You’re a plant breeder and you’ve created the ultimate vegetable variety…high yield, disease resistance, and exceptional eating quality. You’re ready to sell seed…right?

Not quite yet.

You have to produce the seed in large quantities, with high germination and vigor. Sometimes this can be a challenge. A seed company can do everything correctly when growing the plants for seed, and still not get the highest quality seed, because seed quality can be affected by the weather conditions during plant growth. Nothing’s a given. There’s always a risk of failure.

If a seed company is producing a new variety, it’s even tougher. Sometimes it’s necessary to adjust normal production practices for a particular variety, in order to harvest the highest quality seed. It is impossible to know if there are any special requirements, and impossible to know what those requirements might be for a new variety. Things like harvesting time, watering regimes, fertilizer programs, and growing areas, may all have to be adjusted for a particular variety. You have to start producing the seed in larger quantities to really know what you’re up against. You have to learn as you go in many cases, sometimes by trial and error.

Organic is Tougher

Now try producing seed organically, without the benefits of disease fighting chemicals, chemical fertilizers, or chemical herbicides. There is a much greater risk of failure. Some seed companies have delayed producing organic seed, most likely due to the increased risk of failure. Organic certifiers have been allowing organic growers use seed that is not organically produced if there was no organic seed available. This exception is likely to fade away as organically produced seed becomes more common.

Several companies are meeting the organic seed challenge, and that number is sure to grow. Here’s a list of some that do: http://www.seedquest.com/organic/suppliers/vegetables.htm. 

Organic Seed Treatments can help

There are some organically approved seed treatments that could help seed production companies and commercial vegetable growers prevent disease in organic fields. These types of products have not usually been as consistently effective as the chemical treatments available to non-organic growers, but they may be the best option.

Using seed treatment products containing beneficial micro-organisms such as Kodiak or products that induce Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) such as Yield Shield may help.

These technologies should become more important as the organic market expands.
 
If you’d like to know more about these types of organic seed treatments, take a look at these previous issues of the SeedTech Newsletter:
- http://www.harrismoran.com/technology/newsletters/9.htm
- http://www.harrismoran.com/technology/newsletters/17.htm

That’s it for now.

Next time we’ll talk about “New Seed Technology Products at Harris Moran” and get into some of the technical aspects of the things we do here.
Talk to you then.