State of Seed

What is the current state of gene editing for crops in the world and how could they address critical food security challenges? In this final episode of the season, we learn about the latest innovations in this new breakthrough area of plant breeding. Plus, we hear how various countries are enacting policies for gene editing, including Europe, which recently became the newest region to adopt these advanced breeding techniques.  In this episode, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem talks to a range of plant breeding experts, including Euroseeds advisor Petra Jorasch about the new gene editing law in Europe. Then she speaks with Eyal Maori, Co-Founder and CTO of Tropic, about their newly released non-browning banana, and Prof. Simona Radutoiu, Co-Director of the ENSA (Enabling Nutrient Symbioses for Agriculture) research program, about how ENSA’s research could reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers. Finally, Nandini Krishnamurthy, Biotechnology Portfolio Leader - External Technologies and Innovation Ecosystems at Corteva, shares how a public-private partnership harnesses the latest innovations to tackle a rampant maize disease in East Africa. State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

How are farmers coping with the shocks of 2026? In this episode, we explore how farmers are faring across the world and how we can ensure that high quality seeds reach those who need them most.  First, we visit farmers in Portugal and speak with a number of farmers about the impacts of the Strait of Hormuz’s closure on their business. Then, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem interviews Mark Watne, Former Head of the North Dakota Farmers Union, and Dr. Maximo Torero, Chief Economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) about the state of farmers right now.  Finally, we hear an edited conversation from the World Seed Congress about inclusive seed systems, moderated by Julie Borlaug and featuring Leah Salvaleon, a smallholder vegetable farmer in the Philippines from the Bukidnon PhilGAP Farmers Association; Maaike Groot from East-West Seed, Evelyn Lusenaka from AGRA, and Trey Key from Gates Agricultural Innovations. State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

How is our increasingly fragmented world impacting access to seeds? In Season 3 of State of Seed, we talk to seed company executives, government officials, leaders from multinational organizations, and farmers about how they are grappling with this geopolitically complicated moment – particularly since the war in Iran began.  In this episode, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem interviews Jeff Rowe, CEO of Syngenta Group, one of the world’s largest agricultural innovation companies and the third largest seed company, and Edwini Kessie, Director of the Agriculture and Commodities Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and biotech experts from the World Seed Congress about how biologicals can offer solutions to the fertilizer crisis.  State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios. Special thanks to Travers Pickmere from South Pacific Seeds, Jelle Vriend from Ad Terram, and Doris Gusenbauer from Ensemo for their thoughts at the beginning of the episode.

In the newest season of State of Seed, launching Friday, we examine how our increasingly fragmented world is impacting access to seeds. Recorded at the World Seed Congress in Lisbon, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem talks to farmers and leaders from seed companies, government, the WTO, and the FAO about how they are grappling with this geopolitically complicated moment. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Agricultural trade remained stable last year and crop breeding innovations could help farmers manage various challenges, including better optimizing inputs like fertilizers. State of Seed is a podcast from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

This week we’re sharing a special episode from our friends at the Real Organic Podcast, the award-winning “Best Sustainability, Environment & Climate Podcast” produced by the Real Organic Project. Recently named one of the "best climate podcasts" by Earth.org, the Real Organic Podcast uncovers the forces reshaping organic food – like how corporate lobbying is redefining what “organic” means and how industry use of new terms like “regenerative” and “hydroponics” are not really organic. Hosted by Linley Dixon and Dave Chapman, each episode features deep conversations with farmers, scientists, chefs, and journalists fighting to keep organic food honest. Like today’s special episode with chef and author Dan Barber, who explores America’s relationship with food and agriculture, including how farming for flavor - instead of farming for the amount of food or the shelf life of that food - can transform our food system from the ground up. It’s a fascinating conversation, particularly as Dan argues that seed breeding should begin in the kitchen, with taste driving innovation in the field. From soil-grown crops to flavor-forward farming, this episode digs deep into what we’ve lost - and what we can grow back by connecting chefs, farmers, and crop breeders. For more episodes like this, make sure to follow Real Organic Podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And tell them we sent you.

This is a big year for the U.N. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), which ensures that seeds in most countries’ public seed or gene banks are widely available to farmers, scientists, and plant breeders everywhere. Negotiators will meet in November in Lima, Peru to try to update the treaty, which first passed in 2001. But this task is proving to be challenging.  In our season finale, we learn about the main issues in the international plant treaty talks, why they are so contentious, and how all this impacts seeds and global food security. Host Laura Rosbrow-Telem speaks with key players in the negotiations, including Kent Nnadozie, the treaty's secretary. She also talks to Jasmina Muminovic, the head of genetic resources at Bayer Crop Science as well as the International Seed Federation's Coordination Group on Genetic Resources, which leads the seed industry’s participation in the treaty negotiations. We also get a better understanding of the technological advancements complicating the talks from Dave Bubeck,  a research director at Corteva Agriscience. Finally, we hear a lively debate about the negotiations from a World Seed Congress panel moderated by Jean-Paul Judson, the founder of NOWMORE.  State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

The constantly changing tariffs from the Trump administration are directly impacting the global seed community. How are seed officials grappling with this unpredictable regulatory environment as well as other key challenges in 2025? In this episode, we will learn about two of the seed sector’s biggest current obstacles: trade and illegal seed practices. First, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem gets a fuller picture about seed trade this year from Doaa Abdel Motaal, the senior counselor for the Agriculture and Commodities Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Samuel Crowell, the senior director of international programs and policy at the American Seed Trade Association. We then hear about illegal seed practices, including counterfeit seeds. According to a recent WTO report, more than 50 percent of seeds on the market in certain regions are counterfeit or illegal. We learn why counterfeit seeds are so prevalent and the best ways to curb illegal seed practices, including lessons from China. Yang Yasheng of the China Seed Association shares how China significantly reduced the amount of counterfeit seeds in recent years. State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

Lately, it can feel as if the world is falling apart, with war, climate change, and global instability rising—to name just a few existential threats. But the world is not ending. And seeds are a big part of ensuring our future.   In this season of State of Seed, recorded from the World Seed Congress in Istanbul in May, we will learn how seeds play a critical role in continuing life on this fragile globe of ours. And we will grapple with some of the seed sector’s biggest current obstacles, such as trade and illegal seed practices. We will also hear about U.N. negotiations on sharing the genetic information of seeds and why they are so contentious.   But for this first episode, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem interviews Cary Fowler, who gave the World Seed Congress’s keynote address this year. Fowler is a co-winner of the 2024 World Food Prize for co-founding the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Launched in 2008, the global seed vault holds more than 1.3 million samples of seeds—the largest number of seeds in one place on Earth. Fowler shares in rich detail how he and others created this novel sanctuary for global food security, as well as the importance of seed banks in preserving our biodiversity.   State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

Season 2 of State of Seed launches Friday, June 27th. This time around, we examine how seeds are playing a critical role in protecting the planet during this moment of global uncertainty. Recorded at the World Seed Congress in Istanbul, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem talks to a range of experts, including the 2024 World Food Prize Co-Winner Cary Fowler, who co-founded the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. She also speaks with trade officials about how they are navigating 2025, as well as negotiators of the UN’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture – which will face a crucial juncture this year. State of Seed is a podcast from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

Two thirds of the people facing the most hunger are farmers themselves, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). We heard about this shocking reality during our first episode. And now, we will hear about solutions to this urgent problem.  On today’s episode of State of Seed, our last of the series, we will focus on seed access: how to get quality seed to those who need them most. Host Laura Rosbrow-Telem talks to a range of experts, including smallholder farmers, major seed organization representatives, and researchers. She speaks with Elizabeth Nsimadala, president of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation and a lifelong smallholder farmer, as well as ISF Secretary General Michael Keller, who discusses ISF’s recently launched Seeds for Food Coalition, among other public-private initiatives.  Finally, we learn about farmer-led research from Sonja Vermeulen, Managing Director of Genetic Innovation at CGIAR (the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), and Andrew Mushita, head of the Community Technology Development Trust in Zimbabwe. They spoke on a panel about public-private partnerships at the World Seed Congress.  Special thanks to Alessandra Fajardo, Jorge Fernandez Vidal, and Ebunoluwa Ijeoma Ajobiewe, whose insights helped inform this series.  State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.