Seed Introduction Blocks

Seed meeting the requirements for release may be taken away, after being released, by a program-designated assistant only and planted exclusively and without exception in the introduction blocks. The purpose of this procedure is to monitor, detect, and destroy any pathogen that may have not been detected by laboratory tests.

Winter wheat introductions must be sown in Toluca in Blocks A2 and A3. Spring wheat introductions must be sown in a screenhouse built for this purpose in El Batan in 2001. Maize introductions must be sown in Tlatizapan in an introduction block that may change from year to year, and in El Batan in Block E10.

All introduction blocks are grown in complete isolation, and intercropping of other materials is not allowed. Introduced seed will be monitored during the growth cycle by SHL staff and the Dirección General de Sanidad Vegetal (DGSV) inspector.

Each program will provide lists of all materials to be grown in quarantine plots before each cycle and in every location. The programs should also indicate whether they intend to do disease evaluation.

To facilitate inspection, materials should be labeled as soon as possible. The SHL introduction number, number of entries, and country of origin should be included on each tag.

All decisions regarding chemical spraying will be taken jointly by program scientists and SHL staff. Plants in the introduction blocks that show symptoms of unusual diseases will be removed, samples will be taken to the SHL for examination, and the remaining tissue will be destroyed.

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