| Under the organic standards, producers are required to use organic seed. However, a derogation can be obtained from the appropriate certification body that allows the use of (untreated) non organic seed where appropriate organic material is not available. There are, however, a number of barriers to the wider use of organic seed including: • Many of the industry’s standard varieties are not available in organic seed. The lifting of the derogation would oblige growers to use varieties of which they had little of no experience • By extension of the previous point, many popular varieties will no longer be available on the organic markets. It uncertain whether retailers, and in turn their customers, would accept alternative varieties • There is little... |
