Seed is important
Good seed makes good crop. New variety would bring profit to its breeder and society. These are the main missions of the Center for Seeds and Seedlings, NARO (NCSS).
Plant Breeder's Right (PBR) is granted to a breeder of a new plant variety. If you propagate a variety which PBR is granted for commercial use, authorization of its breeder is required. We carry growing test for a candidate variety to examine its distinctness from any other varieties, uniformity and stability of the variety which are main requirements of PBR. We also prepare the test guidelines for examination in conjunction with the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Guidelines. We also provide services for dealing with infringement of PBR.
On the other hand, the Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act of Japan was amended in December 2020 due to an overseas outflow of Japan's superior varieties whose PBRs were infringed in recent years. We need to conduct new duties, so we are preparing the system for accomplishing the tasks.
Also, we have missions concerning seed inspection, production of foundation seeds (potato tubers and sugarcane seedlings).
1. Seed inspection. It is difficult to know quality of seeds (e.g. germination rate, seed health) from its appearance. We check the quality of seeds in the laboratory/field and issues certificates of the results. We have been accredited by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA).
2. Production of foundation seeds. Potato is easily damaged by diseases and harmful insects. We produce disease free and healthy foundation seeds using various methods including tissue culture technology in the laboratory and plant netting in the field.
Local governments propagate foundation seed to stock seeds, then farmers' cooperatives propagate stock seeds to commercial seeds which is planted by farmers for crop production (3 steps propagation system). All potatoes grown in Japan originate from the foundation seeds of NCSS. The stations for producing foundation seeds are located in rural areas to avoid invasion of diseases from outside.
The NCSS headquarters is located in Tsukuba and there are 11 stations nationwide from Hokkaido to Okinawa. We grow crops and flowers in order to achieve the missions above which lead to the improvement of productivity and quality of agricultural crops. We became a member of NARO in April 2016.
Director-General
Center for Seeds and Seedlings, NARO
