The Cereal Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2005

Standards for varietal purity

8.—(1) The crop shall have sufficient varietal identity and varietal purity, including–

(a) in the case of a crop of an inbred line, sufficient varietal identity and varietal purity as regards its characteristics; and

(b) in the case of a crop used for the production of seed of hybrid varieties, sufficient varietal identity and varietal purity as regards the characteristics of the components of the hybrid variety, including male sterility or fertility restoration.

(2) In crops of rye, including hybrids of rye, the number of plants of the crop species which are recognisable as obviously not being true to the variety shall not exceed–

(a) one plant in 30 square metres for the production of Basic Seed; and

(b) subject to sub-paragraph (4)(a) in relation to hybrids of rye, one plant in 10 square metres for the production of Certified Seed.

(3) In crops of maize–

(a) the percentage by number of plants which are recognisable as obviously not being true to the variety, to the inbred line or to the component shall not exceed the percentage specified in column 2 of the following table corresponding to the relevant crop specified in column 1 of the table–

Column 1	Column 2
Crop of maize	Percentage by number of plants
(i) For the production of Basic Seed–
(aa) inbred lines	0.1%
(bb) simple hybrid, each component	0.1%
(cc) open-pollinated varieties	0.5%
(ii) For the production of Certified Seed–
(aa) a component of a hybrid variety
(aaA) in the case of an inbred line	0.2%
(aaB) in the case of a simple hybrid	0.2%
(aaC) in the case of open pollinated variety	1.0%
(bb) in the case of open pollinated varieties	1.0%

(b) used for the production of seed of hybrid varieties–

(i) sufficient pollen shall be shed by the plants of the male component while the plants of the female component are in flower;

(ii) where appropriate emasculation shall be carried out; and

(iii) where 5% or more of the female component plants have receptive stigmas, the percentage of female component plants which have shed pollen or are shedding pollen shall not exceed–

(aa) 1% at any official field inspection; and

(bb) 2% at the total of the official field inspections;

(c) for the purposes of sub paragraphs (b)(i) and (iii) plants shall be considered as having shed pollen or to be shedding pollen where, on 50 millimetres or more of the central axis or laterals of a panicle, the anthers have emerged from their glumes and have shed or are shedding pollen.

(4) In crops of hybrids of rye–

(a) in an official field inspection the standard in paragraph (2)(b) shall apply to the female component only;

(b) in the case of Basic Seed, where male sterility is used, the level of sterility of the male sterile component shall be at least 98%; and

(c) where appropriate, Certified Seed shall be produced in mixed cultivation of a female male sterile component with a male component which restores male fertility.

(5) In crops of hybrids of barley, durum wheat, oats, self pollinating triticale, spelt wheat or wheat–

(a) subject to sub paragraph (b) varieties of the female component of the crop shall be at least 25 metres from a crop of any other variety of the same species except from a crop of the male component;

(b) sub paragraph (a) shall not apply if there is sufficient protection from any undesirable foreign pollination;

(c) where seed is produced using a chemical hybridisation agent, the crop shall conform to the following standards or other conditions–

(i) the minimum varietal purity of each component shall be–

(aa) in the case of barley, durum wheat, oats, spelt wheat or wheat, 99.7%; and

(bb) in the case of self pollinating varieties of triticale, 99.0%; and

(ii) the minimum hybridity must be 95%; and

(d) in cases where the hybridity is determined during seed testing prior to certification, the determination of the hybridity during a field inspection need not be done.