Plea For Cleaner Crops Of Seeds

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31079, 7 June 1966, Page 19

Plea For Cleaner Crops Of Seeds

"The Press” Special Service

INVERCARGILL, June 6. In spite of an expected tightening of crop inspection techniques in New Zealand, the weed industry had grown into a multi-million pound empire, the “Herbicide Empire,” and he suggested it would be a fitting resolution, to mark the council’s twentyfirst birthday, to press for a seed act, the chairman of the Dominion Agriculture Produce Section of Federated Farmers (Mr F. M. Henderson, of Southland) told the annual conference of the section in Invercargill. Mr Henderson said New Zealand still had the same old weeds, and perhaps some new ones available, to contaminate pastures when they were renewed. Many lines of seeds containing these weeds could not be sold overseas, but there was a ready market for them in New Zealand. This trade went on in spite of seed certification.

“Possibly our greatest aim in seed production over the next few years should be to produce cleaner crops,” Mr Henderson said. A great deal of field-dressed seed, submitted for machine dressing included huge quantities of weed seeds, other crops of seed and rubbish of all sorts. As, a result, many seed-dressing firms had become experienced in cleaning out these unwanted impurities he said. Mr Henderson said that when a survey was held recently on a large number of seeds submitted to the seedtesting station at Palmerston North, for testing to permit entry and sale in Australia, some 20 per cent of the lines were rejected. The lines had been selected as being most likely to comply with requirements.

“Surely this situation should not exist,” he said. “If that seed is too dirty or too poor in quality to meet the requirements of Australia, it is too poor to sow in New Zealand.” Mr Henderson said in some years about 40 per cent of the New Zealand seed crop was exported and the balance was used on New Zealand pastures. The 60 per cent New Zealand retained for its own use was of far more importance in the primary production it resulted in than the £2 mil-

lion to £3 million received for seed exports. In New Zealand’s expanding economy, there was room for both. Also, overseas trade could give useful credit and a means of disposing of surplus production. He said New Zealand’s best clients were Australia and the United Kingdom. Certain varieties produced excellently in both of these countries and white clover sales had been a very good source of income. Peas, both for sowing and for feed, had in some years sold to the value of £BOO,OOO. Perennial ryegrass was growing in popularity in both the United Kingdom and Australia. “We cannot, however, sit back satisfied that we have a successful export trade in seed,” he said.