Vegetable and Forage Seed - development of an organic, GMO-free seed production

Ongoing investigations evaluating ‘The consequences of gene-modified-organisms (GMO) on organic farming’
identify the lack of organic seed as an important source for GMO-contamination to organic farming. The influence of this source increases by an increased number of release-trials in EU and increased production in conventional agriculture outside EU. Besides the GMO-contamination caused by the use of non-organic seed it also identifies pollen dispersal and hybridisation to closely related crops or wild species as an important source for contamination. This is higher for cross-pollinated species, which have wind- or insect-pollination.

In vegetable species the supply of organic seed is very limited and the supply of seed from varieties that has been identified as suitable for growing in Denmark is almost non-existing. In a number of forage crops there is coincidence between species in which

• GM-varieties are grown (in agriculture outside EU or in release-trials within EU)
  
  
• there is a risk of pollen dispersal and hybridisation
  
  
• there are no or insufficient supply of organic seed available.
  
  

Development of an organic vegetable seed production is the focus of the present project, in species that are grown on relatively large areas and where seed production in Denmark is expected to be possible. A number of these species such as carrot and cabbage use to be seed multiplied in Denmark in relatively large quantities. However, the production has been moved to France and Italy, in order to obtain a higher seed quality, since the crop ripens earlier and the prevalence of quality-deteriorating fungi is diminished.

A screening of an organic vegetable seed production was initiated in 2000 in Research programme Seed Production at DIAS-Flakkebjerg. The preliminary results are very encouraging. For example carrot and leek seed was harvested in 2000 with germination percentages as high as the best productions in southern Europe. Therefore we intend to extend these investigations to include a number of vegetable species and registrations on seed quality.

Seed production in tunnels is an important tool to prevent contamination by GMO. This production-method is already used today by the Danish seed industry in the production of spinach hybrids. Similarly we intend to investigate the possibilities to produce seed of winterrape in tunnels to avoid GMO-contamination. During the project it will be considered if similar methods should be evaluated for others forage species such as alfalfa, maize and beets.

The expected achievements are to provide guidelines for organic production of GMO-free seed of selected vegetable and forage species in varieties suitable for organic growing. Further an evaluation of the future prospects to maintain GMO-free seed for organic farming will be provided.

Publications

Project title
VI.5 Vegetable and Forage Seed - development of an organic, GMO-free seed production (VEFOS)

Project leader
Birte Boelt, Senior Scientist, Ph.D., Dept. of Plant Biology,
Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences,
Research Centre Flakkebjerg, 4200 Slagelse, Denmark
Tel.:+45 5811 3425, E-mail: Birte.Boelt@agrsci.dk

Project participants
Lise Christina Deleuran, Scientist,
Anne Mette Dahl Jensen, Scientist, Ph. D.,
Research group Crop Ecology and Product Quality,
Dept. of Plant Biology, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences,
Research Centre Flakkebjerg, DK-4200 Slagelse, Denmark

Gitte Kjeldsen Bjørn, Scientist,
Research group Vegetables,
Dept. of Horticulture,
Kirstinebjergvej 10, Postboks 102, DK-5792 Årslev, Denmark.
Tel.:+45 6390 4127, E-mail: GitteK.Bjorn@agrsci.dk

Lars Bødker, Senior Scientist, Ph.D., Entomology,
Dept of Plant Protection,
Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences,
Research Centre Flakkebjerg, DK-4200 Slagelse, Denmark,
Tel.:+45 5811 3458, E-mail: LarsBodker@agrsci.dk

Jens Michael Carstensen, Technical Director, Ph.D.,
Videometer A/S (www.videometer.com),
Lyngsø Allé 3, DK-2970 Hørsholm, Denmark,
Tel.:+ 45 4576 1077, E-mail: mail@videometer.com