b'ASSOCIATION NEWS Forest Tree and Shrub Seed CommitteeElisa Vieira (Chair)www.seedtest.org/en/technical-committees/forest-tree-shrub-seed-committee.htmlTHE ISTA FOREST TREE AND SHRUB(OECD), the International Seed Federation (ISF)Chapter 13 (Testing seeds by weighed SEED COMMITTEE (FTSC) IS CURRENTLYand the International Union of Forest Researchreplicates) of the International Rules for Seed COMPOSED OF MEMBERS FROMOrganizations (IUFRO) in the areas of forest seedTesting (ISTA Rules) is being revised. The DIFFERENT REGIONS of South and Northscience, technology and commercial issues. information regarding the necessity of doing America, Europe, Africa and India. The activitiesa purity test and sample weights has been of the Committee are related to the definition,Highlights of the Yearcorrected, and new tolerance tables for weighed uniformisation and standardisation of tests for(January 2024 to present) replicates has been developed with the Statistics the quality evaluation of forest and shrub seedsThe following activities were conducted in 2024: Committee, for germination tests on Eucalyptus which show proper characteristics (supply ofElectronic Handbook of Forest Tree and Shrubspp., Betula spp. and Chloris gayana.seeds, seed morphology, etc.). These activitiesSeeds: Organisation of information for forest and are in agreement with the main mission ofshrub species traded internationally, in termsThe cited activities are in accordance with ISTAs ISTA, uniformity in seed quality evaluationof storage, sampling, moisture determination,mission in terms of methods standardisation worldwide. purity, thousand-seed weight, germination,and the spread of knowledge related to forest tree tetrazolium testing and X-ray analysis. and shrub seeds. It is important to emphasise It is important to note the collaboration of FTSCA peer-validation of the germination test forthat global food production is directly associated with other ISTA Technical Committees such asKhaya grandifoliola has been conducted, and thewith forest maintenance and reforestation, and the Germination and Statistics Committees,results are being used by the Statistics Committeetheir effects in climate change. In this way there and also the participation of FTSC members infor the validation process review, with the aimis a global effort to plant trees, making the supply important organisations such as the Organisationto simplify the analysis for species with unevenof sufficient seeds of good quality all the more for Economic Co-operation and Developmentgermination like forest trees and shrubs. necessary.SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2025 31'