Production of organic seeds: Status, Challenges and Prospects

General article on the requirements of organic agriculture for seed production. Beside this the organic agricultural system has other demands for organic seed since it does not use chemical control measures and uses natural fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers. Research can offer an important contribution in the production of seed without diseases

The need for a supply of high quality organic vegetable seeds

Production of high quality organic vegetable seeds encounters several challenges. Research is performed to support seed companies in producing vigorous and healthy organic vegetable seeds. Examples are provided with respect to research on seed vigour, determining critical control points to avoid disease transmission to the seeds, seed treatments with natu-ral compounds, new seed sorting techniques and enhancement of the natural plant defence. It is noticed that the restrictions in EU regulation 2092/91 on organic production are at present blocking the use of promising natural and sustainable components for seed treatments

Improvement of the quality of propagation material for organic farming system

The use of organic propagation material is obligatory according to the current EU regulations for organic production. However, frequently difficulties are en-countered regarding the availability, the costs or the quality. In the Netherlands a national research program aims at developing solutions, needed for improving the production of high quality organic propagation material. The main emphasis in the pro-gram is on the model crops cabbage, onion, wheat and potato. Individual projects within the program include epidemiological studies of seed borne dis-eases to develop disease prevention strategies, meth-ods to improve resistance of seeds and seedlings towards pathogens and methods to control silver scurf in seed potatoes, development of multi-spectral analysis and sorting techniques and methods for analysis and improvement of seed vigour. Active involvement of producers and users of the seeds or seed potatoes ensures that the results will be imple-mented in practice. The program also aims at strengthening the international collaboration, amongst others through involvement in international research projects

Biologisch uitgangsmateriaal

Dit biologisch onderzoekbericht laat enkele resultaten en plannen zien van het onderzoeksprogramma Biologisch uitgangsmateriaal, dat van 2005 tot en met 2007 loopt. Een Zweedse sauna om zaad te ontsmetten of een bad met thijmolie lijken succesvol.Het programma gaat in nauwe samenwerking met de sector werken aan gezonder uitgangsmateriaal voor de biologische sector

The application of flow cytometry and fluorescent probe technology for detection and assessment of viability of plant pathogenic bacteria

Conventional methods to detect and assess the viability of plant pathogenic bacteria are usually based on plating assays or serological techniques. Plating assays provide information about the number of viable cells, expressed as colony-forming units, but are time-consuming and laborious. Serological methods, such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence microscopy (IF), can be performed in a shorter timespan than most plating assays, but they do not discriminate between live and dead cells. Flow cytometry (FCM) in combination with fluorescent probe technology is a rapid, sensitive, and quantitative technique to detect microorganisms and assess their viability. Quantitative information on the presence and viability of plant pathogenic microorganisms is valuable for risk assessment regarding disease transmission and disease development. FCM has been applied successfully in the fields of food microbiology, veterinary science, and medical research to detect and distinguish between viable and non-viable bacteria. The aim of this review is to show the potential of FCM and fluorescent probe technology for the field of plant pathology