You cannot have a good crop with bad seed. Farmers need the high-quality, high-yielding crops they rely on to make a decent living. A new law – drafted with help from FAO legal experts and adopted recently by the Parliament of Georgia – protects the market from low quality seed and at the same time will produce neutral information about performance of varieties.

Georgia’s new Seed Law is part of a comprehensive FAO programme begun in 2014, supporting the Ministry of Agriculture in establishing a fully functional seed certification system.

Under the programme – funded by the Government of Austria through the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) – FAO furnished the laboratory of the Ministry’s Scientific Research Centre with equipment for seed quality control. Using seed samplers, microscope, germination cabinet, safety cabinet, plot harvester, and other equipment, laboratory staff can conduct advanced seed-quality testing in line with international standards.

FAO experts trained lab staff on international seed testing standards and field inspection methods. Workshops in-country and abroad were complemented by study tours to the Gyumri Breeding Institute in Armenia.The laboratory had its official opening earlier this year.

Field inspection officers were also trained following the international seed certification scheme. With a registration system for new varieties established, field inspectors trained and a seed testing laboratory, Georgia can now produce its own certified seed according to international standards.

Seed certification will continue to be free until 2020, after which it will become a paid service.

“The main objective of FAO’s technical assistance is to support the sustainable development of seed production by promoting a seed certification system in Georgia,’’ said Mamuka Meskhi, FAO Assistant Representative in Georgia. “Applying quality certified seed will mean higher production, improved livelihoods for farmers, and greater export potential for Georgia.”

Georgian seed producers received attention under the programme, too. For the 2015-16 season, FAO challenged companies to get involved in a voluntary certification system. Participants produced certified seed materials, and the Ministry of Agriculture and FAO awarded certificates to companies for quality and consistency in their seed materials.

Results of the programme were presented at a recent media tour organized in the Kakheti region. FAO project manager Beka Dzadzamia described programme outcomes and answered journalists’ questions about the Seed Law and seed certification system.