European conference on farm saved seed

06.05.2016

European conference on farm saved seed

A group of major seed processors, which represent the first link in the cereal production chain in Europe, assembled in May in the Pas-de-Calais for the general meeting of the European Mobile Seed Association. “As the Commission has taken a break from revising Regulation 2100/94, which aimed to protect plant varieties and provided a legal framework for farm saved seed in Europe, the time is now right for dialogue to take place between the various stakeholders within the sector,” announced Nigel Day, president of the EMSA.

The economic and social challenges facing the European cereal sector are colossal. 12 million European farmers need 8.6 million tonnes of cereal seed, in order to sow 58 million hectares, which produce 320 million tonnes of grain worth about €45 billion. The European seed market is split more or less evenly between certified and farm saved seed.

“The seed market is experiencing a period of major upheaval,” says Eric Drésin, director of EMSA. “In a context of increased global pressure, the sector faces the dual challenge of climate change, including the first visible effects of the latter, and new genetic engineering techniques, such as GEEN (genome editing with engineered nucleases), which could also interfere in the battle between patents and certification from a legal point of view.” ?In addition, the sector urgently needs to ensure that it has the necessary expertise to use treatment products, in response to political and social pressure, and especially neonicotinoids. “It is vital that we reinforce our certification schemes, which aim to monitor the use of phytosanitary products,” stresses Sylvain Ducroquet, president of STAFF, which represents seed processors in France. “The entire sector will inevitably benefit, as this will encourage the decision-makers to address the question objectively and globally.”

In conclusion, in view of the various challenges currently facing them, it seems that all the family businesses that help process farm saved seed in Europe should now initiate a dialogue, in order to highlight the importance of certified and farm saved seed for European agriculture. They also need to show that the sector is ready to listen to the needs of society and the environment, with regard to intellectual property and treatment products.

Next meeting to be held in Denmark in 2017

EMSA implements a strategy of expansion by appealing to professional seed processors in the European Union countries. For this reason, the next general meeting will be held in Denmark. It will be an opportunity to welcome professional seed processors from Northern Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic states, where cereal production has been highly successful in terms of exports over the last few years. The next meeting is scheduled for the last two weeks of May 2017 and will be held in Aalborg, in the north of Denmark