National Variety Review Board (NVRB) applications and deadlines are now posted on the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies web site, www.aosca.org. It is important that the review board process be used for all new varieties entering certification. The Illinois Crop Improvement Association’s (ICIA) authority to accept new varieties for certification is limited to 1) crops without a NVRB and 2) varieties that will be restricted to small areas within the state of Illinois. New varieties that have not been through the NVRB process will not be accepted for certification by ICIA in 2007.

The new ICIA Handbook of Seed Certification outlines how new varieties are introduced into certification (pages 6-8). The following links should be used to access detailed information, forms and deadlines for each crop. NVRB information is also available for alfalfa/legumes, cotton and grass on the AOSCA web site. For information on new corn inbred lines, please consult the Application for Corn Inbred Eligibility file posted on our web site at www.ilcrop.com or contact us at 217-359-4053.

Soybeans
Deadline: January 3, 2007
http://www.aosca.org/VarietyReviewBoards/Soybean.html 

Small Grain
Deadline: January 9, 2007
http://www.aosca.org/VarietyReviewBoards/SmallGrain.html 

Sunflower
Deadline: March 26, 2007
http://www.aosca.org/VarietyReviewBoards/Sunflower.html 

For more information please contact Hannah Hudson, Operations Manager Illinois Crop Improvement Association.

New Corn Inbred Application Introduced

Iowa, Indiana and Illinois Crop Improvement Associations have implemented a common application for corn inbreds entering the certification system. Developed by Eileen Wuebker at Iowa Crop Improvement with input from Alan Galbreth, IN Crop, and Hannah Hudson, IL Crop, the forms and process to meet the needs of modern corn certification.

The new “Application for Corn Inbred Line Eligibility” includes a page of instructions that explains the application in detail. A “Corn Inbred Characteristics Form” is also provided to serve as a template and list of required characteristics on company inbred descriptions. For example, silk color, anther color, glume color, cob color and endosperm type are required. Inbred characteristics such as plant height, tassel branching, tillering, and ear length are optional.

The new application process should be used for all new inbreds entering certification. A pdf file of the complete application, instructions and characteristics form is available at www.ilcrop.com. If you have further questions or need assistance with the new forms, please contact Hannah Hudson, Operations Manager Illinois Crop Improvement Association.

New RR Alfalfa and LL Rice Offerings

ICIA now offers adventitious presence testing for RR alfalfa. The test utilizes the lateral flow immunoassay technique to detect the protein specific to the RR trait. The test is $15 per sample and utilizes a two sub-sample testing plan. The limit of detection is 1:600 or 0.167 percent. If each of the two sub-samples is negative, you may state that you are 99 percent confident that the RR level is below 0.38 percent. Customer specified confidence levels and thresholds can be achieved with other sub-sampling strategies. Each sub-sample weighs approximately 1.7 grams. Please submit 5 grams for the standard RR alfalfa test.

The unintended presence of LL rice has been in the news lately. Currently, ICIA offers the 35S\Bar PCR test through our partners at Eurofins GeneScan, Metairie, LA. The test is qualitative and costs $190. Results can be reported on ICIA reports and made available online. Quantitative measurement can be achieved in rough rice by analyzing sub-samples qualitatively. Once the rice has been ground into flour, it becomes impossible to quantify the amount of LL rice in the original grain using currently methods. Rough rice sampling plans and testing strategies achieve detection levels of 1:2000 or 0.05 percent. The USDA GIPSA proficiency program that provides blind samples to participating labs will offer LL rice samples on a limited basis. Limited resources were cited as the reason for restricting the near term program, normally open to all interested labs. Currently 152 labs worldwide, including GeneScan and ICIA, participate in some or all of the biotechnology proficiencies offered by the USDA GIPSA. For more information on testing, please contact Doug Miller, Field Services Director, Illinois Crop Improvement Association.