b'companies have been able tohard hit. The famous flowerany signals from our membersSTATUS SWEDENcontinue working, albeit withauction is currently destroy- about any difficulties To start I must point out reduced operations and withing some 80% of its produce Artur Paszkowski, Polish Seedthat Sweden to date is the adoption of every possiblebecause it is not sold andAssociation less affected by the virus form of security. There areretail chains like supermar- compared to several other still several critical issues thatkets and garden centres allEuropean countries. The, we are facing. The main oneover Europe cancel contractsSTATUS PORTUGAL so far, limited effect of the concerns transport. The Italianfor bedding plants. This hasWe, too, are experiencingdisease on the general public government has recentlyan immediate effect on thesome difficulties with seedhas also meant the seed specified that the goodsplanting materials sector.supply from other Memberindustry has managed to can circulate on the nationalChallenges in vegetable andStates. The main problemprepare and deliver the seed territory without limitations.field crop seeds relate more toconcerns logistics, as it isfor the upcoming spring drill-The problem is that with thetransport and workers. Roadbecoming difficult to geting more or less according to outbreak of the pandemic, thetransport faces challengestransport to bring seed fromplan throughout the country. number of drivers willing toat borders and is related tocountries like France or Italy.Also import and logistics travel to certain areas of theshortages of drivers andIts becoming more difficultof primarily potato tubers country and abroad in certainprovisions for such driversto find transportation com- for planting from Denmark, countries, has drasticallywhen highway restaurants arepanies to do these itineraries,The Netherlands and/or reduced, so shipments haveclosed. Hundreds of trucks aredont forget that all the landGermany has worked well slowed down. We then had toon the road until mid-April fortransportation coming fromdespite the closed borders. face the limitations imposedseed potato alone; similarly,Europe or outside, must crossThe start of the spring crops by other EU and non-EUyoung vegetable plants are onSpain to come to Portugal.should thereby be under countries (Austria, Slovenia,their way to customers all overAnd these companies arecontrol. The consequences Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria,Europe.facing problems with lack ofof this pandemic will to a Poland, Ukraine and Russia to Condensed interview withpeople to work, difficult con- great extent still be felt by name a few). In some casesNiels Louwaars, Managingditions when crossing coun- the farming community. The (Austria and Slovenia), thanksDirector at the Dutch Seedtries like Spain or France (weglobal economic turmoil that to the intervention of our gov- Association Plantum NL, have some comments sayingfollows the COVID-19 epi-ernment, the situation seemsMarch 24, 2020 that in some areas, the truck- demic has hit the Swedish to be resolved, in others thereers are not allowed to stop forcurrency hard with a signifi-are still serious difficulties. Therest or eating). Fortunately,cant worsened exchange rate support of Euroseeds in theseSTATUS POLAND in some crops we see sometowards the euro and dollar. cases is needed! At PIN everything is OK, ouranticipated campaign, andThis will lead to significantlyCondensed interview withoffice is working normally.many farmers have alreadyhigher price for needed com-Alberto Lipparini, Secretary- Some of the colleagues arethe seeds at home or even atmodities which will be needed General of the Italian Seedworking in the office, andthe field. For other crops, theduring this years growing Association ASSOSEMENTI,some at home. What we needproblem will start if we extendseason. Taking into account March 21, 2020 now is to cope with a situa- this situation for a long time.the severe drought and low tion where there are differentWe also have some membersyield of the 2018 season, measurements by the authori- that had made a seed stockmany farming operations are STATUS NETHERLANDS ties in Poland. Luckily, we stillbefore this month. So, therealready financially stretched We have adapted to workingcan go to work frequently. Weis a lot of different realitiesand will have difficulties to from home; no health prob- hope that all of you are alsoaccording to seed businesswithstand the expected lems in the teamI hope ithealthy and, in some way, cantype. increased costs for input will stay that way. However,work on the future numbers Condensed interview withproducts. I have to say, just like theof your magazine. I will collectSilvia Benquerena, interim Condensed interview with disease itself, the situation canmore information about theSecretariat of the PortuguesePer Henriksson, Managing change every day. impact of COVID- 19 on theSeed Association ANSEME,Director at the Swedish Seed The sector in Theseed industry in Poland, butApril 1, 2020 Association SVUF, March 25, Netherlands is very diverse.besides the problems with2020 SWThe ornamentals sector islogistic, we did not receive INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /109'