This Joint ISTA and FAO Handbook provides comprehensive guidelines for the setting up and managing of seed testing laboratories, including those that cater to small- and medium-scale seed enterprises and farmers’ cooperatives, which operate in low input production systems. The adherence to the guidelines by seed testing laboratories results in the use of uniform procedures across the board thereby facilitating inter-laboratory transferability of data. This harmonization enhances confidence in seed quality assurance mechanisms. The publication is an update of a previous one that was also jointly published by both organizations in 1969 and revised in 1979 and 1983. Its utility is enhanced by a set of new up-to-date information that builds upon existing data. The Handbook provides guidance on the range of seed testing equipment, procedures, and management systems that have become available in the several decades since the previous editions. Seed testing is a critical component of the seed value chain and is essential for the production of quality seeds, i.e. seeds that are alive, can germinate and produce vigorous seedlings; are healthy and come from lots that meet set thresholds for genetic and analytical purity. The Handbook covers all aspects of seed testing, from laboratory design and equipment selection to sample preparation, testing methods, and data analysis. Importantly, the publication also addresses the challenges of testing seeds in low input systems and provides guidance on how to adapt procedures to these settings. Therefore, it serves as a reference material and training resource for everyone involved in seed quality assurance procedures, in particular the personnel of seed testing laboratories and regulatory agencies; seed producers and farmers. The updated publication represents a significant improvement over previous guidelines, as it incorporates advances in technology and provides guidance on a broader range of testing procedures. The guidelines are designed to be adaptable to different contexts and seed types and include recommendations for quality management systems, proficiency testing, and inter-laboratory comparisons, which are essential for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of seed testing results.

This text is intended for plant physiologists, molecular biologists, biochemists, biotechnologists, geneticists, horticulturalists, agromnomists and botanists, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in these disciplines. It integrates advances in the diverse and rapidly-expanding field of seed science, from ecological and demographic aspects of seed production, dispersal and germination, to the molecular biology of seed development. The book offers a broad, multidisciplinary approach that covers both theoretical and applied knowledge.

Seed Quality: Basic Mechanisms and Agricultural Implications focuses on various aspects of seed quality and integrates research at basic and applied levels, supporting high-quality seeds as the basis of higher agricultural productivity. With its clear perspective and interdisciplinary focus on basic and applied aspects of seed quality, this book is immensely useful to students and teachers in many agricultural and botanical disciplines. Because seed quality is a critical component in the economic considerations of the farmer and the seedman alike, Basra looks in-depth at these aspects of seed production: seed viability seed health seed vigor seed testing variety identification crop yield seed storage seed production seed deterioration seed treatments Seed quality is of international agronomic concern, and the recent upsurge of interest in seed quality has accentuated a new awareness regarding its importance in crop production. This book meets the need for information and could form the basis of long-range planning by policymakers on quality assurance and management programs and in the facilitation of international trade. Researchers, students, and teachers in many agricultural and botanical disciplines--seed science and technology in particular--will find this book to be of immense use. It can be used as a handbook for those involved in seed industry and seed testing services. It is recommended for international courses in seed science and technology and seed training programs.

Preface In agricultural sciences, the materials of most common interest are soils, plants, irrigation water and seeds. Chemical methods of analysis are needed to test these materials to know their compositions, characteristics and to give necessary recommendations. There was a long felt need to provide a comprehensive practical manual on soil, plant, water and seed testing for the graduate and post graduate students, scientists and technicians working on this aspect.

Includes reports of the State Weather Bureau, Cornell University, Agricultural Experiment Station and the New York Agricultural Experiment Station.