A manual of rice seed health testing - IRRI books - International Rice ...

CHAPTER 3
Equipment
J.K. Misra, T.W. Mew, and S.D. Merca
Steps followed for the phytosanitary
certification of rice seeds are shown
in Figure 3.1.
Seed testing laboratories use seed
sampling equipment to draw and
divide official seed samples (Table
3.1).
Standard plant pathology laboratory
equipment and facilities suitable
for many techniques used in rice
seed health testing are listed in
Tables 3.1 and 3.2 and briefly explained
below. The equipment used
for sampling is described in the next
chapter.
A hand or magnifying lens
(Fig. 3.2) may detect plant debris,
sclerotia, smuts, malformations, and
indications of infection such as dried
bacterial ooze, resting mycelia on
seed surfaces, and fruiting bodies.
A stereobinocular microscope
(Fig. 3.3) can readily detect contamination
of the seed surface with
teleospores of Tilletia barclayana.
Additional equipment is needed
for the washing test. An automatic
shaker standardizes shaking, a lowspeed
centrifuge concentrates suspension,
a compound microscope
helps identify fungal spores, and a
haemocytometer determines the
spore load. Stereobinocular and
compound microscopes are used to
detect and identify nematodes in
suspension after sedimentation.
3.1 Steps toward
the phytosanitary
certification of rice
seeds.