Brief of the Project

Up Gradation of Seed Testing Laboratories to Meet WTO Requirements

The project “Up gradation of Seed Testing Laboratories to meet WTO Requirements” was started by the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department .from 1^st July, 2003 with a total cost of Rs.6.791/-. The project was approved for one year; however it was extended for further one year, 2004-2005.

Main Objectives

Since, Pakistan is a signatory to the WTO and its agreements, therefore, we have to increase our capacity and skill regarding certification and seed testing to meet international standards at the time of import export of seed and planting material. Moreover, the tremendous increase in the number of released cultivars from the same genetic material has created difficulties in their identification. The establishment of Electrophoreses Laboratory at Islamabad will help to study the distinctness and uniformity of varieties at protein/DNA level to resolve such disputes.

Work Plan

     After setting up new equipment, quality of seed and planting material will be monitored by establishing a strong regulatory mechanism according to the international standards to safe guard interest of our farming community and up grade capacity, efficiency and skill to meet WTO requirements at the time of import or export of seed and planting material.

     More than 400 varieties of different crops have been approved and released in the country. It is becoming very difficult to identify most of the varieties in the field on the basis of morphological characteristics due to same genetic background. After establishment of Electrophoreses Laboratory, the assessment of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability of these varieties and new/candidate varieties will be started on the basis of protein/DNA fingerprints. This will be very helpful to resolve the disputes in identification of crop varieties.