Organic Seed Disinfection for Bacterial Leaf Spot
For growers producing organic baby leaf crops, organic seed disinfection helps prevent the spread of bacterial diseases which can spread rapidly causing devastating results. In addition, harvesting clean, organic, pathogen-free seed is another challenge for both seed producers and growers. Short of discarding the seed or accepting a decline in harvest quality, organic growers have few viable options to recover their crop once it is infected with bacterial diseases.
More about Pseudomonas syringae pv. aptata
One bacterial disease that has a significant impact on the production of baby leaf vegetable crops is Pseudomonas syringae pv. aptata. This bacterium is commonly called “Bacterial Leaf Spot” as it is easily recognized by tan to brown circular lesions on the green foliage. The bacterial inoculums spread easily throughout the field by the wind, water or other modes. In short production crops, where harvest occurs within 30 days after planting a rapid spread of Bacterial Leaf Spot can result in a complete loss of productive plants. There is some speculation that baby leaf greens infected with Bacterial Leaf Spot may have an impact on the products shelf life after it is packaged for retail sales.
Organic Seed Disinfection for Bacterial Leaf Spot
To our knowledge, there are no organic chemical controls for farmers to prevent the spread of bacterial diseases. The best preventative measure is to stop or reduce the amount of bacterial inoculums by planting clean bacterial free seeds. As consumer demand for organic vegetables continues to grow, growers are experiencing disease pressure and phytosanitary regulations that have an impact on production. Germains offers innovative organic seed treatments and processes to help today’s organic growers maximize their potential starting with the seeds they plant.
Organic Swiss Chard Field Planted with Seeds Disinfected with ProBio® gopure®
Probio® gopure® is a certified organic process used to disinfect vegetable seeds that test positive for pathogens such as Pseudomonas. Seed disinfection is a process that results in significant reduction in Pseudomonas syringae pv.aptata [Bacterial Leaf Spot] from Swiss chard and beet seeds used for baby leaf production, and Pseudomonas syringae pv.coriandricola from coriander seeds. It may also help reduce the transfer of pathogenic organisms onto other crops and the field. According to Dale Krowlikowski Germains Head of Production and Research and Development “Harvesting clean, pathogen-free seed has always been a challenge for organic seed producers and growers. And without effective treatment to prevent the spread of diseases, an infection of Bacterial Leaf Spot (Pseudomonas spp.) can cause complete crop failure in organic baby leaf crops. Seed disinfection is an innovative solution developed to solve a real problem for today’s organic growers.”
Other Organic Seed Treatments Offered by Germains Seed Technology
In addition to seed disinfection processes, a wide range of other certified organic seed treatments such as pelleting, priming and filmcoatings are now available for many vegetable species. Not only do today’s seed technologies help reduce the transfer of seed born diseases, seed pellets allow for precision planting, while seed priming helps speed emergence and is known to improve uniformity and yield. Starting with the seed, technology is now available to help growers maximize their potential prior to planting.