Seed Quality Control in Developing Countries

Quality, in terms of purity and ability to establish a field stand of the desired plants, is the primary value factor of seed and a concern for every seed supplier. Thus, a primary task of the seed industry is achieving quality in production, maintaining quality in processing and handling, and establishing reproducible ways to measure quality and using these throughout the seed chain.Seed certification and seed testing systems are aimed at providing high quality seed to farmers, and also at stimulating the seed industry, farmer use of better seed, and the national economy. The balance between internal (in-company) and external (official or private) seed quality control has to be adequate for the level of the country's seed industry development and farmer seed usage. Voluntary seed quality control, truth-in labeling and branding are alternatives to full seed certification systems that suffer from under-investment and under-staffing in many countries.Government policies and subsequent national legislation have to carefully balance the advantages and disadvantages of the different options. Governments can promote the development of a competitive seed industry through (compulsory or voluntary) seed quality control services while at the same time protecting their farmers. As a competitive private sector develops, the government's role may gradually decline. Despite the needs for a certain level of international harmonization, there is no single blueprint solution to the regulation of seed quality, nor are there standard solutions to the institutional aspects