{"id":133498,"date":"2024-09-04T09:10:24","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T06:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-and-beyond\/"},"modified":"2024-09-04T09:10:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T06:10:24","slug":"this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"This chemical-free method for treating seeds is winning over sceptical farmers in Sweden and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <p>You are unauthorized to view this page.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-login-form-wrap\">\n            \n<div class=\"mp_wrapper mp_login_form\">\n                  <!-- mp-login-form-start -->     <form name=\"mepr_loginform\" id=\"mepr_loginform\" class=\"mepr-form\" action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/login-2\/\" method=\"post\">\n            <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_username\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n                              <label for=\"user_login\">Username<\/label>\n        <\/div>\n        <input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" value=\"\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_password\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n          <label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n          <div class=\"mp-hide-pw\">\n            <input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" value=\"\" \/>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"button mp-hide-pw hide-if-no-js\" data-toggle=\"0\" aria-label=\"Show password\">\n              <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-visibility\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n            <div>\n        <label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n      <div class=\"submit\">\n        <input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button-primary mepr-share-button \" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133498\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_process_login_form\" value=\"true\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_is_login_page\" value=\"false\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/form>\n    <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n    <div class=\"mepr-login-actions\">\n        <a\n          href=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/login-2\/?action=forgot_password\"\n          title=\"Click here to reset your password\"\n        >\n          Forgot Password        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n      \n    <!-- mp-login-form-end --> \n  <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"smart_content_wrapper\">\nFollowing success in Sweden and Norway, the creator of ThermoSeed now aims to take over Asia. Heat-treated seeds could offer farmers a chemical-free solution for pest control. Typically, seeds are treated with chemicals to keep them healthy and kill pests, but this does not align with organic farming principles. &#8216;ThermoSeed&#8217;, an invention by former researcher Kenneth Alness, offers a sustainable alternative. It uses sharp blasts of steam, which kill pests and preserve the seeds. The innovation has already been a success in Alness&#8217;s home country Sweden and neighbouring Norway. Now, as he passes retirement age, the 67-year-old aims to take his mission global.<\/p>\n<p>Farmers who have tried the seed-treating method have praised its benefits to the environment and working conditions. Farmer Gustaf Sil\u00e9n notes the absence of dust, a common issue with chemically treated seeds that can be harmful when inhaled during sowing.&#8221;The bags with the seed, when you open them, can be quite dusty and you get this all over you. That is not the case with ThermoSeed &#8211; it&#8217;s much easier to handle,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>Sil\u00e9n also highlights that leftover steam-treated seeds can be used as cattle feed or resold, unlike chemically treated seeds, which must be disposed of at a cost. ThermoSeed is the brainchild of Kenneth Alness who has devoted his life to developing a chemical-free method to keep seeds healthy. The inspiration for ThermoSeed came from a 1950s farming book that Alness found in his father-in-law\u2019s library. The book detailed how farmers used hot water to treat seeds before chemical treatments became common.<\/p>\n<p>Although some organic farmers still use this method today, it is costly due to the expenses associated with drying the seeds, and yields are often lower than those treated with chemicals. &#8220;I saw that it had potential and it should be good for nature, good for the climate,&#8221; says Alness. &#8220;And I thought it was worth testing my wild ideas &#8211; that&#8217;s where it started.&#8221; After years of testing, ThermoSeed was able to deliver yields comparable to chemically treated seeds but without the need for extensive drying.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it took five, six, seven years before I realised its potential for conventional farming, not only organic,\u201d says Alness. \u201cI was really enthusiastic because if it&#8217;s done for conventional [use], then we replace a lot of chemicals and we do a lot for nature and climate.&#8221; Unlike chemical treatments, steam requires a tailored approach for each seed type, followed by testing to ensure successful germination before full-scale treatment begins.<\/p>\n<p>Swedish agricultural co-op Lantm\u00e4nnen, which manages around half of Sweden\u2019s seeds, began using ThermoSeed technology in 2008. Since then, the co-op estimates that the method has prevented the use of approximately 3,000 cubic metres of chemicals. Norwegian agriculture co-op Felleskj\u00f8pet, which handles more than 50 per cent of certified cereal seeds in the country, also introduced ThermoSeed in 2011, after six years of independent testing.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/2024\/09\/04\/this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-a\">Read more&gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/2024\/09\/04\/this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-a\">Euronews Green<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/vaufien\/this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-and-beyond\/\">This chemical-free method for treating seeds is winning over sceptical farmers in Sweden and beyond<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\">Vastuullisuusuutiset.fi<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[15969,15970,606,607,608],"class_list":["post-133498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-chemical-free-method","tag-treating-seeds","tag-vau_viikkokatsaus","tag-vauen","tag-vaufien"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}