Steam has fascinatingly begun to replace chemicals as a way to rid seeds of troublesome pests in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe, according to a report from Euronews.
ThermoSeed was developed by Kenneth Alness in an effort to provide healthy crops without the toxic dust and chemical exposure associated with common bug treatments. The steam pasteurization process — using "sharp blasts" of vapor — is already treating 100,000 tons of seed in six countries each year, per Euronews and the company website.
"Non-chemical solutions have to really prove that they are competitive before the farmers are convinced. We put a lot of effort into this when we were introducing the ThermoSeed. And it has really worked very well," Agricultural Division of Felleskjøpet CEO Bjørn Stabbetorp told Euronews. Felleskjøpet is an agriculture cooperative based in Norway.
Alness was inspired to pursue steam treatment after reading a farming book from the 1950s that detailed how hot water was once used to rid seeds of pests before chemicals were used, per Euronews.
While effective, chemical pesticides are associated with harm to crucial pollinators and even human health, as detailed by the Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Pollinators are important to sustaining the global food chain. The Xerces Society notes that bees and other insects help 85% of the planet's flowering plants to reproduce.
Steam eliminates the chemical burden of pest management. Better yet, ThermoSeed touts that its treatment machine can be tailored to fit each seed producer's unique production floor.
But the big challenge is winning over skeptical farmers who don't want to risk an entire crop to a new type of treatment.
Euronews interviewed farmer Gustaf Silén, who praised the high-heat technique in large part because it removed chemical-related health risks during planting.
"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," he said in the story.
As a perk, leftover seed isn't pesticide-laden, so the overage can be used as feed or even sold to another farmer, per the report.
It's part of innovations being developed elsewhere to improve farming. At the University of Texas at Austin, for example, researchers are developing a hydrogel to better control nitrogen-heavy fertilizer. Nitrogen runoff can hurt nearby waterways and cause other problems, as noted by the EPA.
Changes to improve our food system can start at home, as well. Growing your own produce in a backyard or porch-based garden not only provides fresh meals but can provide you hundreds of dollars worth of fruit and vegetables for healthy eating.
For its part, ThermoSeed has been offering its solution to regional farmers since at least 2008. Each seed type needs a specially designed method for treatment. With more than a decade of experience and plenty of successful seeds treated, it seems Alness is ready to expand to Asia with a scaled-down, less expensive option, all according to Euronews.
"I saw that it had potential and it should be good for nature, good for the climate. And I thought it was worth testing my wild ideas — that's where it started," Alness said in the story.
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