis, Ageratum, Agrimonia, Alcea, Althaea, Alyssum, Amaranthus, Amberboa, Ammobium, An-
chusa, Anemone, Angelica, Antirrhinum, Aquilegia, Arabis, Arctotis, Armeria, Artemisia, Asclepias, Asparagus, Aster,
Aubrieta, Aurinia, Bassia, Begonia, Bellis, Betonica, Brachyscome, Briza, Browallia, Brunnera, Calceolaria, Calendula,
Callistephus, Campanula, Celosia, Centaurea, Cerastium, Chelidonium, Chrysanthemum, Clarkia, Cleome, Cleretum,
Cobaea, Coix, Coleostephus, Consolida, Convolvulus, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Cyclamen, Cymbalaria, Cynoglossum, Dahlia,
Datura, Delphinium, Dianthus, Digitalis, Dimorphotheca, Doronicum, Echinacea, Echinops, Echium, Erigeron, Erysimum,
Eschscholzia, Eustoma, Fatsia, Felicia, Freesia, Gaillardia, Galega, Galeopsis, Gazania, Gentiana, Geranium, Gerbera,
Geum, Gilia, Glandularia, Glebionis, Gomphrena, Goniolimon, Grevillea, Gypsophila, Helenium, Helianthemum, Helianthus,
8
Heliopsis, Heliotropium, Hesperis, Heteranthemis, Heuchera, Hibiscus, Hippeastrum, Hypericum, Hyssopus, Iberis, Impa-
(flower
tiens, Inula, Ipomoea, Jacobaea, Kalanchoe, Kniphofia, Lathyrus, Lavandula, Lavatera, Legousia, Leontopodium, Leonurus,
species)
Leucanthemum, Levisticum, Liatris, Lilium, Limonium, Linaria, Linum, Lobelia, Lobularia, Lomelosia, Lonas, Lunaria, Lupi-
nus, Lysimachia, Malcolmia, Malope, Malva, Marrubium, Matricaria, Matthiola, Melissa, Mentha, Mimosa, Mimulus, Mirabilis,
Moluccella, Myosotis, Nemesia, Nemophila, Nepeta, Nicotiana, Nierembergia, Nigella, Oenothera, Papaver, Pelargonium,
Penstemon, Pericallis, Perilla, Petunia, Phacelia, Phlox, Pholistoma, Physalis, Pimpinella, Plectocephalus, Plectranthus,
Portulaca, Primula, Psephellus, Psylliostachys, Ranunculus, Reseda, Rheum, Rhodanthe, Rudbeckia, Ruta, Saintpaulia,
Salpiglossis, Salvia, Sanvitalia, Saponaria, Scabiosa, Schefflera, Schizanthus, Senecio, Silene, Silybum, Sinningia, Solanum,
Symphyotrichum, Tagetes, Tanacetum, Thunbergia, Thymus, Torenia, Tripleurospermum, Tropaeolum, Vaccaria, Valeriana,
Verbascum, Verbena, Vinca, Viola, Xeranthemum, Xerochrysum, Zinnia

Legend to Table 3

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Parts 1, 2 or 3 and in one single crop group

Listed twice in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 1 and Part 3 and listed in two different crop groups
Listed twice in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 1 and Part 3 and listed in two different crop groups;
now listed in one more crop group due to their use as agricultural plants
Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 1 but listed in two crop groups

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 3 but listed in two crop groups

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 3 and listed in one crop group; now listed in one more crop group

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 3 and listed in one crop group; now listed in two more crop groups

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 55

ACCREDITATION
•
Table 4. Crop groups for viability tests using the tetrazolium method, with the changes highlighted and with the scientific name aligned with the revision
of the ISTA List of Stabilised Plant Names, 7th edition

Crop group Species belonging to the following genera

Agropyron, Agrostis, Alopecurus, Anthoxanthum, Arrhenatherum, Avenella, Bromus, Chloris, Cynosurus, Dactylis, Des-
1
champsia, Elymus, Eragrostis, Festuca, Holcus, Lolium, Megathyrsus, Panicum, Pascopyrum, Phalaris, Phleum, Poa, Pseu-
(grasses)
doroegneria, Setaria, Thinopyrum, Trisetum, Urochloa

2
Avena, Hordeum, Oryza, Secale, Sorghum, Triticum, xTriticosecale, Zea
(cereals)

3
(small Lotus, Medicago, Melilotus, Onobrychis, Ornithopus, Trifolium
legumes)

4
N/A
(pulses)

5
(other
Helianthus, Brassica
agricultural
species)

6
(vegetables,
spice, herbs, Allium, Arctium, Brassica, Cucumis,Lactuca, Solanum, Ocimum, Malva
and medicinal
species)

7 Abies, Acer, Amorpha, Berberis, Calocedrus, Carpinus, Chamaecyparis, Chameacyparis, Cornus, Corylus, Cotoneaster, Cra-
(forest taegus, Cuppressus, Elaeagnus, Euonymus, Fagus, Fraxinus, Ginkgo, Ilex, Juniperus, Koelreuteria, Ligustrum, Liriodendron,
species) Malus, Pinus, Prunus, Pseudotsuga, Pyrus, Rosa, Styphnolobium, Sorbus, Taxodium, Taxus, Tilia, Viburnum

8
(flower Helianthus, Malva, Solanum
species)

Legend to Table 4

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Parts 1, 2 or 3 and in one single crop group

Listed twice in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 1 and Part 3 and listed in two different crop groups
Listed twice in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 1 and Part 3 and listed in two different crop groups;
now listed in one more crop group due to their use as agricultural plants
Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 1 but listed in two crop groups

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 3 but listed in two crop groups

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 3 and listed in one crop group; now listed in one more crop group

Listed once in the ISTA Rules Table 2C Part 3 and listed in one crop group; now listed in two more crop groups

56 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 • ACCREDITATION

Interactive ISTA Certificate Learning Tool

Christine Herzog

Figure 1. The ‘Home’ page is the starting page of the interactive Certificate learning tool

Aim of the Project

The ISTA Accreditation and Technical
Department has developed an interactive
online tool which gives examples of how an
Orange or Blue International Certificate is
issued correctly.

During our many audit visits to ISTA seed

testing stations, we recognised that it can be
challenging for the accredited laboratories
to apply the requirements of the ISTA Rules,
and to report their analysis data on the
International Certificates properly.

The ISTA Rules are the base which regulates

all reporting of seed test data on ISTA
International Certificates. A procedure (‘How
to complete ISTA Certificates’) is published
on the ISTA website, which describes the
issuance of the Certificates. With the new
interactive learning tool, further easy-to-apply
help is provided.
Figure 2. The ‘How it works’ page is an infographic which explains how to use the interactive tool
Visit the interactive ISTA Certificate
learning tool: https://learn-ista.org/

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 57

ACCREDITATION
•
Project Background
The project started in 2018 and the release
for ISTA members was in June 2020, which
means a project duration of two years. The
core team of the project were staff of the ISTA
Accreditation and Technical Department and
the ISTA Secretary General. The interactive
Certificate learning tool is a customised
website with extended functions which were
developed with a software programmer
(byteKultur, Zurich). During the formation
phases, two test rounds were organised
to obtain more information about the
functionality, correctness of the reporting,
connected ISTA references and to receive
feedback as to which functions were missing.
The test users gave extremely important
inputs to develop the tool and to make it
mature and user friendly. Aside from the
Accreditation Team, the test users were ISTA
members from all over the world (contributor Figure 3. On the ‘select a template’ page, the user can decide whether to train on an Orange
team members from the laboratories: CA08, International Certificate or on a Blue International Certificate
DE03, FR03, DK06, NZ05, RO05, TH05).The
ISTA Marketing Department supported the
project with all aspects relevant to marketing
and prepared the release for the members.

Structure of the Learning Tool

The website is structured into four main areas:
• The ‘home’ page;
• ‘How it works’ page;
• ‘Select a template’ page; and
• ‘Learning tool’ page.

With a defined range of species, many

analyses which are published in the ISTA
Rules, can be selected. The displayed
examples contain dummy data and give the
user an idea of how the data could be reported
in a correct way.

The species which can be selected are:

• Beta vulgaris (coated)
• Beta vulgaris (uncoated) Figure 4. The ‘learning tool’ page (upper part) provides a selection of species, analyses, data and
• Glycine max ISTA Rules references which can be selected and displayed
• Lolium sp.
• Triticum aestivum
• Mixtures (for Blue International Certificate
only)

Analyses (with many specifications for each)

which can be selected are:
• Purity
• Other seed determination
• Germination
• Thousand-seed weight
• Viability
• Seed health
• Varity
• Moisture
• X-ray
• Size grading
• GMO
• Non-ISTA methods Figure 5. The ‘learning tool’ page (lower part)
• Vigour
• Excised embryo
The interactive Certificate learning tool is not are sure that this newly created tool will be of
• Mixture composition (Blue International
static: as the ISTA Rules are adjusted every benefit to accredited laboratories and for new
Certificate only)
year and new methods are published, new candidates for accreditation.
content will be implemented into the tool. We

58 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 • ACCREDITATION

Laboratory Accreditation Changes

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RE-ACCREDITATION!

HU02 SE02
Re-accredited ISTA Quality Control Laboratory Seed Testing Laboratory Newly Accredited ISTA
Member Laboratories Syngenta KFT Statens Jordbruksverk Utsädesenheten Member Laboratories
30.06.2020 30.06.2020
Ipari Park (Swedish Board of Agriculture)
5400 Mez túr Onsjövägen
CA04 HUNGARY PO Box 83
Ontario Plant Laboratories Phone: +36 56 887 550 26822 Svalöv NL11
Plant Pathology Laboratory Fax: +36 56 887 560 SWEDEN Syngenta Seeds B.V.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Email: erika.szegedi@syngenta.com Phone: +46 36 1550 00 Westeinde 62
Ottawa Laboratory Fallowfield Fax: +46 36 1583 08 1601BK
Ottawa, Ontario K2H 8P9 IT09 Email: utsadeskontroll@sjv.se Enkhuizen
CANADA Seed Testing Laboratory NETHERLANDS
Phone: +1 613 7591292 Pioneer Hi-Bred Italia Sementi s.r.l. SE07 Phone: +31 228 366597
Fax: +1 613 759 1260 Via Provinciale 42/44 Frökontrollen Email: maureen.jansen-stavenuiter@syngenta.com
Email: stephan.briere@inspection.gc.ca 43018 Sissa (Parma) Mellansverige AB
ITALY Section Örebro PK01
ES01 Phone: +39 0521 877999 Gamla vägen 5G Seed Testing Laboratory
Estación de Ensayos INIA Fax: +39 0521 877900 PO Box 22014 Federal Seed Certification and Registration
Carretera de la Coruña, Km. 7,500 Email: francesca.lommi@pioneer.com 702 02 Örebro Department
28040 Madrid SWEDEN Ministry of National Food Security and Research
SPAIN MX01 Phone: +46 19 603 27 30 Mauve Area G-9/4
Phone: +34 91 347 3579 Servicio Nacional de Inspeccion y Certificacion Fax: +46 19 135082 44000 Islamabad
Fax: +34 91 3474168 de Semillas (SNICS) Email: frokontrollen@hush.se PAKISTAN
Email: sanz.catalina@inia.es Av. Presidente Juarez no. 13 Phone: +92-51-9260126
Col. El Cortijo SE09 Fax: +92-51-9260234
FR07 Tlalnepantla, 54000 Quality Control Laboratory Email: msarwar80@hotmail.com
Pioneer Genetique S.A.R.L. MEXICO MariboHilleshög Research AB
Seed Quality Laboratory Phone: +52 55 4196 0542 Box 302 ZA04
1131 Chemin de l’Enseigure Fax: +52 53 901441 261 23 Landskrona Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Testing Laboratory Rosslyn
31840 Aussonne Email: marco.caballero@snics.gob.mx SWEDEN Pioneer Hi-Bred RSA (Pty) LTD
FRANCE Phone: +46 418 437327 Quality Department
Phone: +33 5 61 06 20 00 NO01 Email: brittlouise.lennefors@maribohilles- PO Box 1398
Fax: +33 5 61 06 20 67 Kimen Seed Laboratory hog.com 0200 Rosslyn
Email: hortense.faucher@pioneer.com PO Box 164 SOUTH AFRICA
N-1431 Ås US10 Phone: +27825624903
GB04 NORWAY Seed Quality Laboratory Fax: +27 86 607 9181
Official Seed Testing Station Phone: +47 64 970665 DuPont Pioneer Email: viwe.ratiba@corteva.com
Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture Fax: +47 64 970663 7150 NW 70th Avenue
1 Roddinglaw Road Email: Eivme@kimen.no 50131 Johnston, IA ZA05
Edinburgh EH12 9FJ UNITED STATES Seed Analysts Laboratory
UNITED KINGDOM PT01 Phone: +1 515 535 8306 SciCorp Laboratories (Pty) Ltd
Phone: +44 131 244 8900 Direção Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária Email: whitney.thorson@corteva.com 1 Gerhard Braak Street
Fax: +44 1312448940 (DGAV) Pyramid
Email: valerie.cockerell@sasa.gov.scot Direção de Serviços de Sanidade Vegetal ZA03 0120 Pretoria
Divisão de Variedades e Sementes Starke Ayres Quality Assurance Laboratory SOUTH AFRICA
HU01 Edificio II- Tapada da Ajuda Starke Ayres (Pty) Ltd Phone: +27 33 386 1560
Seed Testing Laboratory 1349-018 Lisboa National Operations Fax: +27 33 386 1474
National Food Chain Safety Office PORTUGAL PO Box 13339 Email: admin@scicorplab.com
Keleti Károly u. 24 Phone: +351 21 3613274 1511 Northmead
1024 Budapest Fax: +351 213613277 SOUTH AFRICA ZA06
HUNGARY Email: pcarvalho@dgav.pt Phone: +27 11 748 3649 Seed Quality Service Laboratory
Phone: +36 1 336 9329 Fax: +27 86 775 6996 Klein Karoo Seed Production
Fax: +36 1 336 9096 Email: lucele@starkeayres.co.za 1 Kooperasie Street
Email: ripkage@nebih.gov.hu Park Avenue
6625 Oudtshoorn
SOUTH AFRICA
Phone: +443 22 22 81
Fax: +443 29 23 30
Email: claudia@kleinkaroo.com

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 59

SEED SCIENCE
•
Fresh in the Field — #Young@ISTA
ISTA introduces you to a new generation of seed scientists,
who are enthusiastic, eager to learn and talented
BIO:
Olisa Babafemi
Sunday
Central Seed Testing
Laboratory, National
Agricultural Seeds
Council (NASC), Abuja
Age: 44
Nigeria

Babafemi graduated in Plant Science at

Obafemi Awolowo University, lle-Ife, Nigeria.
He obtained his Master of Science in Seed
Science in 2010. During this time Femi had the
opportunity to work as a laboratory assistant
in the Department of Crop Production and
Protection (formerly Plant Science) at Obafemi
Awolowo University. After the completion of
his Master of Science in 2010, he joined the
National Agricultural Seeds Council, Nigeria as
a Seed Analyst. Since then he has been the Head
of the Central Seed Testing Laboratory in the
Department of Seed Certification and Quality
Control. Femi has just concluded his Doctor of
Philosophy in Seed Science and Technology at
Obafemi Awolowo University.
1. How and when did you first learn about
ISTA?
I learnt about ISTA in 2007 during my
postgraduate study from an academic course
offered about ISTA, by updates from Seed
Testing International and through research
journal articles.
2. How does ISTA help you in your daily job?
ISTA Rules and other ISTA Handbooks are
important working documents and reference
materials for my day-to-day seed testing and
other laboratory activities. Proceedings from
ISTA Congresses and technical meetings
have also been useful guides in designing
methodologies for seed related research.
3. How do you keep in touch with ISTA’s
work and its community?
Regular visits to the ISTA website and reading
the STI publication online have been means
of connecting with the ISTA community.
Furthermore, participation in conferences,
workshops and periodic meetings with
colleagues from universities and research
institutes are good channels for keeping in
touch with ISTA work.
4. Have you participated in any ISTA events/
workshops? Which and why?
I had the privilege to attend the 2019 ISTA
Congress held in Hyderabad, India where
I participated in the two pre-Congress
workshops: ‘Seed Morphology and Seed
Identification for Purity and OSD Test’ and
‘Seed Production, Quality Control and
Marketing’.
5. Did you have any experience with ISTA
prior to attending these events/workshops?
Yes, during the visit of ISTA Secretary General,
Dr Andreas Wais to Nigeria in 2019, and
through interaction on the ISTA website and its
publications.
6. How have you benefited from these
events/workshops?
Other seed determination (OSD) is a difficult
aspect of the seed testing procedure that needs
adequate and continuous training. I can attest
to the fact that the training I had on this aspect
of seed quality testing during the 2019 Congress
has been very helpful in my purity analysis and
how to carry out seed identification.
7. Were you able to build useful connections
for your work during these events/
workshops?
During the meeting, WhatsApp groups were
formed for the participants, where we now often
share technical ideas and solve some technical
problems. Information from the forum has
been helpful in taking many technical decisions
relating to our seed programme and laboratory
activities.
8. Would you recommend students and
young researchers to attend similar events/
workshops?
Just as I was introduced to ISTA in 2009
when I was a student, likewise, I would invite
and encourage other students and young
researchers to participate in any ISTA organised
events to familiarise themselves with new
discoveries in the world of seed testing and seed
science. In addition, these events could provide
useful information on how to handle difficult
subjects in seed science, which I believe would
be helpful to young researchers if they can
afford the cost of attending.
9. Have you considered attending any more
ISTA events/workshops?
Yes, I would like to attend over and over again
in order to connect with the ISTA family and
other seed scientists outside my country for a
‘refreshing time’ and to share technical ideas.
10. Would you recommend your colleagues
and young researchers to connect with
ISTA? Why?
As mentioned previously, I would like to invite
and encourage other young researchers to
participate in ISTA organised events and

60 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 • SEED SCIENCE

to regularly visit the ISTA website in order

to sharpen their research prowess toward
development of the seed sector in their
various countries. Seed programmes are
associated with many constraints which can
only be corrected by well-designed research
methodologies, which I believe the ISTA
framework offers. Therefore, if these young
scientists are keenly involved, remedies to
ameliorate these problems will be developed for
a sustainable seed supply and food security.

11. Can you tell us what you are working

on now and how it is related to the seed
industry?
I am presently assessing possible problems that
are associated with seed quality in the Nigerian
seed industry, using commercial rice and maize
seeds as case studies with a view to identifying
and defining the nature of the problems.
Information obtained from the data generated
will suggest possible remedies to the identified
problems. I am also currently leading the team
on the Proficiency Tests being undertaken by
NASC Central Seed Testing Laboratory.
BIO: ISTA Handbooks and to implement ISTA Rules
Pranvera Berisha in practice.
12. Have you considered joining and Kosovo Institute of
Agriculture 2. How does ISTA help you in your daily job?
becoming a member of one of the 20 ISTA
ISTA Rules and Handbooks are essential
Technical Committees? Why? Age: 25
references we use during our work. They
Yes, this will help to furnish my research Kosovo demonstrate the procedures used to perform
skills, work with renowned seed scientists as
seed testing analysis, such as purity analysis,
well as provide me a platform to contribute to
seed moisture or thousand-seed weights,
the development of the global seed sector for
germination as well as other seed related
sustainable seed security.
Pranvera was born and raised in Peja, Kosovo. research.
13. What would you recommend ISTA to For her Bachelor’s degree, she studied
Plant Production Technology and Law 3. How do you keep in touch with ISTA’s
change or improve? Why?
simultaneously. She also gained her Master’s work and its community?
ISTA has been doing great work. However,
degree in Field and Vegetable Products. To The first people who helped me get in touch
there is still more ground to cover, particularly
complete her Law degree, Pranvera is still with the ISTA community were Ms. Velta
toward improving the technical competencies
working on her thesis. Evelone and Ms. Solvita Berga from Latvia.
of young scientists from African countries in
They were engaged with the Twinning project
developing their respective native seed sectors
Two years ago Pranvera started working for in Kosovo and during that time we were
through seed testing methodologies.
the Kosovo Institute of Agriculture as a Quality interested in starting preparations to have
Manager in the Seed Laboratory, where she has an ISTA Workshop in the Kosovo Institute/
14. What is your opinion on the future of
had the chance to integrate both of her degrees, Seed Laboratory. They provided me with
seed testing?
as her activities involve working with rules, ISTA contacts to be able to continue with the
Seed testing has really advanced generally.
standards and legal acts (seed law), all of which organisation of the workshop.
However, more economically affordable and
non-destructive methods for seed quality relate to seeds and laboratory organisation.
4. Have you participated in any ISTA events/
testing are needed on-board. Also, there is a
Her future plan is to start a PhD abroad with workshops? Which and why?
need to organise more training and workshops
special focus on seeds, aiming to provide her I was both an organiser and a participant in the
on statistics in seed testing. This is essential to
contribution to the institution she is currently ISTA workshop on Quality Assurance and ISTA
help in seed quality control and formulation of
working for as well as to the seed industry of Accreditation for Beginners, which took place
policy programmes for the development of seed
Kosovo. in 2019, at the Kosovo Institute of Agriculture
sectors.
in Peja.
15. What are your plans for the future? 1. How and when did you first learn about
ISTA? 5. Did you have any experience with ISTA
To continue in the formulation of seed testing
I first learned about ISTA during my Seed prior to attending these events/workshops?
methodologies and strategies for seed quality
Science studies for my Master’s degree when I had participated in workshops before, but it
control, seed research and development of the
we discussed laboratory testing. However, only was my first time attending such a serious and
global seed sector in general.
when I started working for the Kosovo Institute professionally organised workshop, providing
of Agriculture did I have the chance to access many various benefits for the participants.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 61

SEED SCIENCE
•
6. How have you benefited from these
events/workshops?
The main benefit was that I gained knowledge
in quality assurance systems from great experts
such as Florina Palada, Rita Zecchinelli and
Eddie Goldschagg. Their lectures helped
to improve my laboratory quality system
documentation knowledge, which allowed us
to increase our performance for the Kosovo
national accreditation. After the workshop
we, as an Institute, were convinced of the
importance of ISTA and decided to become
ISTA members.

7. Were you able to build useful connections

for your work during these events/
workshops?
Definitely. The workshop was an opportunity to
meet very experienced experts from all over the
world. We managed to build connections and
to stay in touch during routine work, as well as
to exchange experience for solving problems we
encounter during our work.

8. Would you recommend students and

young researchers to attend similar events/
workshops?
Absolutely! These events are a great opportunity
to exchange experience and to create new
contacts for future collaborations, especially for
the new generation of seed scientists.

9. Have you considered attending any more

ISTA events/workshops?
I will certainly attend ISTA workshops in the
future for germination, species and variety
testing, because they are my favourite
parameters and I think these workshops are
an excellent way to learn new things and
to exchange experience with other people
involved in the same field.

10. Would you recommend your colleagues

and young researchers to connect with
ISTA? Why?
Yes, for sure. Everyone working with seeds must
have contact with ISTA because it provides all
the appropriate information for seed testing
methods.

11. Can you tell us what you are working

on now and how it is related to the seed
industry?
Right now, I am working as a Quality Manager
in Kosovo Institute of Agriculture/Seed
Laboratory. Furthermore, I am involved in seed
testing for all parameters, but my personal
favourite is germination. In the future, I wish
to gain knowledge and experience on species
and variety testing parameters as I am also
interested in this field.
12. Have you considered joining and
becoming a member of one of the 20 ISTA
Technical Committees? Why?
It would be a great and important opportunity
for me in the future. Nevertheless, at the
moment I prefer to focus on gaining further
experience so that in a few years’ time, I would
be ready to take part in some of the ISTA
Technical Committees.
13. What would you recommend ISTA to
change or improve? Why?
For some species in the ISTA Rules, two or
more methods for germination are described;
different ways for breaking dormancy or two
temperatures are allowed. I would suggest
to strictly assign one set of conditions only;
sometimes, when we participate in Proficiency
Tests, we have trouble with different results
based on the different methods, temperatures,
etc. Second, I would recommend to post more
videos to the ISTA webpages as they are very
useful for people who do not have the chance to
participate in ISTA events.
14. What is your opinion on the future of
seed testing?
The seed industry is of international character.
Therefore, it is very important to follow
ISTA’s mission on ‘uniformity in seed quality
evaluation worldwide’; on this basis, we can be
sure of our work results.
15. What are your plans for the future?
My aim is to continue being in touch with ISTA,
participate in ISTA workshops, and host other
workshops in my country, too. Also, to always
follow ISTA Rules, gain more knowledge, and
one day when we consider that we are ready, to
apply for ISTA accreditation.

62 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org


Report on the APSA/ISTA Seed Quality Management Seminar and Vigour
Workshop
17–21 February 2020, Bangkok, Thailand
Alison A. Powell
Chair, ISTA Vigour Committee
APSA/ISTA Seed Quality
Management Seminar
The ISTA Vigour Committee were delighted
to be asked to participate In the first joint
activity between the Asia and Pacific Seed
Association (APSA) and ISTA, in the form of
the Seed Quality Management Seminar, which
was held in Bangkok from 17–18 February 2020
at the Centara Grand, Central Plaza Ladprao,
Bangkok. The participants in the seminar
came from diverse countries and disciplines.
They represented more than 40 organisations
in more than a dozen countries including
Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong (China),
South Korea, Japan, Australia, Bangladesh,
India, Italy, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The
participants from the Vigour Committee
contributed a further three countries, with
ISTA represented by Alison Powell and Stan
Matthews (UK), Tim Loeffler (USA) and Marie-
Hélène Wagner (France). The participants
served many different roles in the seed sector:
managers, assistants and other personnel
SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020
• TRAINING AND EDUCATION
from seed testing laboratories, the quality
assurance and supply chain, plant breeders,
inventory and marketing departments at
private companies, government agencies and
research institutes.
The seminar was presided over by the
Thailand Department of Agriculture
Director General, Dr Surmsuk Salakpetch
and the APSA Vice President, Mr. Wichai
Laocharoenpornkul. In his welcome address,
Mr. Wichai commented that, ‘This is in fact
the first time APSA and ISTA are collaborating
to co-organise this type of capacity-
building workshop, which aims to deliver
timely, valuable and practical knowledge
and experience to our members and other
industry stakeholders’, and noted that the
seminar supported APSA’s mission, ‘To
ensure sustainable agriculture through the
production and trade of quality seeds for the
world’. The contribution to capacity building
was emphasised by Dr Surmsuk in relation
Participants in the Seed Vigour Workshop
to the specific aim of the Thai government
strategy to develop and position the Kingdom
as a regional quality seed hub. She went on
to define the main aspects that contribute
to seed quality, such as germination and
viability, purity, seed health, seed moisture
and vigour, and highlighted that the
importance of vigour would be emphasised
during the seminar.
The two-day agenda included both
presentations and interactive round-table
discussions. The seminar started with ‘An
overview of the Asia and Pacific seed sector
and global initiatives’ by Dr Kanokwan
Chodchoey (APSA Executive Director),
followed by a more specific review of the
implementation of vigour tests in the Asia and
Pacific regions by Dr Sumitra Kantrong (Chia
Tai Seeds and Chair of APSA Working Group
of Integrated Vegetable Seed Companies).
Alison Powell introduced the participants to
ISTA and the role of the Vigour Committee.
63
TRAINING AND EDUCATION
•

Mr. Wichai Laocharoenpornkul, Vice-President of APSA welcomes Dr Surmsuk Salakpetch, Thailand Department of Agriculture
participants to the Seed Quality Management Seminar Director General addresses the Seed Quality Management Seminar

Contributors and participants in the Seed Quality Management

Seminar Marie-Hélène Wagner, ISTA Vigour Committee gives a presentation

The members of the Vigour Committee gave
four presentations focussing on the ISTA
validated vigour tests: electrical conductivity
(EC) and tetrazolium tests, accelerated
ageing, controlled deterioration and radicle
emergence (RE). For all tests, the physiological
basis of the test and its application to help
ensure high seed quality were emphasised.
Presentations from the Vigour Committee
also dealt with seed vigour related to seed
production, processing and inventory
management, practical considerations of
seed storage, and handling product quality
complaints. The final oral presentation from
the Committee emphasised the explanation
of all vigour tests on the basis of the ageing/
repair hypothesis. The participants also took
part in round-table discussions in which
they were asked to discuss topics related
to vigour, followed by presentation of their
conclusions to the whole seminar. This proved
to be a highly successful session in which
there was enthusiastic participation and the
reports from the group discussions provided
interesting comments, insights and ideas. In
addition to the Committee’s presentations,
there were talks on commercial, research
and marketing aspects given by Dr Malavika
Dadlani (former Joint Director of Research
and Head of Division, Seed Science and
Technology, Indian Agricultural Research
Institute; also former ISTA Vigour Committee
member) who gave an update on seed law and
seed legislation in India, Korea and Japan, and
Dr Rob Pronk (Global Marketing Manager,
INCOTEC Group BV) who gave a presentation
entitled ‘Seed enhancement: the roaring 20s
have started’.
APSA/ISTA Seed Vigour
Workshop
Our three-day workshop was held
immediately after the Seed Quality
Management Seminar, from 19–21 February
at the Seed Testing Laboratory, a seed
certification building which is part of the
Department of Agriculture’s Seed Research
and Development Division near Kasetsart
University in Bangkok. There were 34
participants from nine countries; these
included participants from overseas, most of
whom had also attended the seminar, and the
local staff.
We were welcomed to the laboratory by Ms.
Chuntana Komgnakhon, the Director of
Thailand’s Seed R&D Division, who thanked
ISTA and APSA for collaborating to create a
valuable capacity-building opportunity. She
described the role of the laboratory for over
30 years to provide seed testing services for
the public and private sector, delivering the
four main types of seed test for issuing seed
analysis certificates.
During the workshop, there were
presentations on the four validated vigour
tests: EC, accelerated ageing, controlled
deterioration and RE. Emphasis was made on
the practical completion of each test, critical
aspects to ensure accuracy, and the analysis
and reporting of results. The participants
acquired hands-on experience of testing
various field and vegetable species. They
set up and evaluated the RE test for Brassica
rapa and the EC test for Raphanus sativus,
and evaluated RE for Zea mays and EC for
Glycine max. The vigour of seed lots of Brassica
oleracea was assessed using both germination
and EC after controlled deterioration, and of Z.
mays and G. max after accelerated ageing. Use
of two vigour tests to assess the same seed lots
allowed the participants to see how the same
ranking of lots was achieved with different
tests. The last two presentations of the
workshop looked firstly at test development
and validation, how laboratories could

64 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org

 • TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Tim Loeffler, ISTA Vigour Committee with one of the discussion groups Participants in the Seed Vigour Workshop at the end of the last lecture!

ISTA Vigour Committee members with Ms. Chuntana Komgnakhon,

Director of Thailand’s Seed Research and Development Division
(fourth from right), Dr Papassorn Watanakulpakin (centre front)
At work in the laboratory and the members of the seed laboratory who prepared the workshop

develop tests themselves for new species, and
encouraged the laboratories to submit data for
validation if successful. Second, and finally,
different vigour tests were compared, and the
importance of validation emphasised.
As our workshop covered four of the validated
vigour tests and their application to a
number of species, the preparation of the
practical material was demanding in terms
of timing the tests so that they were ready
for assessment, and the volume of material
involved. However, this was achieved
admirably, and excellent material was
produced that illustrated the vigour tests very
well. We were grateful to everyone involved
from the seed laboratory in Bangkok, who
were led by Dr Papassorn Watanakulpakin
from the Seed Testing Laboratory at
Phitsanulok Seed R&D Centre.
Our workshop was not simply hard work; we
enjoyed relaxing times over excellent lunches,
tea and coffee breaks, and the evening
workshop dinner held on campus. The ISTA
representatives also briefly became tourists
for four hours on the Friday afternoon, with
a wonderful guide in the form of Sumitra
Kantrong! Our brief visit to see the Emerald
Buddha at the Grand Palace and the flower
market was only a small taste of Bangkok, but
enough to make us want to visit again.
You may note in the photos of the seminar
and workshop that some participants are
wearing masks. Our visit to Thailand occurred
after COVID-19 had spread in China but was
still in low numbers elsewhere. We were
cautious about travelling, but with few cases
in Thailand we decided to go ahead and with
good containment measures clearly evident
on arrival, we were reassured. Only two weeks
later, international flights into Thailand were
halted and events worldwide were cancelled.
We were lucky!
Thanks to All
There are many people that we would like to
thank for helping to ensure such a successful
seminar and workshop. The preparation
for both events was facilitated by easy
communication and good organisation;
for the seminar this was with the APSA
representatives, Dr Kanokwhan Chodchoey
and Dr Sumitra Kantrong (Chia Thai Seeds,
ISTA accredited TH04), and for the workshop
with Dr Papassorn Watanakulpakin from the
Phitsanulok Seed Laboratory (ISTA accredited
TH05). These three people were also key to
ensuring the successful running of the events,
as were many other APSA representatives,
particularly Kunaporn Phuntunil and Mike
Kingpayom. I know there are many others
from the APSA office who helped us and were
involved in the organisation but whose names
I do not know:
I hope they will accept our thanks.
We are also grateful to Ms. Chuntana
Komgnakon of the Department of Agriculture
for hosting the workshop at the seed
laboratory and to all the staff for the hard
work that they did in providing the practical
material for the participants.
Finally, we have to say thank you to everyone
involved in APSA for their warm welcome
and hospitality, and to the participants in
both the seminar and workshop whose active
involvement in both events was very much
appreciated. These events were a great success
and we hope that they are the start for future
collaborative events between ISTA and APSA.

SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2020 65

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E THE
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ATE
S!