SEED TESTING UNIT INADEQUATE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21324, 19 April 1939, Page 5

SEED TESTING UNIT INADEQUATE

Grain Merchants Ask for Extension

Possibility of South Island

Station

FAIRLIE, April 18.

Proposals for minimising delay in the forwarding of certificates for certified seed from the Government seed testing laboratories in Palmerston North were placed before the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. W. Lee Martin, by a deputation from the South Canterbury Grain Merchants’ Association at Fairlie to-day. The deputation, which consisted of Messrs C. S. Marshall, C. H. Coxhead, G. B. Green and H. Kent, asserted that delays of up to three months occurred in forwarding final certificates, and an instance was given of a firm which shipped seed to England and had actually had it landed in London for a week before the final certificate was received by the local agents. They urged that a South Island station be set up to cope with the extra work, or that the present station be enlarged and the staff increased.

During the discussion the DirectorGeneral of the Department of Agriculture, Mr A. H. Cockayne, mentioned that congestion at the seed testing station had been considered by the Department, and extensions to the service were to be made shortly.

Long Delays

Mr Green said that the present station was giving excellent service, but it was not large enough to cope with the present demands for seed tests. Testing was becoming more important each year, and expansion of the present station, or the establishment of a new station in the South Island was necessary. The present delay made trading of seed difficult for both farmers and merchants. At present 87 per cent of the seod harvested in the Dominion was produced in the South Island—actually in South Canterbury, Otago and Southland. A few years ago no trouble was taken with germination, but to-day it was impossible to trade overseas with uncertified seed. It took eight days to obtain an interim certificate for ryegrass, and 14 days to obtain a final certificate. In January of this year it had been possible to get a final certificate in three weeks. In February the certificates did not arrive for five weeks, and this month it took five weeks to get the preliminary certificates. In many cases samples were taken before harvesting to save expense of harvesting seed which would not show a high germination test. Delay in the receipt of certificates meant that the farmer had to carry on with the harvesting, threshing, cleaning and other processes, or leave the crop to the weather. “Once it was sufficient to have the preliminary certificate, but it has been found that the preliminary test will yield a 30 per cent, germination, while the final test might be anything from 32 per cent, to 75 per cent. We ask for better service to cope with the rush period to eliminate the difficulties which result from the present delay,” said Mr Green.

Vital To Trade

The seed testing department was vital to the trade, said Mr Marshall, dealing with the commercial aspects of the difficulties of marketing uncertified seed. A term of sale with Australian merchants was that a certificate should accompany the invoice for each consignment, and if the certificate was held up, perhaps for months, there was serious delay in shipping. The ]. resent station was giving excellent service, but it had to be remembered that the seed trade was increasing rapidly. To maintain it the testing station had to be better equipped. Mr Marshall said that at Cambridge England, the testing station handled 30,000 samples a year. It had a staff of 30. The New Zealand station in Palmerston North handled 20,000 samples, but had less than half the staff the English station had. “We have instances of farmers who have gone ahead with the harvesting of rye and had it stored, only to find that the test is so low that the crop had been an economic loss. These farmers are going to rely on pre-harvesting tests in the future and the work of the station must increase.” Mr Coxhead drew attention to the fact that the plant laboratory had been shifted from Palmerston North to Auckland. The laboratory was used as much by the South Island as the North for lucerne culture, and it seemed wrong that it should be shifted so far away.

“Proud of Station”

“This is the first time a suggestion on the lines of establishing a seed testing station in the South Island has come before me,” said Mr Lee Martin. “We are very proud of the work that is done at our station, and I am glad the merchants realise its value.”

The Minister expressed the opinion that if seed certification had been in operation earlier there would not have been the trouble with pastures that was experienced at present. If the work at the station was increasing, then to that extent would the facilities and staff of the station have to be increased. Delay in issuing certificates could not be permitted to interfere with trading.

Referring to the plant laboratory. Mr Lee Martin said the question was one for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, but he promised to make inquiries from the responsible Minister.

Extensions Considered

"If it had not been that we are considering plans along the lines suggested we would have enlarged the Palmerston North station before this.” said Mr Cockayne. “We have been considering setting up a station in the South Island, however, and for this reason we have not enlarged the North Island station.” This season had been an abnormal one for the Department. In bad seasons all samples had to be double tested, and this made for a certain amount of delay. The matter of a

new location had been discussed by the officers, but whether it would be better to form a branch of the present station or make an independent, unit had not been decided. Dealing with the present unit, Mr Cockayne said that there was no station in Europe which equalled New Zealand’s output for each man. The Palmerston North station turned out four times the work of the stations in Zurich or Cambridge. It was always in the first division in the intern.tional tests for standards which were held every two years. “Our work will increase, and if the pre-harvesting test comes into its own

—as it should, for it is a sound practice to test before harvesting—we will have to make provision to “ope with the extra work.” said the Director.