Seed Certification & Revalidation in View of Climate Change and New Varieties of Crops

Abstract

Seed is the most basic input in agriculture whose quality is ascertained through certification. In India, seed certification is voluntarily conducted by seed certification agency under section 8 of The Seeds Act, 1966. Upon testing for seed quality as per the standards prescribed in Indian minimum seed certification standards (IMSCS), seeds are tagged and given a validity period of nine months. Sometimes seeds are unsold or left for that crop season. Those seeds can be offered for revalidation, which upon testing for germination, physical purity and insect damage may be granted a revalidation certificate for next six months. Validity period is based on storage period of the seeds within which seeds maintain their viability around its initial value and this storability is greatly affected by genetic factor of the seeds as well as the environment in which seeds are stored. Since the history of certification in India, the genetic storage potential of varieties/crops must have changed and so is the climatic condition, which is continuously changing day by day. Changes in these two factors in last 4-5 decades indicates the need for reconsideration of certification and revalidation period in different group of crops based on seed storability.