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60 SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2015 Seed breeding provokes a conflict in values and faces romanticism said Jan Staman who serves as managing direc- tor for the Rathenau Instituut in The Netherlands. The Rathenau Instituut promotes the formation of political and public opinion on science and technology. As part of his presentation he encouraged the seed industry to check how disconnected it is from society. This is a big risk for the industry Staman said. This is my business and this is a crisis. This is the case with GMOs and the case with detecting genetic diseases in humans. Staman also noted that many of these new technologies have the ability to make more of a posi- tive impact which outweighs the possible risks posed. From his perspective the seed industry has done a good job of talking about the benefits of new technologies however it failed to talk about how these new technologies would totally change society. While some might blame politics for the rejection of new technologies Staman said politics are not going away. You need a political frame for decision-making which complies with societal pluralism he said. You have to be engaged with society and consumers. In a somewhat joking manner Staman said the focus shouldnt be citizens but consumers. He went on to say that citizens are loud-speaking political activists whom you cant trust and cant predict while consumers buy your product. Its important to note that the seed industry isnt alone in dealing with this issue. Staman shared that the animal husbandry pharma- ceutical and oil industries all find themselves in the same environ- ment when it comes to communi- cating innovation and science. To help the seed industry move forward in sharing its story about innovation and plant breeding Pablo Civetta chair of the National Organizing Committee for the Uruguayan seed association announced that the 2016 congress will be held in Punta del Este Uruguay from May 15-18. The theme of the 2016 World Seed Congress will be The Natural Way Forward in Business Life. Staman shared the following advice Do not communication but act and cherish trust. Do not immunize yourself as enlightened science- based savers of the world solvers of food security and enforcers of moral progress but go out of your comfort zone ask for help and stop saying new technology is modified old technology. Act and cherish your values and interests. For iden- tity you need confirmation and contestation. Investigate the conditions for a good lobby wrong friends clever friends isolated frame or trust problem. Carefully select your societal partners and together explore building a foundation for the future. And act. Seed Treatments Benefit Grass Is there a place for seed treatments in grass mar- kets That was one of the questions posed during the Forage and Turf Crops Section meeting. In the grass seed industry I think seed treatments can help to improve what is already a great prod- uct said Stephen Alderton of DLF France SAS who presented the topic. It will have some real benefits and could really help consumers whether they are a homeowner a sports field manager or a farmer. He or she can get the grass established much quicker and reap some real quality benefits from the resulting grass sward. Alderton explained that treated seed establishes faster and better in harsher environments. In tests grass seed with a nitrogen fertilizer coating averaged 30 percent more plants emerging he said. Even a year later you could still see the difference between plots where the seed received no treatment and those where the seed was treated. The treatment gives a better rootshoot extension. At the moment there are two main seed treatment options for grass seed. Theres a film coating option which Alderton said doesnt add much weight to the seed and theres a coating option which adds signifi- cant weight to the seed. These seem to be the most popular methods right now to get active material clos- est to the seed he said. The global grass seed market is estimated to be 770000 tons with the 28 nations of the European Union producing 200000 tons and North America producing 370000 tons. Others make up about 200000 tons. Of this about 50 percent is comprised of forage and 50 percent turf. To put this in perspec- tive Alderton said the U.S. wheat seed market alone is 1.5 million tons. The size of the market might be one area thats hampering investment Alderton added. Perhaps this is why we need some help with legislation so that it reflects the size of the market and the types of invest- ments we can put into it. One of the problems for our industry is that people think its just grass Alderton said noting that some of the ways this perception might be changed 1600 representatives attended the International Seed Federation 2015 World Seed Congress in Krakw Poland. 90 years is how long ISF has been working to promote the interests of the seed industry and improve the global movement of seed. 64 countries were represented at this years 2015 World Seed Congress.