Seed Conservation Techniques

Seed can serve as a pathway for introducing plant diseases and other pests to new environments and new countries. The risk to agriculture is very high should a new pathogen become introduced and established in an important crop. Seed of over 300 species of plants are moved globally, often several times before being sold commercially. Therefore, the removal or management of seed borne disease is imperative to protect global agriculture and trade. This course is seventh in a series which will walk you through foundational concepts of seed conditioning.

Seed conditioners process, handle and store seed. All these actions may influence the quality of the seed and therefore the conditioner may share in potential liability should the seed quality be compromised, contaminated or damaged during possession. Documenting the contents of seed received helps protect the conditioner from potential liability. Seed sampling should occur at multiple stages of receiving, processing and handling; it is important to select a representative sample of a seed lot. When a sample is created and viewed by conditioning personnel or sent to a testing laboratory the results obtained from the test are used to indicate the overall quality of the entire lot, make decisions as to what machinery should be used and eventually how to label the finished product. As a result, using a careful and representative method of sampling is required. This course is fourth in a series which will walk you through foundational concepts of seed conditioning.