INTERVIEW| Support clients in their product development

Added on 16 November 2020

Tags

INTERVIEW| Support clients in their product development

The growth in seed technology follows the big trends of agricultural practice changes, such as minimising environment and human exposure and reducing pesticide use. From the farmer's perspective, the use of treated seeds maximises seed potential and improves crop performance both in the field or greenhouse.

Interview with Fanny VANEL, Marketing Manager at Staphyt Group

"At Staphyt, over the past few years, we have noticed an increase in the requests from our clients for seed treatment (ST) testing, whether they are multinationals or SMEs. Application of seed applied technologies can include fungicides, insecticides, nematicides, plant growth regulators, plant health products, inoculants or micronutrients. At Staphyt, insecticides and fungicides, based on biological substances, are the most frequent requests we receive," Fanny VANEL, Marketing Manager at Staphyt Group, told AgroPages in an interview.

Today those involved in the crop production sector, including seeds breeders, product suppliers and manufacturers of seeds applied technology equipment are working hand in hand to deliver solutions to worldwide agriculture. "At Staphyt we are here to support them in their product development and regulatory strategy," said Fanny.

Fanny VANEL

Marketing Manager at Staphyt Group

What services can STAPHYT provide for the seed treatment industry? What are the advantages of STAPHYT's seed treatment testing service?

At Staphyt we operate both across the seed breeding industry and the crop protection/nutrition industries. Our combined services positioning is totally in parallel with the strategy of merging product-seeds-traits portofolio of our clients. We evaluate, in controlled conditions and in the field, the efficacy, selectivity and safety of the product applied on seeds as well as the beneficial effects of such products on the agronomy potency of varieties.

Treated seeds

With all these competences, we are able to provide a full range of services from the seed treatment application to a global testing program for product or variety registration.

We also offer regulatory support to companies producing plant protection products for use as a seed treatment. We have recently submitted an active substance renewal dossier for a seed treatment use and have successfully supported plant protection products for seed treatment use through Step 2 re-registration and the interzonal authorisation process.

Why do we need to test the treated seeds? Take Europe as an example, what are the regulatory requirements for seed treatment?

In Europe, when a PPP is to be used as a seed treatment an authorisation is required in each Member State where the seed is to be treated (Art. 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009). Although the resulting seeds are not considered to be a PPP as the sowing of seeds can lead to similar effects, they are also included in the risk assessment process and an assessment of the efficacy and crop safety is required. In addition to the data requirements for PPPs set out in Regulation (EU) No 284/2013 which includes data specific to seed treatment products, such as the adherence and distribution to seeds, uniformity of distribution. Additional data/information may be required e.g. residue data in seedlings grown from the treated seed in order to refine the bird and mammal risk assessment and an assessment of the risk from dust drift on to non-target species during sowing.

If the claims supported are an increase of crop growth by direct (fertilizer) or indirect (biostimulant) effect, then the regulatory requirements are currently defined on a country by country basis. This will be harmonised in 2022 by Regulation (EU) 2019/1009.