Cultivar verification testing as an integral part of seed testing in Canada

Cultivar Verification Testing started in Canada on a small scale in the early 1930's. A full field plot testing program covering the cultivar purity testing of pedigree seed was initiated by Agriculture Canada's Plant Products Division in 1959. The application of laboratory testing methods and the development of laboratory methods was started after 1965 and has led to the development or modification of many routine laboratory test methods. Cultivar purity testing programs have been initiated in the Plant Products Division District Seed Laboratories in order that these laboratories can provide this type of analytical service to its districts enforcement staff and other persons involved in the seed pedigree system.