[Learning Path #2] Ensuring organic seed health : tools to understand and manage

Seeds harbour microbial communities also called “seed microbiota”. Together, they form an entity also called the “holobiont”. Scientific research has shown that microbial species in the seed microbiota can play beneficial or detrimental roles in seed germination and seedling health for example. Many have neutral or yet unknown effects. Although yet unharnessed, this opens promising perspectives for organic seed production and cultivation. Sometimes, seed microbiota also comprise seed-borne pathogens, which can infect seedlings and jeopardise the following crop’s health. When seed-transmitted diseases occur during seed propagation or in a seed lot, it is crucial to handle the situation with approaches and tools that are appropriate for organic farming. 

This training course gives and overview of seed quality and health and how they are intertwined. It provides a general understanding of seed microbiota, how they assemble and how they are studied for research purposes. It also presents specific approaches to ensure seed health in vegetable and wheat seed production. 

• Seed producers, seed networks and community seed banks, who want to train their staff or members to ensure the health of the seed they produce and distribute and who want to gain a better understanding and confidence in the field of seed health.
• Beginning small-scale organic seed enterprises, who need to get familiar with the management of seed health in organic farming systems
• Advisors of organic seed producing farms willing to support their clients in seed health. 

This course consists solely of e-learning modules. It will therefore not enable you to become proficient in the subject on its own. 

However, it can serve as a reference for making decisions on your seed work and can be consulted and reviewed as necessary to plan and evaluate your activities. It can be supplemented by reading additional resources (see the resources page for further information), by talking to experts (e.g. practitioners around you with a lot of experience, consultants, researchers…) or by participating in projects (see list of projects). 

It can also be used as a basis for peer-to-peer exchanges to learn together and benefit from each other's experiences. 

The modules must be taken in the order in which they are presented below. 

Each module consists of at least one video, a self-assessment questionnaire (the trainer has included comments that appear depending on your answers, allowing you to continue learning), and additional resources for further study. Some also include more practical exercices. 

• Start with module 11, which gives a general introduction to seed quality, its different components and underlying factors. If you have already taken the training course “Ensuring seed quality when propagating and storing seed”, you have already seen gone through this introduction and don’t necessarily need to take it again.
• Then, module 14 will covers seed microbiota, their assembly processes and how they are studied for research purposes. It will help you understand what we currently know of seed microbiota, and why they hold promising perspectives for organic seed production and cultivation.
• Module 15 provides more background knowledge on seed-borne and seed-transmitted diseases. It presents hot water seed treatments as an effective tool to sanitise organic seeds. This is especially relevant for lower volume vegetable seeds but can also be useful for small batches of arable or forage crops.
• Module 18 focusses on the management of seed-transmitted diseases in organic cereal seed production, especially common bunt in wheat. It is highly recommended to take this one, if you are engaged in cereal seed propagation or distribution. It is not relevant for people involved with other crops.