About Us

Purpose and Organization

The purpose of the California Crop Improvement Association (CCIA) is to provide seed certification service, a voluntary quality assurance program for the maintenance and increase of agronomic and vegetable crop seed. Each variety that is entered into this program has been evaluated for its unique characteristics such as pest resistance, adaptability, uniformity, quality, and yield. Seed production is closely monitored by CCIA to prevent out-crossing, weed, other crop and disease contamination that may negatively affect seed quality.

Summary of seed certification (pdf)

CCIA is a non-profit corporation, managed by an executive director who reports to an elected and representational Board of Directors on matters of policy and finance. The Board consists of one Director elected from each of the five districts and five Directors-At-Large which are appointed by the Board. The remaining members are composed of representatives from the UC Cooperative Extension, CA Department of Food and Agriculture, CA Farm Bureau, CA Ag Commissioners Association, CA Seed Association and UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. These representatives are appointed to the board by their organizations.

A UC Advisory Committee comprised of a representative from the UC Davis College of Agriculture, UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center, and UC Davis Foundation Seed Program provide the Board with guidance and recommendations as needed.

California Certified Seed is produced under strict standards established by the CCIA Board of Directors and the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA). Seed certification is conducted with the AOSCA logo supervision of the County Agricultural Commissioners, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension.

The California Crop Improvement Association is the official seed certifying agency in California as recognized by California Seed Law. In addition, when the United States became a participant in the international seed certification scheme administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), CCIA became the designated authority to conduct the OECD program in California. The OECD is responsible for administering the seed certification program in member countries and non-member countries that participate in the scheme. All cereal, herbage and oil, and maize and sorghum seed exported to European Union countries must be produced under OECD guidelines.

Activities

sunflower field Field inspections are coordinated during periods when distinct crop morphological characteristics, diseases and other important criteria are most noticeable. Field inspectors also look for weeds producing seed that may be virtually indistinguishable in appearance from crop seed.

Certification genetic purity standards are well-defined because when purity is compromised, insect and disease resistance, crop quality and uniformity can be reduced.

An additional seed quality characteristic that is monitored in certification is germination, with minimum requirements for certified seed ranging from 80-90% depending on crop species. Seed movement is monitored by CCIA from field harvest, through the conditioning plant, and in the bag. Seed samples are taken at the time of conditioning and are closely examined in the seed seed germination laboratory. Seed must meet minimum germination and purity standards. Purity is tested not only for inert, weed and other crop seed, but also for its true-to-type nature. Seed morphological characteristics are noted in variety description files and seed appearance is checked against what the breeder has described. Samples can be rejected if “off-type” seeds are found at a percentage that is greater than standards permit, as is occasionally the case with beans, cereals and sunflowers.

California Crop Improvement works closely as a partner in the seed industry and with the seed grower to assist in the production of high quality, certified seed. The mission of CCIA is to engage in any activity that promotes the production, distribution and use of superior quality seed. Crop varieties today have tremendously complex genotypes and advancements in genetics are occurring at rates unimagined just a few years ago. Because the assurance of genetic purity and quality contributes great value to seed, certified seed sells for a higher price than “common” seed, often returning greater profits to the grower and conditioner. Use of superior quality certified seed assures that the full genetic potential of a variety is uncompromised and available for the production of the highest quality crop yields.

Documents

Summary of Seed Certification.pdf