Seed Health: research on seed treatments for organic agriculture

Seeds are the cornerstone of agriculture, yet they can also carry harmful pathogens that threaten crop production. The presence of pathogens on seeds is sometimes unavoidable, even when measures are taken to prevent the spread of the diseases. In conventional farming, chemical treatments help manage seed-borne and soil-borne diseases, but organic agriculture requires alternative approaches. Join us for a session that explores FiBL's latest research on organic seed treatments, including heat, biological, and abiotic organic-based methods. Learn about the effectiveness of these treatments in protecting seeds and crops from pathogens and discover ongoing research aimed at developing new solutions for organic farming. In this session, two FiBL Switzerland experts will present their projects. Javier Palma from the Crop Sciences department will present results from two projects related to this topic. The first project is focused on seed treatments to protect wheat from soil-borne infections like common bunt disease (caused by Tilletia caries) and snow mold disease (caused by Microdochium nivale). The second part will cover research done within the LiveSeeding EU project, focused on novel seed treatments to sanitize seeds, to protect crops from seedborne diseases. Natacha Bodenhausen from the Soil Sciences department will present results from Res0sem. In this project researchers from Proconseil, Agroscope, and FiBL investigate different seed treatments together with a network of farmers committed to the non-use of phytosanitary treatments for seeds in the west of Switzerland. The session will conclude with a Q&A chaired by Barbara Thürig, from the Crop Sciences Department, where attendees can engage directly with the experts. This session is perfect for anyone interested to learn about novel seed treatments being investigated at FiBL to protect seeds from seedborne and soilborne diseases.