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Seed quality is the possession of seed that is genetically pure and physically homogeneous, coupled with health and wellness.

A seed is the first genetic material that becomes the basis for future agriculture and seeds are the basic building blocks of agriculture. A great deal of farming has been modernized by technology, but without a regular and steady supply of high quality seed, yields would be drastically reduced and crop quality would decrease as well. The production of horticultural and agronomic crops depends largely on quality seed. For farmers, seed characteristics such as genetic purity, germination percentage, vigor, and appearance have a significant effect on yield. Every professional seed producer strives to achieve and maintain high seed quality.

“The light of unconditional love awakens the dormant seed potential of the soul helping them ripen, blossom and bear fruit, allowing us to bring the unique gifts that are ours to offer in this life”

–John Wehwood

Introduction

In nature and in humans, seeds are vehicles for spreading new life from place to place. In plants, it refers to the unit of dispersal that survives between seed maturation and its establishment as a seedling. A seed, like a fortress, protects and sustains life as they are well-stocked with special food supplies to endure long sieges. There are many things that seeds are, but above all else, they are the means of survival of their species. It is a way of suspending embryonic development and then resuming it years later after the parents have passed away.

Introduction

Apomixis is a phenomenon in which there is development of seed without fertilization or sexual fusion. Embryo develops without fertilization in apomixis. Hence, apomixis is an asexual means of reproduction therefore the genotype of plant will be same as of mother plant. Apomixis was first time discovered by Leuwenhock in 1719 in citrus whereas the term apomixis was first time used by Winker in 1908.The main benefit of apomixis over sexual reproduction is the selection of individual plant with superior characters and propagation of clonally through seeds. Higher plants commonly exhibit apomixis. There are more than 300 species belonging to 35 families that exhibit apomixis. Most commonly, it occurs in Gramineae, Compositae, Rosaceae, and Rutaceae.

History of plant propagation

The propagation of plants is one of the absolutely necessary occupations of human beings since time immemorial. Civilization might have started when ancient man learned to plant and grow different kinds of plants, which fulfilled the nutritional and other allied needs of human beings and their animals. Cultivated plants commenced mainly by direct selection from wild species (e,g., lima bean, barley, tomato, and rice), hybridization between species, accompanied by changes in chromosome number (e,g., strawberry, pear, and prunes), and a group of plants occurs naturally as rare monstrosities (e,g., cabbage, broccoli, and brussel’s sprouts).

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance, while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations. The military (e.g. in the U.S. and UK) sometimes uses the term standing (rather than standard) operating procedure because a military SOP refers to a unit’s unique procedures, which are not necessarily standard to another unit. The word “standard” can imply that only one (standard) procedure is to be used across all units. The term can also be used facetiously to refer to practices that are unconstructive, yet the norm. In the Philippines, for instance, “SOP” is the term for pervasive corruption within the government and its institutions.

Genetically engineered crops refer to alterations in the genetic makeup of the crop by introgression new traits such as herbicide tolerance, virus resistance, drought, flood and frost resistance, delay in maturation time of the crop and increased crop yield. They can be made resistant to pests and diseases which can significantly reduce the consumption of insecticide. Biodiversity is the feedstock for biotechnology industries. The issues relating to the Genetically Modified (GM) Foods have generated intense public debate in many parts of the world. Even though the issues under debate include the costs and benefits of the GM crops and the inherent safety concerns, the outcome of the debate differs from country to country, depending on its geographical location, strength and resilience of the farm sector, attitudes of people towards food, and so on (Anonymous, 2009). In India also, this debate has engaged the attention not only of the Government but also of the farming community and the civil society.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety entered into force on 11 September 2003. It is a legally binding international agreement under the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

What is a protocol ?: A protocol is a binding international instrument, separate from, but related to, another treaty. It is a separate instrument, that must be individually negotiated, signed and eventually ratified. It is only binding on States that become parties to it. It thus has its own parties, and creates separate rights and obligations for them, as any other treaty.

The unique characteristic of a protocol is that it is related to a ‘parent’ treaty, through substantive, procedural, and institutional links. Most importantly, a protocol under a specific treaty must comply with the parent treaty’s provisions authorizing and regulating the adoption of protocols under its auspices. 

13.1 Biosafety

Biosafety is the prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health. These prevention mechanisms include conduction of regular reviews of the biosafety in laboratory settings, as well as strict guidelines to follow. Biosafety is used to protect from harmful incidents. Many laboratories handling biohazards employ an ongoing risk management assessment and enforcement process for biosafety. Failures to follow such protocols can lead to increased risk of exposure to biohazards or pathogens. Human error and poor technique contribute to unnecessary exposure and compromise the best safeguards set into place for protection. The international Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety deals primarily with the agricultural definition but many advocacy groups seek to expand it to include post-genetic threats: new molecules, artificial life forms, and even robots which may compete directly in the natural food chain.

The biosecurity risk assessment informs the biosecurity plan, which documents the mitigation measures put in place to address risks. Risks that fall outside of the risk tolerance threshold should be controlled through additional or enhanced mitigation measures. A cost-benefit analysis can assist in determining the mitigation measures in which to invest. Financial constraints and resource limitations may present challenges when looking to manage unacceptable risks. As a starting point, senior management may choose to initially focus mitigation measures on the most consequential risks and then control remaining risks as resources become available. In other instances, if the risks are determined to be too high or costly to mitigate, the organization’s project or program may need to be modified or cancelled. Recommendations for mitigation measures should be documented in the final report of the biosecurity risk assessment.

11.1 Agroterrorism

‘Agroterrorism’, also known as ‘agriterrorism and agricultural terrorism’, is a malicious attempt to disrupt or destroy the agricultural industry and/or food supply system of a population through “the malicious use of plant or animal pathogens to cause devastating disease in the agricultural sectors”. It is closely related to the concepts of biological warfare, chemical warfare and entomological warfare, except carried out by non-state parties. It refers to a hostile attack towards an agricultural environment including infrastructures and processes in order to significantly damage national or international political interests.

The terms ‘agroterrorism, agroterror and agrosecurity’, were coined by veterinarian pathologist Corrie Brown and writer Esmond Choueke in September 1999 as a means to spread the importance of this topic.

The term “plant pest”, mainly applied to insect micropredators of plants, has a specific definition in terms of the International Plant Protection Convention and phytosanitary measures worldwide. A pest is any species, strain or biotype of plant, animal, or pathogenic agent injurious to plants or plant products. Worldwide, agricultural pest impacts are increased by higher degrees of interconnectedness. This is due to the increased risk that any particular pest problem anywhere in the world (as a system) will propagate across the entire system.

9.1 Geospatial Technology

It is an organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel. It is designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display geographically referenced information. It includes typical Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages (ArcGIS, ArcExplorer, MapPoint, Google Earth), Remote Sensing (Collecting and interpreting information about the environment from a distance using satellite imagery, radar, or aerial photography), Global Positioning Systems (GPS) (A system of radio-emitting and receiving satellites used for determining positions on the earth) and many others (Lisa Kennaway, 2009). Geospatial technology can be used in pest monitoring and detection, data visualization/query, survey data collection, management and analysis, risk and pathway analysis, change detection and many others.

8.1 Pest Risk Analysis

Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) is a form of risk analysis conducted by regulatory plant health authorities to identify the appropriate phytosanitary measures required to protect plant resources against new or emerging pests and regulated pests of plants or plant products. Specifically pest risk analysis is a term used within the International Plant Protection Conventions (IPPC) (Article 2.1) and is defined within the glossary of phytosanitary terms as “the process of evaluating biological or other scientific and economic evidence to determine whether an organism is a pest, whether it should be regulated, and the strength of any phytosanitary measures to be taken against it. In a phytosanitary context, the term plant pest, or simply pest, refers to any species, strain or biotype of plant, animal or pathogenic agent injurious to plants or plant products and includes plant pathogenic fungi, bacteria, fungus-like organisms, viruses, nematodes and virus like organisms as well as insects, mites and weeds.

International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) are standards adopted by the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), which is the governing body of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). The first International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) was adopted in 1993.

As of March 2021, there are 44 adopted ISPMs (ISPM 30 being revoked), 29 Diagnostic Protocols and 39 Phytosanitary Treatments. These international standards protect sustainable agriculture and enhance global food security, protect the environment, forests and biodiversity and facilitate economic and trade development. International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures are prepared by the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention as part of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s global programme of policy and technical assistance in plant quarantine. 

The concepts of biosafety and biosecurity are central to efforts to protect human health against the risks posed by exposure to hazardous biological agents. Biosafety, a term used to describe the collection of technologies, processes and practices a term used to describe the collection of technologies, processes and practices aimed at preventing the unintentional exposure to biological agents, has in particularaccrued increasing importance in recent decades as a result of the trend towards globalization and concomitant growth in international communication, transport and trade (WHO, 2020). In this international context, the outbreaks of highly-infectious diseases that have occurred in the last years serve to underscore the urgent need for effective prevention and detection and response to biological risks, in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR).

Pest resurgence is defined as the rapid reappearance of a pest population in injurious numbers following pesticide application. Use of persistent and broad spectrum pesticides that kills the beneficial natural enemies is thought to be the leading cause of pest resurgence. However, resurgence is known to occur due to several reasons, for instance, increase in feeding and reproductive rates of insect pests, due to application of sub lethal doses of pesticides and sometimes elimination of a primary pest provides favorable conditions for the secondary pest to become primary pests (Harsh Garg, 2014). There are several pesticide induced pest outbreaks reported in walnut, hemlock, cotton and soybean. Among these, brown plant hopper in rice cultivation has gained a major importance in Asian countries. In general, natural BPH populations were kept under check by natural enemies including mired bugs, ladybird beetles, spiders and other pathogens. Pesticides, however, not only have destroyed the natural enemies, but have influenced the fecun

Forecasting and warning systems for pests and diseases play an important role in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and in farm advisory work. Forecasting pest outbreaks during the growing season and applying control measures only when necessary is very important in conventional farming, but also in organic farming, to increase profitability while, at the same time, minimising negative effects on flora, fauna, and groundwater (Sigvald, 2014). Number of disease-warning systems have been developed and validated for dozens of crops. A few are in wide use by growers, and represent encouraging success stories in IPM. Most warning systems, however, have not made the transition from scientific validation to real-world application. his implementation shortfall is not limited to diseasewarning systems, but also characterizes most other types of agricultural decision support systems (DSSs), whose rate of grower adoption is widely perceived as disappointing (Mark L. Gleason et.al., 2008). 

3.1 Biowarfare

Biowarfare, also known as Biological warfare or germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons (often termed “bio-weapons”, “biological threat agents”, or “bio-agents”) are living organisms or replicating entities (like viruses, which are not universally considered “alive”). Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare.

Offensive biological warfare is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law and several international treaties. 

An invasive species is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native. Invasive species are capable of causing extinctions of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing with native organisms for limited resources, and altering habitats. This can result in huge economic impacts and fundamental disruptions of coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems. Invasive species threaten and can alter our natural environment and habitats and disrupt essential ecosystem functions. Invasive plants specifically displace native vegetation through competition for water, nutrients, and space. Once established, invasive species can reduce soil productivity. The negative effects of invasive alien species on biodiversity can be intensified by climate change, habitat destruction and pollution. Isolated ecosystems such as islands are particularly affected. Loss of biodiversity will have major consequences on human well-being.

Biosecurity refers to the measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful microorganisms to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. Biosecurity is of growing interest as a result of developments at the international level, including globalization of the world economy, technological progress and the rapid increase in communications, transport and trade. Against this background, there is concern that the appropriate level of protection of human, animal and plant life and health is not being maintained as risks increase. Biosecurity is a strategic and integrated approach that encompasses the policy and regulatory frameworks for analyzing and managing relevant risks to human, animal and plant life and health, and associated risks to the environment.