Traditional seeds: a new interest in organic agriculture

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Article published in Eco Agricultura Romaneasca journal nr. 1, January-February 2018
Traditional seeds used in Creative Community Garden at Hoge Born farm, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 
Photo by Paula Dragomir

Traditional seeds are obtained from old varieties of non genetically modified plants. Compared to conventional seeds, these old varieties are reproductible, meaning that they can be multiplied by the farmers using them. Moreover, these varieties can have many  more advantages than the conventional varieties, that the farmers are used to cultivate these past years:
  1. On the first hand, the fact that these seeds are reproductible offers financial independence to the farmers, who are no longer obliged to spend money to buy seeds. With only a couple of seeds and a little bit of patience and skills, they can obtain in a couple of years their own seed "bank".
  2. On the other hand, many recent studies have proved that vegetables from traditional varieties contain even 20 times more nutrients than the other varieties. These studies demonstrate that the vegetables produced are more nutritive and better for health, thanks to their high content in micronutriments (vitamins and minerals) beneficial for the organism. 
  3. Another major advantage is the high content in phytochemicals in old varieties. These molecules specific to plants, present in all plants, help them protect themselves from ennemies or to repel pests, weeds, predators or pathogens. The high content in phytochemicals in plants from traditional varieties is due to the fact that the plants from old varieties have adapted to their environment during a long period of time. Nowadays numerous studies upon phytochemicals are being conducted in order to determine their capacity to protect plants against pests, and to be able to use these molecules in agriculture.
The new european regulations for organic agriculture, adopted on 22 of November 2017, authorizes farmers to use traditional seeds. Two new categories of seeds will be accessible to producers: 

  • old traditional seeds now called "heterogeneous biologic material"
  • varieties selected especially for certified organic agriculture called "biological varieties adapted for organic production". 
These new categories will be listed in a new data base, which could develop rapidly because the farmers themselves could contribute with their own varieties without paying. Additionally the data base could evolve even quicker if the producers also add other organic food products, such as breeds of animals (rabbit, ruminants etc.) and non-food products such as bee wax, cork, wool etc. Therefore the available organic plant varieties and breeds of animals will be better known thanks to this data base. The producers in certified organic systems will be forced to use it starting with 2021. The conventional seeds will no longer be authorized unless corresponding organic varieties do not exist. In addition, the farmers will be able to multiply their seeds without any problems, taxes or additional authorizations.

In Romania, the Bank of Plant Genetic Resources in Suceava (www.svgenebank.ro) offers for free to whoever wants, seeds from local traditional varieties of plants which are analyzed and multiplied at their research institute. Twice a year, whoever wants can order a couple of varieties from the ones offered on their website. During the period of 16 of August - 15 of September varieties for autumn can be ordered, and during the period of 15 of November - 15 of January varieties for spring can be ordered for the next year. The quantity of seeds offered is however limited (around 5 to 25 seeds depending on the variety) because the purpose of the distribution is to offer to everyone the possibility to have a couple of old varieties and to multiply them themselves in order to obtain a personal "gene bank". As an example, Geonatura family farm in a non-certified organic system (www.facebook.com/fermageonatura) from Bacau county, has multiplied in the past 7 years numerous old varieties of plants, starting with only a couple of seeds offered by the Gene Bank. Now the farm can be proud of its impressive collection of seeds, with which a satisfying production of vegetables and cereals is obtained, for feeding the family as well as for selling.

Finally, taking account of the economic and climate crisis taking place in these last years, the contribution of traditional seeds in organic agriculture should not be neglected, thanks to the financial independence acquired, the benefits for health and their adaptation to the environment.

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