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the australian farmer
jective of certification is to ensure that the buyer of certified seed will get plants established from that seed which are as close as possible to the genetic makeup of the variety as selected by the breeder. There are certification rules for every species, which must be followed by the seed grower to have his seed certified. These rules include requirements such as: • The correct generation of seed must be sown. For first generation certified seed, this means the grower must obtain basic seed of that var- iety; • The paddock must not have grown plants of that particular species for a certain time – usually two to five years; • The seed crop must be inspected after seed- ling establishment to see what plants are growing between the rows which must have germinated from seed set by plants grown in
- by the physical contamination could happen at the seed cleaning plant; • Cross Pollination. In this case, pollen from in- ferior varieties pollinates the flower of the new variety, and so the resulting harvested seed is a mixture of the new variety and the inferior variety; and • Natural selection. In this case, individual plants are selectively killed, or selectively favoured by the environment of the paddock into which the crop has been sown. For example, after a ser- ies of very wet or very dry seasons, the plants surviving could represent only a proportion of the genetic potential of the new variety. This natural selection occurs over time and over generations. Certification of seed is designed to minimise these opportunities to lose or diminish the genetic char- acteristics which make the variety valuable. The ob-
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