The Seeds (Control of Quality Declared Seeds) Regulations, 2020

1. Facilities QDS dealer shall be required to have appropriate facilities for seed harvesting, cleaning, storage and bagging.

3.1. Isolation The sweetpotato seed crop shall not be grown on land on which the previous one crop was sweetpotato. The site should appear free from visible pests and diseases which may infect the current sweetpotato crop. A QDS crop shall be isolated from other varieties of known clean source by a distance of three meters to prevent mechanical admixture or a physical barrier such as ditch, hedge and fence. Isolation from other crop of unclean source of sweet potato crop species and variety shall be at least twenty meters from the QDS crop. 53 GN. No. 271 (contd.) Seeds (Control of Quality Declared Seeds)

3.2. Purity Variety A minimum of 98% of the sweetpotato plants shall conform to the characteristics of the variety.

4.1 Viral diseases The seed field must be reasonably free from weeds such that weed growth shall not prevent a valid inspection of the seed crop. The seed field shall be reasonably free from the following virus symptoms: (e) Mosaic and stunting (f) Leaf curl (g) Purpling

4.2 Seed-borne diseases Seed field must be within the standards for seed-borne diseases as named and specified below: a. Mosaic and stunting : 5% b. Leaf curl : 5% c. Other (purpling, chlorosis, vein clearing) :10% d. Alternaria blight :5% e. Black rot (Maximum):0.5% f. Wilt (bacterial) (Maximum):0.5% g. h. Scurf (Maximum) 0.5 % SSR-Pox (Maximum):10%

6. Insect Pests The seed field must be reasonably free from other diseases such that the severity of the diseases shall not prevent a valid assessment of the varietal characteristics. The seed field must be within the standards for insect pests as named and specified below: Sweetpotato weevil (Cylaspuncticollis) (Maximum): 10% Root knot nematodes (Maximum): 3% a. b. Wire worm (Maximum): 10% c. d. Mites/Thrips (Maximum): 5% e. Caterpillars (Maximum): 10% f. Aphids & whiteflies (Maximum): 5%

7.1 Timing a. b. Seed crop field shall be inspected at least twice; the first inspection shall be done six weeks after planting and the second two weeks before harvesting. Additional inspections, if any, may be conducted where a particular problem has been observed.

7.2.1 Before entering the field, an inspector shall confirm with the seed grower or producer on the followings :- a. b. c. d. Location of the seed crop field; Variety to be inspected; Seed source Previous cropping history of the field

7.2.2. The inspector shall confirm that sweetpotato plants generally conform to the characteristics of the variety and shall examine the boundaries of the field to confirm the isolation requirements.

7.2.3. The inspector shall conduct an effective inspection to estimate the number of off types, weeds and disease situation.

7.2.4. For the purposes of conducting an effective inspection, the inspector shall: 54 GN. No. 271 (contd.) Seeds (Control of Quality Declared Seeds) On standard beds: i. Determine the number of standard (1.2 m x 6 m) beds for the variety being assessed. For every 10 beds select 3 beds at random, for example every other bed. ii. The following procedure should be carried out for each of the 3 selected beds for each variety: a. Each bed should have 5 rows. Do not consider the two outer rows. Of the three inner rows, do not consider the middle row. There are now two rows to base the assessment on. b. Calculate the plant population for each row. On non-standard beds: Pace the area for each variety in the multiplier’s multiplication plot. For every 100mof each variety select 3 samples of 0.4m x 1.5m. Start in the middle of the farmer’s multiplication plot as the first sample. Peg out an area of 0.4m x 1.5 m using string and stakes. Choose a random direction and take three strides and peg out the second area in the same way. Repeat for the third sample. The areas pegged out will be the equivalent of the 2 selected rows from 3 standard beds in multiplication plots. Count all the plants in the marked area. iii) Once the observations for all diseases and pests have been calculated for the 2 selected rows in each of the 3 selected beds, the percentages of affected plants can be calculated. This should be done as follows: The denominator is the total sample i.e. the total number of plants in the 6 selected rows from the 3 sampled beds (or the 3 pegged areas in the non-standard multiplication plot). The total number of affected plants for each parameter is divided by the denominator and then multiplied by 100 to give the percentage. iv) After inspection, the inspector shall complete inspection report and make a decision either to accept or reject the field or to recommend further remedial action before a final decision is taken. 55 GN. No. 271 (contd.) Seeds (Control of Quality Declared Seeds) _____ ___________ THIRD SCHEDULE ___________ FEES FOR SERVICES ___________ (Made under regulation 12) ___________ PARTICULARS OF FEES A: Inspection fees Field Inspection per acre B. Fees for seed testing and re-testing for germination, purity and moisture: (1) one kg (field crops) (2) 100 gm (vegetable crops) C: Seed health testing and re-testing (optional): (1) (2) fees per seed sample re-testing fees D: Training fees per person AMOUNT IN TSHS. 30,000 50 100 10,000 5,000 50,000 Dodoma 15Th April, 2019 JAPHET N. HASUNGA, Minister for Agriculture 56