REGINA – Just as purebred cattle producers sell stock based on proven genetics, vigor testing allows seed growers to rank their seed and guarantee quality.
“It’s just like all the bull test stations across Canada, where breeders can sell on the proven quality of their genetics,” University of Saskatchewan cereals breeder Brian Rossnagel told the annual meeting of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association.
Vigor testing will allow growers to rank the quality of their seed lots, said Doug Ashton, of Agriculture Canada’s seed biology lab in Ottawa. Seed growers will be able to say that not only is the seed guaranteed to have at least a minimum germination rate, but it is the best of their certified seed.
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Germination is not always a good indication of how a crop will grow under field conditions, Ashton said.
“Poor germination almost always equals poor vigor, but good germination does not always equal good vigor.”
Germination has been the standard measure of seed quality for buyers and sellers, but vigor testing has the potential to replace that standard.
Ashton defines vigor as a seed’s potential for rapid, uniform emergence and development of normal seedlings under a wide range of field conditions.
The definition of germination differs quite markedly – the ability to produce a normal plant under favorable conditions.
Vigor testing won’t define an absolute value. Ashton said it’s important to remember testing is only relevant if it is related to a control sample.
Sarah Foster-Stubbs, owner of 20-20 Seed Labs in Nisku, Alta., and an accredited seed analyst, said vigor testing can alert her customers to problems with the seed before it is planted.
Ashton added vigor tests can also be used for in-house quality control, monitoring seed quality during conditioning, measuring how seed has weathered storage, to confirm quality in seed for export and to identify problem production areas.
“Ultimately, it puts a worth or a value to the seed lot,” said Foster-Stubbs.
