Mich. Admin. Code R. 285.628.4 - Conditions for certification

Rule 4.

(1) A seed lot that is eligible for certification shall not be certified if any of the following conditions exist:

(a) Less than all of the acreage of potatoes grown by the applicant is planted to foundation or certified seed that meets Michigan standards and entered for inspection.

(b) The seed lot is planted less than 5 feet from other potatoes that are part of the certification program or less than 50 feet from other potatoes that are not part of a certification program.

(c) The seed lot is grown in a field in which weeds, insect injury, spray damage, disease, or any other factor that prevents the adequate inspection or production of certifiable seed potatoes is present.

(d) The seed lot is planted on land used for commercial potato production or that has been exposed to infection from bacterial ring rot during the preceding 2 growing seasons.

(e) The seed lot has been exposed to bacterial ring rot infection before, during, or after harvest.

(f) The seed lot is stored, graded, or handled in storage facilities that contain potatoes that were not field-inspected or potatoes that were rejected for the presence of bacterial ring rot.

(g) Severe foliar diseases including late blight, early blight, and wilt diseases such as verticillium, blackleg, and fusarium; frost injury, or any other condition that renders the seed lot undesirable for use as seed is present.

(h) Bacterial ring rot is present in a seed lot in the operation. All seed stocks of that lot are to be removed from the operation. All equipment and facilities that may have come in contact with this seed shall be cleaned and disinfected. The first lot of seed cut or planted, or cut and planted, after the infected lot is not certifiable and is not eligible for sale as certified seed for 1 growing season. These lots may be retained in the operation in the certified inspection system and may be reentered as seed that is eligible for certification the following year if bacterial ring rot is not noted. The classification level for these lots shall be retained under the normal generation system as if they were eligible for certification. All other seed lots in the operation may be certified, but shall not be sold for future seed propagation for 1 growing season. All shipping and inspection documents for these lots that are sold during the first year after disease identification shall indicate that the seed is not to be used for seed propagation. If bacterial ring rot is detected in an operation in more than 1 seed lot in the same year or in 1 seed lot 2 of 3 consecutive years, then all seed stocks shall be removed from the operation and all equipment and facilities shall be cleaned and disinfected before further certification will be issued. If bacterial ring rot is detected in an operation in more than 1 seed lot in the same year or in 1 seed lot 2 of 3 consecutive years or noncertified production occurred in the previous year of operation, then seed potatoes will not be approved for sale or transfer from the operation to other seed propagation operations for 2 growing seasons. Cutting and planting equipment is to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between lots and the disinfection shall be documented for future reference by the official seed-certifying agency. This documentation shall be part of the application for certification. Materials that are used to disinfect cutting and planting equipment shall be of a type labeled for bacterial disease control.

(i) Seed lots which are eligible for sale or transfer and which have not been winter-tested or laboratory-tested or for which a sample or samples have not been submitted for winter testing by an organization approved by the official seed-certifying agency or the Michigan department of agriculture.

(j) Bacterial ring rot-infected potatoes and other plant parts that might provide a source of contamination or cull potatoes from another location or farm are stored or disposed of at, or are introduced into, the operation.

(2) If a potato disease of significant impact to the seed industry is identified for which certification standards have not been established in these rules, then the director shall appoint an advisory committee to provide recommendations for appropriate certification standards and actions. The committee shall consist of 1 certified or foundation seed potato producer and 1 representative each from all of the following:

(a) The department of plant pathology and the department of crop and soil sciences at Michigan state university.

(b) The official seed-certifying agency.

(c) The Michigan department of agriculture.

(3) The signed affidavit required for the genetic material defined in R 285.628.1(j)(iii) shall be provided by the applicant to the official seed-certifying agency upon request, in order to propagate and certify this material in Michigan. The certified seed tag for this material shall specify that it has met all certification standards, except for nonvisual characteristics. The plant and tuber descriptions and any required affidavits shall be in a format approved by the official seed-certifying agency.

(4) Except as otherwise specified, the measurement method or basis for determining compliance with the stated tolerances is visual inspection of a sample of the plants or tubers in the field or lot, respectively. Further, except as specified, sample sizes are to be determined by the certification agency. Diseases, varietal mixtures, or grade defects may be present at a level in excess of specified tolerances; however, disease symptoms, varietal mixtures, and grade defects shall not be visually detectable at the time of official inspection due to numerous factors, including environmental conditions and varietal differences. Furthermore, even the inspection of larger samples might not reveal deviations in excess of specified tolerances. Finally, with respect to the zero tolerances for such defects as varietal mixture, bacterial ring rot, root knot nematode and spindle tuber, the tolerances are chosen for reasons of convenience and practicality and are not construed to mean that the lot inspected is free of the defects. Negative inspection results mean that varietal mixture, bacterial ring rot, root knot nematode or spindle tuber were not found during the inspection process.

(5) Only seed lots produced from foundation class material or better is eligible for sale or transfer for recertification.

Notes

Mich. Admin. Code R. 285.628.4

1979 AC; 1980 AACS; 1994 AACS