ABSTRACT
Maintenance and initial seed multiplications of all varieties are necessary whether the varieties result from a public or a private plant-breeding program. Maintenance of a variety can be accomplished by annually growing a small number of plants that represent variety and harvesting seed from selected plants. To maintain varietal purity, plants should be grown and selected as infrequently as possible during the "life" of a variety because of chance of accident each time plant selections are made. The maintenance of a variety and subsequent multiplications to Basic Seed require suitable land and equipment, a seed processing plant capable of handling small quantities of seed of individual varieties, systematic work, adequate records, and labeling. In planning the production of Basic Seed, it is necessary to consider how to supply farmers with authentic seed of varieties. Supplying seed to farmers to multiply for their neighbors can lead to a system of regular seed growers and to seed enterprises and marketing groups.
