Western Australia
February 23, 2012
Tennis wasn’t the only place this summer where top seeds were matching their skills.
AGWEST Plant Laboratories (APL) technical officers Marilyn Colemon and Noelene Kerr shared first place with a Queensland analyst in the Seed Analysts’ Society of Australia’s (SASA) annual round of seed testing.
Fifteen analysts from Australian and New Zealand seed laboratories put their best skills to work in seed identification during the round, organised by SASA, the peak body for seed testing in Australia.
AGWEST Plant Laboratories technical officers Noelene Kerr and Marilyn Colemon with senior seed analyst Marcia Vistisen (centre).
SASA President Marcia Vistisen said the annual seed testing round was not a competition. “It is an opportunity for seed analysts to take part in a comparative testing regime to test their laboratory skills and knowledge, and compare the results with those of their colleagues in Australia and New Zealand,” she said.
Ms Vistisen, who is also the senior seed analyst with AGWEST Plant Laboratories in Perth, said accurate seed testing was important because the results guided buyers about seed quality.
“Seed testing provides the agricultural community with information about the quality of seed to be used for cropping and trade. It is also important for the import and export of seed lots,” Ms Vistisen said.
“Seed testing is very complex. Seed analysts need to be able to identify weed contaminants in seed lots that have prohibited entry into Australia or individual States such as Western Australia.
“Our seed testing rounds assist in promoting uniformity in seed testing across Australia and New Zealand.”
Marilyn Colemon, who has been with the Seed Testing Unit since 1995, said she liked the forensic quality in her work in dealing with the unknown.
“Training for this discipline is held 'in house' and is ongoing. We have several thousand seeds in the laboratory's collection, so there's always a challenge to increase our scope of recognition,” she said.
Noelene Kerr has been with the Seed Unit since 1976, and says accurate identification of seeds comes from years of experience.
“There is always the challenge of new species and unknown seeds. Identification is aided by the progress in technology such as digital imaging. But it also still relies on patience and an eye for detail in assessing the seed structure,” Ms Kerr said.
Department of Agriculture and Food senior seed certification officer Mike Davies said 30 seed specimens were photographed under a stereo microscope at the department for the seed testing round, enabling high resolution images to be sent to participants.
“This avoided any quarantine issues involved with sending actual specimens to the participants,” Mr Davies said.
“Marilyn’s and Noelene’s keen eyes and skills ensured they were among the three analysts with the most correct seed identifications in the round,” he said.
“This excellent result reinforces the strength and experience of the APL seed testing in Western Australia, which continues to deliver benefits for the agricultural community.”
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