42 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org TRAINING AND EDUCATION • AN ISTA WORKSHOP ON SEED SAMPLING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN SEED SAMPLING was held over four days in Budapest and Sárbogárd, Hungary in March 2026. This workshop was jointly hosted by NÉBIH [National Food Chain Safety Office] Budapest, including the organisation of the theoretical session and coordination of the overall programme, and by Alisca Mag Kft., Sárbogárd. The aim of the workshop was to provide an overview of seed sampling in a range of species but also to provide a forum where questions relating to seed sampling methodologies could be discussed. In Hungary, the workshop was jointly organised by a dedicated team led by Gábor Kokavecz, Head of the Seed Inspection Department, NÉBIH, Directorate of Agricultural Genetic Resources, together with Péter Varga, and colleagues from Alisca Mag Kft., Sárbogárd. Special thanks are extended to NÉBIH for hosting the lectures and to Alisca Mag Kft. for facilitating the practical exercises, preparing seed lots for sampling, and providing access to sampling equipment. Their contributions were integral to the workshop’s success. Appreciation is also due to Andreea-Nicoleta Pinar, TCOM Administrator at the ISTA Secretariat in Switzerland, for efficiently managing registrations and logistical arrangements. Interest in the workshop was significant, reflected in the 33 participants who attended. Many more registered for the workshop, but unfortunately could not be accommodated as the maximum number of participants had been reached. Attendees came from both the private sector and government, mainly from Europe, but also as far afield as Thailand and Tanzania. The 18 countries that were represented were Austria (1), Belgium (2), Croatia (1), Czechia (1), Estonia (2), France (1), Germany (4), Greece (1), Hungary (2), Iraq (3), Italy (3), The Netherlands (4), Poland (2), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1), Tanzania (1), Thailand (1) and Ukraine (2). The importance of attending the workshop was ISTA Workshop on Seed Sampling and Quality Assurance in Seed Sampling 17–20 March 2026, Budapest/Sárbogárd, Hungary Eddie Goldschagg1 and Gábor Kokavecz2 1Vice-Chair of ISTA Bulking and Sampling Committee 2NÉBIH [National Food Chain Safety Office], Hungary In the lecture room at NÉBIH [National Food Chain Safety Office clearly demonstrated by the participants from Iraq; due to ongoing conflict in their region, they had to travel for two days by car to reach an airport in Türkiye from where they could fly to Budapest. That shows dedication indeed! The lecturers at the workshop were Eddie Goldschagg, ISTA Bulking and Sampling Committee (BSC) Vice-Chair (South Africa); Leena Pietilä, BSC member (Finnish Food Authority, Finland); Gerry Hall, BSC member (SASA, UK); and Sigyn Valgrind, BSC member (DSV Seed, Denmark). The lecturers have vast experience in their fields and have given lectures at numerous ISTA sampling workshops held around the world. Our appreciation goes to them as well for making themselves available to share their expertise and knowledge with the participants. The sampling theoretical lectures and discussions were held at NÉBIH in Budapest, with practical exercises at Alisca Mag Kft. The topics covered included: • Introduction to seed sampling methods (lectures) • Principles behind seed sampling, sealing bags and labelling (lectures) • Sampling containers, bags, boxes and dividing samples (practicals) • Dividing samples and validation of dividers (lectures and practicals) • Automatic seed sampling (lectures) • ISTA protocol for approval of automatic samplers (lectures) • Training of samplers (lectures) • Monitoring of seed samplers (lectures) • Quality assurance in sampling (lectures and practicals) • Non-conformities and corrective actions The first day of the workshop was mainly dedicated to lectures. After the participants had introduced themselves and expressed their expectations for the workshop, a zero-assessment quiz took place to determine the level of expertise of the participants. The results showed that most of the participants already had a good knowledge of sampling, as most obtained a mark of more than 20 out of 26, with one even getting full marks! The ‘Smiley’ exercise followed, in which participants sampled small bags of seed spiked with impurities, highlighting the variability and inconsistency in impurity detection during sampling. The remainder of the day focused on lectures about sampling and sample reduction. On the second day, the group visited the facilities at Alisca Mag Kft. in Sárbogárd. Participants were welcomed by Mr Petersen, CEO of PH Petersen, the parent company of Alisca Mag Kft., who came all the way from Germany to welcome us and to do a short presentation on the background of the two companies, together with Mr Péter Némedi, CEO of Alisca Mag Kft. Both companies specialise in the breeding and production of forage and cover crops. We thank both companies for their generous sponsorship and support to make this workshop happen.
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.