La. Admin. Code tit. 7 § XIII-505

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section XIII-505 - General Requirements for Certification (Formerly Section 127)

A. The crop or variety to be certified must have been approved for certification by LDAF.

B. The originator, developer, owner, or agent seeking to have the crop or variety of seed certified shall provide the following information to LDAF.

1. the name of the variety;

2. a statement concerning the variety's origin and the breeding procedure used in its development;

3. a detailed description of the morphological, physiological and other characteristics of the plants and seed that distinguish it from other varieties;

4. evidence supporting the identity of the variety, such as comparative yield data, insect and disease resistance, or other factors supporting the identity of the variety;

5. a statement delineating the geographic area or areas of adaptation of the variety;

6. a statement on the plans and procedures for the maintenance of seed classes, including the number of generations through which the variety may be multiplied;

7. a description of the manner in which the variety is constituted when a particular cycle of reproduction or multiplication is specified;

8. any additional restrictions on the variety specified by the breeder, with respect to geographic area of seed production, age of stand or other factors affecting genetic purity;

9. a sample of seed representative of the variety as marketed.

C. To be certified, all crops and/or varieties must conform to:

1. all general requirements for certification; and

2. all specific requirements for certification of a particular crop or variety. (See §701-811 for specific requirements. In §§701-811, the percentages shown for pure seed and germination are the minimum acceptable levels of performance required for certification; the percentages shown for all other factors are maximum allowable percentages.)

D. The grower must submit the application described in §507 on or before the date specified in §509 for the crop or variety to be certified. (See §507. B and §125. B for provisions concerning late applications.)

E. The crop or variety to be certified must be of breeder, foundation or registered seed, or seed approved by the commission.

F. The grower must maintain genetic purity during seeding, production, harvesting, storage, conditioning and labeling.

G. The grower must hand-rogue all off-type plants, varietal mixtures, noxious weeds or any other plants producing seed that are inseparable from seed of the crop or variety to be certified.

H. Other varieties or crops, volunteer plants and/or off-type plants cannot be present in the field, and seeds thereof cannot be present in seed to be certified, unless permitted under the specific certification standards for the crop or variety entered for certification. Noxious weeds are permitted in the field and seed thereof are permitted in seed to be certified, within the limitations specified in §109, unless a specific limitation on noxious weeds is contained in the specific requirements for the crop or variety entered for certification. (See §701-811 for specific requirements.)

I. One or more field inspections will be made to determine genetic identity and purity. The crop or variety to be certified must be standing, reasonably free of weeds and of relatively uniform maturity at the time of field inspection(s). A copy of the field inspection report will be furnished to the grower.

J. All planting, harvesting, bin storage and cleaning equipment must be free of contamination by other seeds, insects, or plant diseases.

K. Storage facilities must be:

1. suitable for maintaining germination and varietal purity;

2. constructed so that a representative sample can be drawn; and

3. all such facilities are subject to approval by LDAF.

L. The grower must maintain complete records accounting for all production and final disposition of all certified seeds.

La. Admin. Code tit. 7, § XIII-505

Promulgated by the Department of Agriculture, Seed Commission, LR 8:565 (November 1982), amended LR 9:197 (April 1983), amended by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Office of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Seed Commission, LR 12:825 (December 1986), LR 20:642 (June 1994), LR 20:1257 (November 1994), repromulgated by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Office of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Chemistry and Seed Commission, LR 39:2710 (October 2013), amended LR 40:748 (April 2014).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 3:1433.