Advantages of a breeder’s co-trial

• Cost saving: a breeder’s co-trial can provide cost savings, as the testing fees for the second testing year at Naktuinbouw are waived in principle. A basic fee applies for performing a breeder’s co-trial from 1 March 2021.
• Time saving: both the Naktuinbouw trial and the breeder’s co-trial can be performed in the same year (1st year). This allows the trial to be completed in 1 year.

Disadvantages of a breeder’s co-trial

The breeder’s co-trial may not provide sufficient results to complete the test after one year for the reasons given below:

• Insufficient uniformity: if the uniformity in the Naktuinbouw trial and/or the breeder’s co-trial turns out to be insufficient, Naktuinbouw shall perform a third trial.
• Insufficient confirmation: if the results of the Naktuinbouw trial and the results of the breeder’s co-trial do not match sufficiently, Naktuinbouw shall perform a third test. This occurs regularly, especially in crops in which the varietal distances are small.
• Incomplete breeder’s co-trial: an important comparator variety may be missing from the breeder’s co-trial. Applications with an earlier application date have priority. For confidentiality reasons, we do not provide information on applications under testing. As a result, this priority variety may still need to be included as a comparator in a follow-up trial.

Requirements to a breeder’s co-trial

The breeder’s co-trial must meet the following requirements:

• The number of plants must meet the requirements of the CPVO protocol or UPOV guideline. The protocols and the guidelines can be found through the website of the CPVO.
• In a breeder’s co-trial, the seed sample must match the identity sample.
• Naktuinbouw will inform you about the comparative varieties. If it is not possible to include these varieties in the trial, this may lead to an additional testing year. The costs of an additional testing year are for the applicant.
• If you (the breeder) assess the breeder’s co-trial by yourself, you will receive an assessment form from Naktuinbouw. Please fill in the following on this form:
  • information about the trial (such as sowing date, date of assessment and number of plants)
  • your observation of off-types (number and type)
  • your observation of the differences between the application and the comparative varieties
• The breeder provides supporting evidence in the form of photographs with the form. It concerns an overview photograph of the trial, photographs in which the application and the comparator(s) are clearly visible and an overview photograph that shows the uniformity.
• The breeder’s co-trial results must be received by Naktuinbouw no later than the closing date of the following year. The closing dates can be found in the S2/S3 on the website of the CPVO.
• If Naktuinbouw assesses the trial, you coordinate the appropriate moment of assessing with the inspector. In this case too, the breeder’s co-trial results must be received before the closing date of the following year.