One bad season in one crop or seed should not yield such stress on European farmers. They are key to our European and global food security. The time to support them is now, Charles Miller writes.
ADVERTISEMENTEurope’s farmers are grappling with two dual and daunting challenges: the pressure to deliver more sustainable and high-yielding seasons of crops, and a dwindling supply of healthy seeds with which to accomplish it.
Nowhere is this more obvious than for Europe’s potato farmers, who, at the start of the 2024 planting season, warned of a shortage in the supply of potato seeds.
The decline in seed-producing areas across the European Union's top five seed-producing nations shows why these shortages are becoming more common.
Persistent challenges such as disease, pests, and erratic weather patterns are exacerbated by climate change and have further strained the already delicate balance of seed production.
The consequences are dire for the staple crop of the potato. There has been a significant reduction in seed cultivation area and a looming 25% decrease in seed tuber supply — and as a result, prices are soaring for consumers, and their anger is further challenging farmers across the EU.
The continent's farmers and producers (of potato and other crops) find themselves similarly squeezed to deliver the impossible.
The most crucial resource is at risk
Our food security relies on an increasing amount of food that can feed a growing population — all amidst changing climate patterns. And the simplest yet most crucial resource — seeds — is at risk.
This shortage threatens Europe’s food security as well as that of the world, which depends on European seeds for its crops.
Thankfully, Europe is also home to some of the world’s most advanced agriculture science and technology.
One area that should receive more attention in light of seed supply chain issues is hybrid breeding.
Long used in other crops like maize and absolutely distinct from genetically modified crops or GMOs, hybrid breeding has been the work of European farmers for hundreds of years.
Now, armed with better technology like genome mapping, European scientists are pioneering hybrid breeding techniques to create seeds that are naturally resistant to disease, naturally resilient to climate change, and reliably able to yield healthy crops.
Specifically in the potato sector, we have been able to cross-breed and cultivate crops with optimal (yet natural) genes that can fight disease and fare better in all kinds of climates.
Called “true seeds” or “hybrid true potato seeds,” they also can be shipped worldwide and stored for years — meaning that farmers could hold seasons of seeds for their most important staple crop without any issue.
Hybrid breeding is also key to another element of our food security: the expectation for European farmers to adopt sustainable, environmentally friendly practices.
The disease and pest resistance of hybrid seeds naturally reduces our reliance on agrochemicals. The ability to cut these costs also makes a significant difference to the farmers who are trying to stay solvent while providing the food on our tables.
Farmers should not carry the weight of the world on their shoulders
Still, this hybrid breeding approach, while certain to expand across Europe, is only part of the solution. The equally important element of our seed supply chain, and resulting global food security, is investment in the farmer.
By this, I mean the investment of our time, our resources, and our emotional and political support, as well as our science. Farmers are not ultimately responsible for whether this technology or others like it is available to them.
ADVERTISEMENTThat is at the feet of our governments, our elected officials, and our agencies that monitor everything from pesticide use to crop health to water and more.
Farmers need more help, and it is this group of stakeholders that can provide it by facilitating the adoption of hybrid breeding technologies, ensuring equitable access to this agricultural innovation.
One bad season in one crop or seed should not yield such stress on European farmers. They are key to our European and global food security.
The time to support them is now. The future of our food supply and the well-being of generations to come depends on it.
Charles Miller is Director of Strategic Alliances and Development for Solynta, a European seed agritech focused on hybrid true potato seeds.
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