SEED TESTING

• Sponsoring Institution: State Agricultural Experiment Station
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: STATE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1005688
• Project No.: CONH00612
• Project Start Date: Feb 1, 2015
• Project End Date: Jan 31, 2020

Project Director
Li, YO, .

Recipient Organization
CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
PO BOX 1106
NEW HAVEN,CT 06504

Performing Department
Plant Pathology & Ecology

Non Technical Summary
Connecticut Seed Law specifies that agricultural and vegetable seeds sold in the state be tested on a yearly basis. This is a "truth-in-labeling" law requiring basic quality factors to be expressed to represent a level of quality to potential purchasers and consumers. The purpose of the law is to provide the consumer with adequate information, through fair and consistent labeling, to make intelligent purchase of agricultural and vegetable seed products. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), which is the official seed testing laboratory for the State of Connecticut, tests samples collected by Inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. Seeds are brought to Station staff who analyze seed using germination and purity tests required for compliance with the Connecticut Seed Law Regulations and the Federal Seed Act. The CAES Seed Testing Lab is a member of the Association of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA). All protocols for purity and germination analyses follow guidelines designated by the AOSA, which are updated on a yearly basis. Seedlings are also examined to ensure that they appear "normal," (i.e., free from decay, have well-developed primary root systems, well-developed and intact hypocotyls and/or epicotyls, and healthy cotyledons). Samples are also examined for weed seeds and noxious-weed seeds, including "prohibited" and "restricted" noxious-weed seeds. Germination standards are set by The Federal Seed Act. The categories for label compliance are: 1) seeds meet label claims for germination and 2) seeds do not meet label claims for germination, within allowable tolerance. Results will be: communicated in a timely manner to the Seed Control Official and the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture; compiled in a Station Technical Bulletin, which will be available in hard copy and as a PDF on the Experiment Station's website; and verbally disseminated to the public through presentations and tours of the Experiment Station. This project is a continuation of a long and ongoing program to test seeds sold in Connecticut.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

80%

Developmental

10%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
206	5240	1060	90%
206	5240	1140	10%

Knowledge Area
206 - Basic Plant Biology;

Subject Of Investigation
5240 - Seeds and other plant propagules;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1140 - Weed science;

Keywords

vegetable seed

crop seed

lawn seed

purity testing

germination testing

noxious weeds

Goals / Objectives
In order to comply with Connecticut Seed Law, inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture collect official samples of vegetable, crop, and lawn seeds every year. Seeds are brought to The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), which is the official seed testing laboratory for the state. This project is a continuation of a long and ongoing program to test seeds sold in Connecticut.The goals of this project are to ensure "truth in labeling" for all seed sold in the state.Objectives:Objective 1. Conduct germination and purity analyses of all seed (e.g., vegetable, lawn, and crop seed) brought to the Experiment Station by inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.Objective 2. Communicate the results of seed testing to the Seed Control Official and the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture and to CT stakeholders.

Project Methods
Station staff will analyze seed using germination and purity tests required for compliance with the Connecticut Seed Law Regulations and the Federal Seed Act. The CAES Seed Testing Lab is a member of the Association of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA). The methods that will be used for sample preparation and analysis will be those approved by the AOSA, which are regularly reviewed and updated. CAES will perform germination and purity analyses for compliance with the Connecticut Seed Law Regulations and the Federal Seed Act.Seedlings will also examined to ensure that they appear "normal," (i.e., free from decay, have well-developed primary root systems and intact hypocotyls and/or epicotyls, and have healthy cotyledons). Samples will also be examined for weed seeds and noxious-weed seeds, including "prohibited" and "restricted" noxious-weed seeds. Germination standards are set by The Federal Seed Act. The categories for label compliance were: 1) seeds met label claims for germination and 2) seeds did not meet label claims for germination, within allowable tolerance.

Progress 02/01/15 to 01/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences included state regulatory officials, extension educators, commercial growers, seed producers, seed retailers, gardeners, and homeowners in Connecticut. The result of seed tests was sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The result of the seed tests was sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A total of 332 official vegetable, crop and lawn seed samples were collected by inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture for testing in 2019. Among 317 vegetable seed samples, only 308 samples were tested because the other nine samples did not have enough seeds for the test. The results showed that three hundred samples passed the germination test, but the other eight samples did not meet their label claims and the Federal standard. Grouped by vegetable species, chicory, chive, lima bean, and parsnip seeds showed lower germination rates compared to the other species. No noxious weeds were found in all vegetable seed samples. In nine crop seed samples, the results of a rye sample from Crop Production Service were not compared to label claims because they were not provided. Of the other eight crop samples, all samples passed purity tests with the exception of Perennial Ryegrass and Gulf-Annual Ryegrass from Thompson & Sons Inc. In germination tests, all samples passed tests except all three components in the Hay Mixture 2 Broad Brook from Crop Production Service. A total of six lawn grass seed mix samples were tested for purity and germination rates. The results of the tests showed that only the sample URI #2 Mix from Agway passed both purity and germination tests for all ingredients by meeting the label claims or passing the tests within acceptable tolerances, but all other samples had one or more ingredients in seed mixtures did not meet the label claims.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Submitted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Yonghao Li. Seed Germination and Purity Analysis 2019. CAES Technical Bulletin

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences include state regulatory officials, extension educators, commercial growers, seed producers, seed retailers, gardeners, and homeowners in Connecticut. The result of seed testsis sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The result of the seed tests is sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Three hundrad and twity one officialseed samples were collected by inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture for testing in 2018.Among 306 vegetable samples, eight samples were not tested for seed germination rates because there were not enough seeds in the samples. The results of the test for the rest of vegetable seed samples showed that 283 samples passed the germination test, but the other 15 samples did not meet their label claims and the Federal standard. All nine crop seed samples were tested for purity and germination rates excepttwo sampleswere not included in the germination test because they did not have enough seed for the test. A total of six lawn grass seed and seed mix samples were tested for purity and germination rates. The results of the tests showed that three seed or seed mix samples passed both purity and germination tests by meeting the label claims or passing the tests within acceptable tolerances, but the other samples had one or more ingredients did not meet the label claims. No noxious weeds were found in all tested seed samples.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: Yonghao Li. 2018. Seed Germination and Purity Analysis 2018.

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences included state regulatory officials, extension educators, commercial growers, seed producers, seed retailers, gardeners, and homeowners in Connecticut. The result of seed tests was sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The result of the seed tests was sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A total of 290 official seed samples were collected by inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture for testing in 2017. Among 279 vegetable seed samples collected, two rosemary samples were excluded from the germination test because there were no enough seed for the test. Of 277 tested vegetable seed samples, germination rates of 247 (89.2%) samples exceeded label claims and standard, 17 (6.1%) samples passed the test within acceptable tolerance, and the other 13 (4.7%) samples failed the test. Two of the four lawn seed samples tested contained one component that failed to meet the purity claim. All four lawn seed samples passed the germination test. None of the lawn seeed samples contained seeds of noxious weeds. All 7 crop seed samples passed the purity and germination test except one rye sample failed the germination test. No noxious weeds were identified in the crop seed samples.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: " Yonghao Li, Pamela Sletten, and Lindsay Patrick. 2017. Seed Germination and Purity Analysis 2017. http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/technical_bulletins/tb17.pdf

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences included state and national regulatory officials, extension educators, commercial growers, seed producers, seed retailers, gardeners, and homeowners in Connecticut. The result of the seed tests was sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The result of the seed tests was sent to the State Seed Control Officials and published on the Station website that is available to public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A total of 261 seed samples that were officially collected by inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture were tested for seed germination and purity. Among 250 vegetable seed samples, 211 samples (84.4%) passed the test with the germination rates that equaled or exceeded label claims, 18 samples (7.2%) passed the test within allowable tolerance, and 21 samples (8.4%) did not meet their label claims for germination. None of the vegetable samples contained noxious weed contaminants. Among 6 lawn grass seed mixtures, one seed sample met label claims for both purity and germination, but the other five lawn seed samples contained at least one component which failed to meet the purity or/and germination claims. None of the lawn grass seed samples contained seeds of noxious weeds. All five crop seed samples met the label claims. In the germination tests, three crop seed samples passed the standards, two met the label claims within tolerance, and the other one sample failed the germination test. No noxious weeds were identified in the crop seed samples.

Publications

• Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Yonghao Li, Pamela Sletten, and Lindsay Patrick. 2016. Seed Germination and Purity Analysis 2016. http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/technical_bulletins/tb14.pdf

Progress 02/01/15 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The result of seed germination and purity tests was sent to the State Seed Control Official and published online that is public to stakeholders in Connecticut. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The result of seed germination and purity tests was sent to the State Seed Control Official and published online that is public to stakeholders in Connecticut What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? By following the Association of Official Seed Analysts rules, the germination and purity of 337 official seed samples that were collected by inspectors from the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture were tested in 2015. The results showed that 20 of 323 vegetable seed samples did not meet their label claims; 4 of the 5 lawn seed mixture samples contained at least one component which failed to meet the purity claim; and 3 of the 9 crop seed samples failed to meet the germination claim.

Publications