OAR 603-051-0960: Requirements and Conditions for Certification

Certification by the Department shall not imply or be construed as any warranty of the Department, the school, or its employees as to the condition of caneberry nursery stock. The following requirements and conditions shall be met in order to qualify for consideration of certification of caneberry nursery stock: (1) The applicant for such certification under these regulations shall be responsible for the selection of the location and the proper maintenance of a planting being grown. The applicant shall also be responsible for maintaining the identity of all said nursery stock. Land selected for the production of Foundation, Registered, or Certified Stock shall not have grown any solanaceous crop or any crop plant within the genus Rubus within the previous five years unless said plants were propagate in accordance with the provisions of these regulations. The selected site must be free of any evidence of the presence of Agrobacterium rubi or A. tumefaciens as indicated by the absence of: (a) Overgrowths or tumors on crowns, roots, stems, or leaves; and of (b) Excessive or abnormal development of organs with or without tumefactions; (c) The presence of subsections (a) or (b) of this section on any known host plants in the site or within 30 feet will be cause for rejection. The Department or school shall be notified by the applicant in advance of the planting, replanting, or digging of caneberry nursery stock in order that necessary inspections may be made or approval granted prior to the performance thereof. (2) Each planting shall be located in an area in which viruses or other systemic pathogens affecting caneberries are not prevalent and in which there is adequate isolation from plantings of caneberries producing fruit. Cultivars within a planting must be adequately separated in an approved manner. Prior to acceptance of the planting site one of the following procedures shall be followed by the nurseryman: (a) Present acceptable records to the Department of nematode sampling of the land in question which show that plant parasitic nematodes are not present in harmful quantities; or (b) Fumigate the land in accordance with approved commercial practices compatible with current recommendations of the Oregon State University Extension Service. (3) For inspection purposes, one percent of the plants or 12 plants, whichever is less, from a Foundation Block must be allowed to produce mature fruit. Such plants are not to be harvested for certification and shall be removed from the planting after inspection for trueness-to-name. (4) Foundation Blocks shall be enclosed by an approved screenhouse. A minimum of three percent of the individual plants planted therein that will be used for further propagation shall be tested biennially by indexing. Progeny plants will be identified by clone numbers. (5) Each planting shall be kept in a thrifty growing condition and pests shall be kept under intensive control. Diseased or off-type plants will be rogued. Because of the problem of development of seedlings in the planting and the opportunity for flower infection by certain viruses, flowers will not be allowed in certified plantings except for section (3) of this rule. (6) For purposes of determining eligibility of caneberry nursery stock for certification in accordance with OAR 603-051-0590 of these regulations, the following shall apply: (a) To be acceptable for a planting in a Foundation Block a plant shall be: (A) Nuclear Stock; or (B) Foundation Stock which is a progeny of a plant from a Foundation Block that was tested the previous season in a program of indexing acceptable to the Department; or (C) Progeny of screenhouse grown Foundation Block plants removed from Nuclear plants by no more than four years. The adequacy of the applicant’s screenhouse shall be reviewed annually by the certifying agencies. (b) To be acceptable for planting in an Increase Block, a plant shall be Nuclear or Foundation Stock; (c) To be acceptable for planting in a Certified Block, a plant shall be Nuclear Stock, Foundation Stock, Registered Stock, or first-year Certified Stock. (See Diagram 1.); (d) Caneberry plants in outdoor Increase Blocks shall be planted in rows not less than eight feet apart; (e) No plant separated from Foundation Stock by more than three years of vegetative propagation shall be eligible for certification. [ED. NOTE: Diagrams referenced are available from the agency.]