Professional association: seed shortage can be avoided by changing the law

The experts requested a change in the classification of seeds from the Ministry of Agriculture. (Photo: Pixabay)

In the Great Plains and the Tiszántúl, the harvest of ear crops fell to historic lows due to the continuous lack of rainfall since autumn and the record-breaking heat. The catastrophic weather conditions also caused great damage to seed production – explained Gábor Polgár, the executive director of the seed association.

The seed yield was less and worse this year

Due to the drought, seed producers not only have to reckon with a lower yield average, but also with worse quality compared to previous years, as the harvested crop fell far short of the quality requirements in terms of seed size. For this reason, the seeds could only be processed with a very large cleaning loss, which in many cases would have made it impossible to sell the crop as seeds, it was stated in the announcement. Therefore, the inter-professional organization turned to the Ministry of Agriculture with the request that, in view of the extraordinary weather conditions, they grant an exemption from the requirements of the fall-through screen for the seeds of ear plants.

The Ministry of Agriculture supports the idea

The proposal was accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture. According to the amendment to the decree that entered into force in the last days of July, the sieve size and the related drop-through requirements do not have to be applied to the qualification of the grain seeds harvested in the year 2022. Gábor Polgár said that the concessions do not mean that the producers receive weaker or worse quality seed. Since smaller seeds can also be used, the available seed will be sufficient for a larger sowing area. At the same time, the amendment to the law also gives seed processors more tasks, since the seed lots can be metal sealed individually after thorough modeling and compliance with other quality parameters, he added.

MTI