b'h HEMP / SEED BREEDINGCertified Seed NeededFOR FARMERS TOreap thedifferent uses, but they will all be a full benefits and maximize marketvariety of hemp, Boruff says. opportunities, the right germplasmIn the last few years, hemp needs to be created. seed has been coming into the The need for certified seed isUnited States from Canada and a very strong, says Andrea Schiavi,few European countries including CEO of Schiavi Seeds. Its goingItaly, Poland and Serbia. In those to take time for seed companies tocountries where hemp has beenDid you produce stable varieties that willlegal for a number of years, there satisfy the demand in the comingare varieties on the Organisationknow?years. As for Schiavi Seeds, wefor Economic Cooperation and should be able to pass 2 millionDevelopment approved cultivarThe U.S. Declaration pounds of certified seeds producedAndrea Schiavilist which makes them eligible for by 2020, and that is not enough. is the foundercertification in the United States.of Independence was In June 2014, the Association ofand CEO ofThe European varieties have beendrafted on hemp Official Seed Certifying AgenciesSchiavi Seeds. determined to be distinct andpaper, and Abraham (AOSCA) adopted seed certifi- stable and are being imported intoLincoln used hemp oil cation standards for hemp. Thethe United States for multiplicationto fuel his household new standards are modeled afterhere.lamps in Illinois.Canada where they have beenPlant breeders are working growing hemp since 1998.overtime to develop seed for U.S. Canada is a member ofgrowers. AOSCA, so it made perfect senseThe supply is starting to pick for us to adapt their standards,Some sellersup to meet demand. In the mean-says AOSCA CEO Chet Boruff.are makingtime, there are businesses tryingBy the We made slight modifications toall sortsto sell what I would call strainsnumberstheir standards so they would workthat are not necessarily varieties, across the United States as well. of claimsBoruff says. Some sellers are AOSCA certification standardsmaking all sorts of claims about400,000 acres of assure varietal purity is maintainedabout thethe characteristics of the strain, but hemp were grown from one generation to the next.they cannot back up those claims AOSCA standards apply to hempcharacteristicsbecause there is no credible historyin the United States seed regardless of how the result- of the strain,as to how it was developed.between 1942 and ing crop is to be used. This is similarThere is no pedigree informa- 1945 for war efforts.to corn or soybean seed wherebut theytion. It concerns me that farm-certification standards apply tocannot backers rushing in to produce for the1957 the last seed production whether the cropCBD market are willing to spend a will be used for animal feed, humanup thosetremendous amount of money onU.S. commercial food or ethanol.claims . seed based on nothing more thanhemp fields were There are hemp varieties forwhat somebody has told them, heplanted in Wisconsin.dual-purpose use, but as time Chet Boruff says. Trust me about what I am moves on, there will be hempselling you, is not a valid marketing varieties developed for specific endclaim.uses, for example, some for fiber and some for CBD. There will be 30/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2019'