Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
so-called conservation or heritage varieties. Often, such farmers care for a community-based
and participatory seed production and exchange system to conserve the local varieties or
maintain old varieties that are suitable for low-input conditions. These farmers are threatened
by restrictions from the new regulations because many of those conservation or local varieties
are not officially registered and/or not propagated organically. When they want to save their
own seeds from modern varieties they have to deal with restrictive regulations on farmers'
rights for saving their own seed.
The second group is large-scale farmers who produce for supermarkets and have to meet
specific quality and uniformity requirements. These farmers depend largely on modern, hybrid
varieties of commercial seed companies and on the breeding policy of such companies. For
economic reasons, not all companies are willing to enter the relatively small, organic market
and produce all the desired varieties organically. Those who do take part in organic seed pro-
duction produce only a limited assortment, which constrains the choice compared with the
larger assortment of conventionally propagated varieties. During the first World Conference
on Organic Seed, held in Rome 2004 (IFOAM 2004), it was recognised that there are large dif-
ferences between countries with and without a large critical mass of organic products and
organic seeds. It can, for instance, restrict seed export from developing countries, where the
commercial viability of organic seed is lacking and seed certification is not existent, to coun-
tries in Europe with strict regulations on the use of organically propagated seeds. A careful
transitional period for shifting from conventional to organic seed is necessary.
Technical aspects
As organic farming systems refrain from the use of chemical protectants, it is even more
important that seed and planting material is of high quality as these form the basis of crop pro-
duction. The development of high quality propagating material requires the development of
specific expertise on aspects of seed production including technical knowledge, choice of
location and varieties (Lammerts van Bueren
et al
. 2003a).
The main problems in organic seed production are: nutrient management, disease and pest
management, and weed control. Among the seedborne diseases in particular require special
attention. To reduce the risk of disease infestation, optimal climatic conditions and thus the
location for seed production can be important (Dornbusch
et al
. 1992; Velema 2004). In some
cases seed production should be located in warmer and drier climates, away from the areas of
origin and destination.
However, optimising organic seed production not only requires adapting cultural practices
as mentioned above, but also that specific attention needs to be paid for variety traits during
seed production. This applies especially to biennial vegetable crops, which can build up disease
pressure in the first year and then suffer from a continued increase of disease pressure during
seed formation in the following year. Another aspect that inf luences the success of organic
seed production is that some parental lines of hybrids have reduced growth vigour and, there-
fore, are susceptible to biotic stresses including diseases. This implies that growth vigour as a
variety characteristic is even more important in organic seed production than in conventional
seed production.
Seed quality standards
Organic seed production without chemical inputs is a challenge for seed producers. The usual
criteria for conventional seed quality also apply to organic seed: physical and genetic purity,
absence of weed seeds, and a minimal requirement for germination. In some cases it is not
always possible to produce seeds without a certain degree of contamination with diseases.
Several methods can be applied to improve the seed quality. One method is grading and sepa-
rating infected seeds from healthy seeds by selecting based on seed weight or size, as known in
