Copyright Notice: This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

Ira Obed Schaub (1880-1971) in 1950. Image from the Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries.
Ira Obed Schaub (1880-1971) in 1950. Image from the Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries.
The North Carolina Crop Improvement Association, designated by state law as the official agency for seed certification in North Carolina, had its origin in the North Carolina Purebred Crop Seed Program that was conceived in the Crops and Plant Breeding Department of North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (modern-day North Carolina State University) in 1928. At that time a study was made of crop improvement associations in 15 states. A certification plan was then presented to Ira Obed Schaub, dean of the college's School of Agriculture and the first full-time director of the college's Agricultural Extension Services, and Governor O. Max Gardner. The plan formed the basis of the crop seed program, which was enacted into law in 1929. The association, formed in July 1929, became a member of the International Crop Inspection Association (today the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies), whose members are responsible for seed certification in their respective states and Canada. The association's principal office is on the N.C. State campus in Raleigh.

Additional Resources:

North Carolina Crop Improvement Association website: http://www.nccrop.com (accessed November 19, 2012).

Middleton, Gordon K. and McLaughlin, Foil W. Seeds of time: a history of the North Carolina Crop Improvement Association, 1929-1977. Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Crop Improvement Association, North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, North Carolina State University. August 1978. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/seeds-of-time-a-history-of-the-north-carolina-crop-improvement-association-1929-1977/2820630 (accessed November 19, 2012).

"An Act to Foster the Development and Production of Pure-Bred Crop Seeds in North Carolina and Provide for the Certification Thereof." Public laws and resolutions passed by the General Assembly at its session of 1929. Raleigh, N.C.: Mitchell Printing Co. 1929. p.379-381. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/public-laws-and-resolutions-passed-by-the-general-assembly-at-its-session-of-...1929/1952786?item=2056536 (accessed November 19, 2012).

Image Credits:

Ira Obed Schaub, #0007379, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina. http://historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/0007379 (accessed November 28, 2012).

Citation

Williams, Wiley J. "North Carolina Crop Improvement Association." NCpedia. Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. Accessed on February 11th, 2025. https://www.ncpedia.org/north-carolina-crop-improvement-ass.