Provided is a conifer seed selecting method for identifying and selecting only conifer seeds which have a normal embryo, from a mixture, of an identical species, of conifer seeds some having a normal embryo and some not having a normal embryo, the method comprising the steps of:(a) irradiating the seeds with near infrared light, measuring the spectrum of near infrared light reflected from each seed, and obtaining data of reflectance at each wavelength(b) extracting, for each seed, data of reflectances at two specific wavelengths within a range of 750 to 2200 nm(c) calculating, for each seed, the ratio between the extracted reflectances and(d) comparing the ratio calculated in (c) with a threshold for the ratio of reflectances at the two specific wavelengths for determining whether the seed has a normal embryo, wherein (i) when there is a tendency that the ratio is lower than or equal to the threshold in a seed having a normal embryo, a seed having the ratio lower than or equal to the threshold is identified as a seed having a normal embryo, and (ii) when there is a tendency that the ratio is greater than the threshold in a seed having a normal embryo, a seed having the ratio greater than the threshold is identified as a seed having a normal embryo.
