The purpose of these guidelines (“Test Guidelines”) is to elaborate the principles contained in the General Introduction (document TG/1/3), and its associated TGP documents, into detailed practical guidance for the harmonized examination of distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) and, in particular, to identify appropriate characteristics for the examination of DUS and production of harmonized variety descriptions.
1. Subject of these Test Guidelines 3
2. Material Required 3
3. Method of Examination 3
3.1 Number of Growing Cycles 3
3.2 Testing Place 3
3.3 Conditions for Conducting the Examination 3
3.4 Test Design 4
3.5 Number of Plants / Parts of Plants to be Examined 4
3.6 Additional Tests 4
4. Assessment of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability 4
4.1 Distinctness 4
4.2 Uniformity 5
4.3 Stability 5
5. Grouping of Varieties and Organization of the Growing Trial 5
6. Introduction to the Table of Characteristics 6
6.1 Categories of Characteristics 6
6.2 States of Expression and Corresponding Notes 6
6.3 Types of Expression 6
6.4 Example Varieties 6
6.5 Legend 6
7. Table of Characteristics/Tableau des caractères/Merkmalstabelle/Tabla de caracteres 7
8. Explanations on the Table of Characteristics 13
8.1 Explanations covering several characteristics 13
8.2 Explanations for individual characteristics 13
9. Literature 16
10. Technical Questionnaire 17
3.3.2 The recommended method of observing the characteristic is indicated by the following key in the second column of the Table of Characteristics:
VG: visual assessment by a single observation of a group of plants or parts of plants