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History

     Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station (TSIPS) is located at Xinshe, Taichung city in central Taiwan. The station, was founded in 1913 and named “Sugarcane Seedling Nursery” in the Japanese colonial stage. After Taiwan’s retrocession in 1945, the name was changed to “Sugarcane Seedling Propagation Station”. In 1952, the station was renamed “Seed Propagation Station” affiliated to the Provincial Department of Agriculture & Forestry (PDAF), and its mission was also extended to the production of seeds/seedlings of various crops. In order to increase the proficiency and to cope with the spirit of running business as an agricultural enterprise, departments of seed production and seed technology were added in 1963, and Pingtung Substation was dedicated in 1976. Current name TSIPS under PDAF was fixed in 1981 to emphasize the function of research and development. After down-sizing of the provincial government, the station was reallocated to the Council of Agriculture in 1999 but the name kept unchanged except to replace Pingtung Substation the renamed Pingtung Seed/Seedling Research Center in 2002. In order to cope with the reformed objectives and organization, departments of TSIPS had been changed into seven research sections and four administration units since 2004. In order to reforce and centralized PVP, TSIPS has been the authorized examination institute since May 1, 2008. The missions includes DUS testing for registration of varieties, establishing variety databases and developing variety identification techniques for infringement. TSIPS became a dedicated DUS agency for plant variety protection on June 11, 2010. Renaming the “Plant Breeding section” as “Plant Breeding and variety Protection Section” to provide a professional DUS service for new varieties. On June 1st, 2012, TSIPS takes over the ISTA accredited lab from the Seed Inspection Office, Agriculture and Food Agency, due to the government organization re-established. In order to increase the capacity of seedling detection and verification services, the building of Seedling Detection and Verification Center was inaugurated on January 29, 2015.