Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the Commissioner of Agriculture is authorized when the public necessity, welfare, economy, or any emergency situation requires it, to permit for such periods of time as, in his discretion may seem necessary, the sale of vegetable plants for transplanting purposes which do not meet the standards referred to in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-284.16 (1959, c. 91, s. 8.)