ONION (Allium cepa L.)HYBRIDS
I. Application and Amplification of General Seed Certification Standards
A. The General Seed Certification Standards are basic and together with the following specific standards
constitute the standards for certification of hybrid onion seed.
B. The General standards are amplified as follows to apply specifically to the hybrids of onion:
1. Eligibility requirements for certification
(a) An inbred line to be eligible for certification shall be from a source such that its identity may be
assured and approved by the Certification Agency.
(b) Hybrid seed to be eligible for certification shall be the progeny of two approved inbred lines,
one of which shall be male sterile.
2. Classes and sources of seed
(a) An inbred line shall be a relatively true breeding strain resulting from self -pollination with
selection.
(b) The Foundation class seed shall consist of an approved male sterile line to be used as a
female parent and an approved parental line to be used as a male parent for the purpose of
producing hybrid seed.
(c) A male sterile line shall be a strain (A) carrying cytoplasmic genetic male sterility, which sheds no
viable pollen and is maintained by the normal sister strain (B) which is used as pollinator.
(d) The Certified class seed shall be the hybrid seed to be planted for any use except seed production .
II. Land requirements
Land to be used for seed production of hybrid onion shall be free of volunteer plants.
III. Field Inspection
A. Mother bulb production stage
A minimum of two inspections shall be made as follows:
1. the first inspection shall be made after transplanting of seedlings in order to determine isolation, volunteer plants
offtypes including bottlers and other relevant factors.
2. the second inspection shall be made after the bulbs have been lifted to verify the true characteristics of bulbs.
B. Seed production stage
A minimum of four inspections shall be made as follows;
1. the first inspection shall be made before flowering in order to determine isolation, volunteer plants
offtypes including bottlers and other relevant factors.
2. the second and third inspections shall be made during flowering to check isoltation, offtypes and
other relevant factors,
3. the fourth inspection shal be made at maturity to verify the true nature of plant and other relevant factors.
IV. Field Standards
A. General requirements
1. Isolation
Seed fields offered for certification shall be isolated from the contaminants shown in the column1of the Table below
by the distances specified in columns 2, 3,4 and 5 of the said Table:
Contaminants Minimum distance (meters)
Mother bulb production Seed production stage
stage
Foundation Certified Foundation Certified
1. 2. 3. 4. 5
Fields of other varieties
including commercial hybrid
of the same variety 5 5 1200 600
Fields of the same hybrid ( code designation)
not conforming to varietal purity requirements
for certification 5 5 1200 600
Fields of other varieties of different skin
colour - - 1500 750
Fields of other other hybrids having common
mate parent and conforming to varietal
purity requirement for certification 5 5 - -
B. Specific requirements
Factor Maximum permitted (%)*
Foundation Certified
*Bulbs not conforming to the varietal characteristics 0.010 % 0.050 %
(by number) (by number)
Offtypes (umbels) in seed parent at and after
flowering 0.10 % 0.050 %
Offtypes (umbels) in pollinator at and after flowering 0.010 % 0.050 %
Pollen shedding (umbels) in seed parent at flowering 0.050 % 0.10 %
* Maximum permitted at second inspection at mother bulb production stage
V. Seed standards
Factor Standards for each class
Foundation Certified
Pure seed (minimum) 98.0% 98.0%
Inert matter (maximum) 2.0% 2.0%
Other crop seeds (maximum) 5/kg 10/kg
Weed seeds (maximum) 5/kg 10/kg
Germination (minimum) 70% 70%
Moisture (maximum) 8.0% 8.0%
For vapour-proof containers (maximum) 6.0% 6.0%