The quality laboratory of Deutsche Saatveredelung AG (DSV) has officially qualified as a private laboratory to participate in seed testing within the national quality testing of rape seed. This was confirmed by the responsible state certification authority on 15 October 2020. DSV now has one of only two laboratories certified for this purpose in Germany. This follows the accreditation by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) for rapeseed at the beginning of 2019.

 

Deutsche Saatveredelung AG (DSV) is one of the leading medium-sized plant breeding and seed companies in Germany. One focus of its activities is the breeding and production of rape seed. More than 4,000 tonnes of high-quality rape seed are sold by the company every year. 15 employees work to ensure seed quality in DSV's own laboratory. The company created new premises with the best technical conditions for private certification in 2017. Here the rape seed is tested in a standardised manner for important quality parameters such as purity and germination capacity. 

 

"It is a great honour for DSV to now also be approved as a private quality laboratory," says Katrin Boedecker, head of the DSV quality laboratory. The extensive preparatory work of the last few years, including the preparation of a comprehensive quality management manual, has paid off. This is because in order to be approved by the certification authority within the framework of the Seed Ordinance as a private laboratory for participation in quality testing, it must be ensured that both professional and technical competence is available and that the personnel commissioned have the necessary knowledge and skills. The ISTA accreditation was one of the most important prerequisites for this. 

 

The claim of the quality laboratory's staff to maintain the accreditation at a high level continues to require regular participation in interlaboratory tests of ISTA as well as in the expert group of VDLUFA (Association of German Agricultural Research Institutes). At the same time, activities will continue to be systematically monitored by the recognition body. 

With this approval, the DSV is securing the strategically important immediate quality testing of rapeseed in the long term and can thus guarantee a reliable supply of certified seed in the future.