Source ID Program

Native Grasses & Forbes Pre-Variety Certification

The Indiana Crop Improvement Association offers a Pre-Variety or Source Identification Certification program under AOSCA standards. This program is designed to help assure the proper identity of native grasses and forbes (wild flowers) is maintained through all phases of production, conditioning and marketing. This program is NOT genetic certification but validates the SOURCE of the materials. The Indiana program assures buyers the products are native to the state of Indiana. Certification records and official labels validate the seed is traceable to native collections from within the state. Certification does not assure physical quality traits - i.e. germination, pure seed, etc. or the performance of the product.

Certified Source ID program products carrying an official yellow label verifying the material is comprised of the least selected germplasm from which the material was originally collected. Source Identified material may be increased in natural stands or in seed production plots or fields where no selection or selective breeding of the parent population has been made. The identified source (genetic origin) must be some definable geographic area from which the germplasm was first collected. The source may be relatively broad, resulting from a blend of more than one collection across a region, or it may be narrow, from a single collection location. The source must be accurately described and collection sites are verified by the certifying agency.