Mastering Organic Seed Production for Better Crops

The Challenge of Organic Seed Production in Serbia

Our farm is located in Serbia, a region known for its rich agricultural heritage and vast fields of corn, wheat, and barley.

However, most of the fields are conventional. Less than 1% of the country’s agricultural land is dedicated to organic farming, representing only a small portion of the country’s total arable land.

This scarcity of organic farmland makes it challenging to source organic seeds in sufficient quantities, especially for our 3,700 hectares of organically certified fields.

While EU legislation sets strict rules for organic seed production, including additional certification requirements, the use of non-organic seeds remains widespread in organic farming.

Since our early beginnings in 2018, we have used organically certified seeds for all our crops except sunflower, wheat, and sorghum. In previous years, we also relied on external sources for chickpea seeds, but last year, we successfully started producing our own chickpea seeds.

Despite our efforts, we faced a significant challenge three years ago: we were unable to obtain enough organic seeds for our needs, either locally or regionally.

A Shift to In-House Quality Organic Seed Production

In 2021, we made a pivotal decision: to produce our own organic seeds. This shift came as a response to the scarcity of organic seeds on the Serbian market and the high costs and challenges of sourcing them from elsewhere. Organic seeds are not only hard to find but are also significantly more expensive than conventional ones.

By bringing organic seed production in-house, we have:

• Secured a reliable supply of seeds tailored to our needs.
• Maintained seed purity and quality, essential for organic certification.
• Reduced costs, improving the sustainability of our farming operations.

Certification organizations recognize the benefits of self-production, especially when it guarantees full control over quality and compliance. With our dedicated organic storage and processing facilities, we oversee the entire process, eliminating reliance on third-party suppliers.

Many suppliers process organic and conventional seeds on the same production lines, increasing the risk of contamination. Our in-house approach completely removes this risk, thereby strengthening the integrity of our organic farming practices.

Our process is simple. After harvest, we clean the seeds from inert materials, weeds, and poor-quality seeds, then store them until sowing.

For over three years, we have been producing our own organic seeds for peas, oats, and flax. In the past two years, we also began producing seeds for durum and spelt. Our commitment to self-sufficiency continued last year, as we successfully produced chickpea and broad bean seeds. In 2022, we expanded further by producing millet seeds.

During the second half of last year, we processed the following quantities of seeds, which have already been sown or are planned for sowing in the 2024/2025 season:

Organic Crop	Processed quantity for seeds (kg)
Oats	143,700
Peas	112,237
Chickpeas	35,000
Spelt	24,036
Flax	11,200
Broad beans	1,607
Millet	324

While we have made significant progress in producing our own seeds, we continue to purchase hybrid seeds for crops like sunflower and sorghum.

Previously, we also sourced seeds for wheat, corn, rye, and barley, as well as produced our own durum wheat seeds, but have since phased them out as part of our transition toward 100% gluten-free production by 2026.

Additionally, we are testing soybean seeds this season, planting them in dedicated test fields to explore new crop opportunities.

Why Is Producing Our Own Organic Seeds Important?

Seeds are the foundation of food production. This year, having our own supply of organic seeds was crucial—without it, we would not have been able to sow essential crops like peas and oats.

The organic seed market lacks sufficient quantities, and importing was not a viable option due to high costs and strict regulatory restrictions.

Peas are especially important on our farm, as they are the main source of nitrogen in our multi-year crop rotation. As a live-stock free organic farm, abstaining from mineral fertilizers, we rely on legumes and multi-year crop rotation to ensure stable yields that rival and in many cases surpass conventional yields.

Without our own seeds, our sowing plans would have faced major disruptions. This would have significantly impacted our multi-year crop rotation strategy, where peas play a crucial role by providing the nitrogen needed for all subsequent crops, while also delaying our transition to gluten-free farming.

Seed Sovereignty and the Future of Food

To ensure food sovereignty it is crucial to source enough seeds, understand their origins, and guarantee their quality.

In industrialized countries, especially in Europe, Japan, and North America farmers have almost completely lost sovereignty over the seeds they use. Gebhard Rossmanith, IFOAM – Organic International supporter, explains: “Small farmers are under increasing pressure to use highly industrialized seeds from global seed corporations, losing their own heritage seeds and becoming dependent on foreign ones. In other words: whoever owns the seeds controls food production.”

Farmers worldwide, both conventional and organic, face several critical issues regarding seeds. Here are a few key challenges they encounter:

• Seed quality and genetic purity
  Challenges such as genetic purity, disease resistance, and seed vigor are essential for successful crop production.
  (Shoaib, H. (2024, August 27). Key Challenges of Seed Management Company & it’s Solution. Folio3 AgTech. https://agtech.folio3.com/blogs/seed-management-company-challenges/ )

• Market concentration
  Today, the ten largest companies control 70% of the global seed market. A limited number of suppliers leads to concentrated research and development on a limited number of seed varieties. The consolidation of the seed market is making farmers increasingly dependent on a handful of suppliers and eroding their right to decide what, how, and for whom to grow.
  (The dangerous concentration of the seed market. (n.d.). 2025. https://www.publiceye.ch/en/topics/seeds/concentration-of-the-seed-market )

• Erosion of plant genetic resources
  The replacement of local varieties with genetically uniform, high-yielding types results in greater susceptibility to diseases and environmental degradation due to increased pesticide and fertilizer requirements. Additionally, lack of funding has accelerated plant genetic erosion in many countries. (4. Factors affecting the seed sector in the region. (n.d.). https://www.fao.org/4/y2722e/y2722e0e.htm)

Organic farmers face additional obstacles, notably the limited availability of organic seeds, a challenge we also encountered this season.

Our Future Plants for Organic Seed Production

Seeds play a vital role in promoting sustainable agriculture and biodiversity preservation. We are committed to contributing to a more resilient and independent food system that supports both our farm and other organic farmers.

Our focus will be on offering high-quality organic and gluten-free seeds with full traceability.

To make this vision a reality, we have officially registered for seed production and processing. Starting in 2026, our organic and gluten-free seeds will be available for purchase.

Stay tuned for more updates as we grow together towards a healthier, more sustainable future!