The Australian subsidiary of the major seed supplier, Bejo Seeds, is expanding its seed plantations in Tasmania’s Cole River Valley and constructing a new seed-drying shed, according to the ABC Rural.
The seeds grown and dried at the new shed will be shipped to the Netherlands to undergo further cleaning, grading and treatment before being sold across the globe.
Clive Ockenden, manager of Bejo Seeds in Tasmania, told ABC Rural that the Tasmanian business would be supplying the world’s third largest seed company with brassica, carrot, fennel and beetroot seeds.
“The production areas in some other parts of the world have decreased due to climate change it seems,” said Ockenden. “France use to be a massive producer of carrot seeds and I don’t think Bejo grows any in France now; this is the first year they’ve grown none.
“Some areas of the US used to be huge and are now much smaller, for example the Columbia basin in Washington State.”
As a result, Tasmania and New Zealand are taking up the slack, said Ockenden, and also providing counter-seasonal production to the Northern Hemisphere. “It evens up the business and reduces the risk,” said Ockenden.
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