STOVE: SEED TREATMENTS FOR ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

Summary

Abstract – Production of pathogen-free seeds is a major goal in organic farming. In the framework of the EU-funded project “STOVE” (“Seed Treatments for Organic Vegetable Production”) physical and biological methods of seed treatment (alone and in combination) were investigated in different vegetable / pathogen systems.
Overall, the physical treatments (hot water, hot air and electron treatment) resulted in a moderate to good control of the respective diseases. Also, from all biological treatment groups (microorganisms, plant extracts and inducers of resistance) candidates with promising control properties could be identified. The influence of the biological methods on emergence was often more prominent under greenhouse than under field conditions.
The efficacy of given single and combined treatments depended strongly on the host / pathogen system investigated. Moreover, it turned out that the cultivar and also the seed lot differed to a large extent with respect to their sensitivity, so that selection of treatment parameters need to be considered thoroughly for each vegetable species and seed lot