Corn and rice seed production bases in 21 provinces face a "major test"
In order to strengthen oversight of crop seed production bases, reinforce source-level governance of the seed market, severely crack down on illegal activities such as unlicensed production at seed production bases and variety mislabeling infringement, strengthen oversight of the seed supply market for autumn and winter planting, and ensure the safety of seed used for wheat production, the Ministry of Agriculture recently issued a notice requiring agricultural management departments in all localities to actively carry out inspections of seed production bases in 2016 and at the same time do a good job in guaranteeing wheat seed supply.
The notice requires **, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi, 5 provinces (regions), to conduct a major inspection of corn seed production bases within their jurisdictions, and Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, 16 provinces (regions, municipalities), to conduct a major inspection of rice seed production (propagation) bases within their jurisdictions.
During inspections, inspectors should go deep into the office premises of the sampled enterprises or seed production organizers to check whether production qualifications meet requirements, whether the produced varieties are lawful, and whether production files are complete. They must truly go deep into production bases, verify production area, and at the same time take samples of the produced varieties. This round of base inspections adopts a method combining self-inspection by the relevant provinces (regions, municipalities) with supervision organized by the Ministry of Agriculture. On the basis of self-inspections in all localities, the Ministry of Agriculture will conduct supervised spot checks in some areas. Authenticity and genetically modified organism testing will be carried out on the collected corn and rice seed samples. Localities with testing capacity shall conduct testing themselves; those without testing capacity may select suitable units from seed testing institutions qualified through Ministry of Agriculture assessment to carry out testing. Authenticity testing uses the SSR molecular marker method, and the testing standards adopt the "Technical Regulations for Maize Variety Identification SSR Marker Method" (NY/T1432—2014) and the "Technical Regulations for Rice Variety Identification SSR Marker Method" (NY/T1433—2014); the testing controls use standard variety samples collected by the Ministry of Agriculture. Genetically modified organism testing uses a rapid detection method, with inspection units using test strips (Cry1Ac/Ab) to conduct rapid on-site detection of genetically modified components.
The notice also requires all localities to effectively guarantee wheat seed supply. Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei, 6 provinces, must take effective measures to strengthen management of the wheat seed market within their jurisdictions and scheduling of supply and demand, ensuring wheat seed quality and safety and orderly supply.
All localities should organize forces to strictly inspect the wheat seed market, go deep into wholesale markets and business outlets, and comprehensively inspect seed labels, filing information, business ledgers, whether varieties have been approved, authorization status, and variety authenticity. Agricultural competent departments at all levels should effectively strengthen scheduling and analysis of wheat seed quantity and price information for autumn and winter planting, accurately grasp variety, quantity, price, and supply-demand relationships, and promptly release market information. Based on earlier scheduling, they should continuously do a good job in matching production and demand and in adjusting surplus and shortages between regions and varieties, ensuring orderly supply of seed for production.
Seed management agencies at all levels should guide enterprises to strictly control seed quality, conduct comprehensive quality testing on all batches of seeds, and resolutely prevent substandard seeds from entering the market; guide enterprises to strengthen seed processing and coating treatment to improve seed quality levels; rationally lay out the variety planting structure and guide farmers to reasonably choose suitable varieties; urge enterprises to strengthen technical services, guide farmers to sow at the appropriate time and rate, expand the proportion of chemical seed dressing, and improve sowing quality.