After 33 years in the seed testing business, the biggest change I’ve seen is how our clients have come to realize how important seed quality really is.
They’re genuinely interested in how things are done and can be improved. This offers the seed industry and farmers an important roadmap to the future that will benefit both the industry and its farmer customers. Thanks to ongoing Seed Regulatory Modernization (SRM) discussions, in the future:
Seed testing may be more harmonized. This is a key improvement our clients know can be made. Details regarding a standardized training program (prior to analyst accreditation) and continuing education points (to maintain accreditation) have not yet been fleshed out but could very well be something big that comes out of the SRM process you’ve read about in this space before. There appears to be general support for mandatory standardized training for new analysts.
Our clients also would really would like to see some harmonization in terms of being able to adopt methods from other organizations from around the world. Right now, seed labs take guidance from all three different three different seed testing organizations from around the world: the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), Association of Official Seed Analysts in the United States (AOSA) and Seeds Canada. Thanks to SRM, we may see some solid clarity on adopting a universal seed testing standard that applies to seed labs around the globe.
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