Special Requirements and Standards

Application Due Date

Application for field inspection shall be submitted to the ACIA office by April 15 for a spring crop or at the start of flowering for a crop grown during another season.

Limitation of Generations

The certification of hybrid asparagus shall be limited to the Certified class (the commercial hybrid).

Planting Stock

The male and female planting stock used to establish Certified seed production fields shall be tissue culture-produced plants or vegetative propagules of such plants. Either stock shall have been produced with authorization of the variety's breeder or owner of record.

Registration of a Perennial Field

An applicant shall submit a completed Perennial Crop Application within 30 days of planting for a particular field to be eligible for certification. Field inspection shall be required each year for the field to remain eligible for certification. Applicants must submit a standard field inspection application by the due date cited previously.

General Field Standards

Land History

Land planted for the production of certified seed shall not have grown asparagus of any variety during the previous year and must be free of volunteer asparagus plants.

Unit of Certification

A portion of a field may be accepted for certification if the non-eligible portion does not affect the genetic purity of the certified portion.

Field Inspection

At least one field inspection shall be conducted when the crop is in the bloom stage.

Isolation

A hybrid production field shall be at least 5,280 feet (one mile) distant from any other asparagus except certifiable plantings of the same parent lines.

Specific Field Standards

The maximum permitted frequency of other varieties, off-type plants and flowering volunteers shall be 1:1,000 in both the female and male during pollination. Such non-typical female plants shall be rogued to a maximum frequency of 1:5,000 before harvest.

Seed Standards for Hybrid Asparagus