Seeds: Analysis developed by INTA will be applied worldwide

Prompted by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology(INTA)’s  Oliveros laboratory, the test to determine the vigor in soybean seeds will be incorporated this year into the International Rules of the International Seed Analysis Association (ISTA). This would make possible that the tool to carry out a quick and reliable diagnosis can be employed easily.

 

“A seed is the starting point for a new plant. Knowing its quality before sowing it, can make the difference and help anticipate the success rate of the crop.” With this premise, the INTA Oliveros Seed Analysis Laboratory, Santa Fe, promotes seed vigor analysis as a strategy to help boost productivity. 

 

From 2017, this tool will be incorporated into the International Seed Analysis Rules of the International Seed Analysis Association (ISTA), based in Switzerland.

 

INTA's Seed Analysis Laboratory is a reference center dedicated to the development and improvement of different techniques. 

 

The incorporation of the test to determine the vigor of a seed to international standards means that the technique developed by INTA has become applicable in laboratories accredited by ISTA worldwide, starting January 1, 2017.

 

Researchers explained that for the approval and international launch of the technique, it was necessary to carry out a validation that required the elaboration of a protocol that would follow the strict regulations imposed by the international organization. The final protocol was accepted and official and private laboratories in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil participated.

 

Vigor is one of the properties that determine the level of seed activity. This analysis helps predict the germination and emergence of seedlings in a wide range of environmental conditions. It was established as a routine tool for the determination of the physiological quality of seeds because the ability to anticipate what is going to happen will help explain some flaws in the initial implantation of the crop. 

 

The Topographic Test by Tetrazolium, an analytical method that allows  adequate establishment of the vigor of the lot of seeds, was incorporated in the International Rules of Analysis of Seeds.

 

Thanks to the research in seed quality control, the ISTA incorporated into the International Rules for Seed Analysis the vigor analysis of soybean seeds. 

 

The test is based on the Topographic Test by Tetrazolium, an analytical method that enables proper determination of the vigor of the lots of seeds produced on a commercial basis and available for planting in each agricultural campaign.

 

Technicians also explained the basis of the new method of analysis. The test uses some physical factors that allow a better interpretation of the results. In addition, it includes lower tetrazolium concentration, higher sample incubation temperature and shorter staining time. 

 

An international recommendation generates the possibility of using this technique of analysis as a "tool to carry out a classification exercise or ranking of the quality of the available batches under pre-harvest conditions, or immediately after harvest and throughout the subsequent processing and storage.

 

The new technique has many advantages because it not only allows for identification of the nature of the damage that a seed may have suffered, but also determines the germination potential.

Usually, conventional germination analysis can take up to eight days and those for vigor up to 14. With the new method, it is possible to know both the values in a period of 24 hours.