b'SRM: Assessing the Pre-Consultation SurveyRENOVATION VERSUS RECONSTRUCTIONAre we making the seed business more complex than it needs to be?Quentin Martin thinks maybe we are.Marc ZienkiewiczAS THE SEED REGULATORY Modernizationwhether the current process will make (SRM) process kicked into high gearthings simpler, or if it will just make with the recent winter consultationthings more complex due to the amount spearheaded by the Canadian Foodof time and energy being poured into it, Inspection Agency (CFIA), seed industryhe says.stakeholders in Canada were faced withIts just human nature that the more a big taskfiguring out how to tweakeffort we put into something, the bigger todays seeds regulations to make lastingit ends up getting. Weve made the seed change for the next generation. system more complicated than it needs Its a process Quentin Martin says heto be, and we need to continue working doesnt envy his fellow seed industry col- towards simplifying it.leagues who make up the SRM workingWhat does that look like? Its hard group and task teams for having to goto say, Martin says. The first three SRM through. And dont forget the govern- task team reports (theres four more to ment officials tasked with spearheading itcome) deal with seed certification, variety all, he adds. registration and seed standards/grade It cant be easy being in a situationtables. Together, they comprise over where there are so many opposing views.7,200 words of material. And thats just I know they didnt create the issues thatthe executive summaries found on the theyre dealing with today, and I under- CFIA website, not the full reports avail-stand that theyre just trying to figure outable by request from the CFIA. Quentin Martin is an Ontario-based seed a way to reach a sensible resolution. Its aThe summaries focus on a rangegrower. Photo courtesy SeCantough position to be in, and I can empa- of potential changes to the regulatory thize with them, says Martin, owner ofsystem, a big one being the question of Ontarios Cribit Seeds. whether Canada should continue to have Martin is a board member for Seedsa variety registration system and whetherwhen a quality product is obtained, Canada and is also a member of theit should continue to have one nationalMartin says.Ontario Seed Growers Association. Youbody establishing and determining theMany quality issues can occur during might say hes been around and knowsseed crop varietal purity standards topost-certification stages, he explains the issues. issue a seed crop certificate.including improper storage and He even has a few thoughts aboutVariety registration is complex, espe- handling. The conditioning process can fixing those issues, but hes seasonedcially when considering the perspectiveimprove upon the seeds quality, but enough to know that things arent alwaysof plant breeders. The survey discussesthe final critical control point is when easy to fix. certification and seed standards sepa- it leaves the last piece of conditioning Theres a certain level of comfortrately, despite them really being part of aequipment. Martin believes that not in the slow-moving nature of the seedcontinuum. As a select grower, I receivelooking at the process as a single holistic system. Its a complex business, and evenbreeder seed, which I assess and thenone leads to inefficiencies, as adjustments though were trying to simplify it, theresgrow. Certification of the crop is a stepmade in one section may overlap or con-still a long way to go. At times, I wonderin the process but is far upstream fromflict with those made in another section.10GERMINATION.CAJULY 2023'