Specialized Programs

Quality Assurance

GCIA’S Quality Assurance Program (QA) is designed for those crops of which certified seed is no longer available or the variety is not eligible for certification.  The QA program can be used as a marketing tool to make a product unique in the market place while maintaining purity, identity and seed quality.  The program is especially useful when contract producers or conditioners are used.

The GCIA Quality Assurance (QA) program provides a uniform and unbiased quality control system and marketing tool for crop seeds merchandised as varieties, hybrids, brands, or blends that may not be eligible for certification.

QA Program Objectives:

1. To provide coordinated, professional, unbiased field inspections, laboratory testing and post control grow outs (when required or requested) for quality control in seed production, conditioning and marketing.

2. To provide an unbiased record system for use in meeting state and federal seed law requirements, for use in assessing royalties or research fees; and to help solve potential problems with customers and seed suppliers.

3. To provide a retail or wholesale marketing image of sound quality control assurance for selling seed products not using the certification program.

4. To provide seed buyers with assurance that a product is correctly labeled.

5. To facilitate product identification, and to provide a liaison between genetic suppliers and producers. 

QA Noxious Weed Free Forage & Straw

The Georgia Crop Improvement Association, through our Quality Assurance third party inspection service, offers a program designed to provide assurance that forage and straw sold with the proper documentation meets minimum standards designed to limit the spread of noxious weeds. Each shipment of Quality Assured Noxious Weed Free forage or straw must be accompanied by a GCIA certificate that identifies the product as meeting all QA standards. For more information, click HERE.

Identity-Preserved Program

Identity-Preserved usually refers to maintaining records of a varieties production to include field inspections, storage, conditioning, shipping, and manufacturing.  Usually these varieties have specific characteristics sought by end users.

The GCIA identity-preserved program is tailor made to meet the needs of the end user.

 

Field Services Program

GCIA’S Field Services Program (FS) provides valuable, third party field inspection services for seed production and related products. GCIA FS Program provides a statistically accurate system to evaluate and document a farm produced seed product. FS is used to evaluate a broad base of factors in the field using proven sampling methods to meet a desired standard. All FS programs are individualized to fit the needs of each customer.