NOVEMBER 2018 GERMINATION.CA 9 interactive digital identification tools and establishing a seed identification database for weeds, economically important plant species and wild plant species, includ- ing the Seed Identification Guide (SIG), a peer-reviewed web-based seed identifica- tion tool which is intended to become the seed morphologist’s online Bible. ISMA also plans to produce a range of other tools (including fact sheets and facilitating peer support) to help anyone concerned with seed morphology. This will help to improve their knowledge of a crucial field, which Diederichsen notes has declined in recently years due to the rise of genomics and other new technologies that he says often take attention away from the importance of morphology in identify- ing seed. Diederichsen serves as curator for the Canadian national genebank for seed germplasm in Saskatoon. “There’s a lot you can see with the human eye alone, which is basically what seed morphology is. People can make decisions based on what they perceive using their raw senses, but these people are getting rarer all the time,” he says. “We got so smart as humans that we tend to rely on sophisticated tools, but there are a lot of important seed qualities that can be assessed using the human eye alone. We need to continue training for these obser- vation skills, which are readily available without needing a lot of technology.” According to Morgan Webb, presi- dent of the Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada, (CSAAC), the formation of ISMA will be hugely exciting for seed analysts not only in Canada, but around the globe. “To have a resource with thousands of species of seed listed instead of the much smaller number of identifying records that seed labs typically have on hand is a big deal,” Webb says. “It also helps in cases where profes- sionals change jobs and end up in a specific botanical discipline like seed — with vast amounts of information on seed morphology available, they can get up to speed a lot more quickly.” ISMA’s website will be located at idseed.org. Ruojing Wang, secretary for the International Seed Morphology Association. ISMA vice-chair Axel Diederichsen hails from Germany. Nexeed Inc – Equipment solutions for Canadian grain & seed processors. Your Local Cimbria Dealer. Equipment sales, color sorters, spare parts, training, or plant design contact Nexeed to learn more. 204 982 3531 NEXEED.CA