Since the 1950s, farmers across the world have used chemical treatments of their seeds to protect them from pests, pathogens, and disease. The downside of this practice has been negative impacts on human health and the environment. A new chemical-free treatment, however, has been developed, thoroughly tested, and widely deployed in Scandinavia, gaining mainstream use there. Seeds are treated with steam rather than chemicals.

ThermoSeed, the Swedish company that has pioneered this biological innovation, uses intense bursts of steam to pasteurize seeds. It discovered that different types of seeds have different optimum requirements for humidity, temperature, and exposure times. Consequently, it has developed a tailored recipe for each type of seed. This pasteurization process has proven to deliver yields comparable to, or even better than, traditional chemical seed treatment.

The inspiration for steaming seeds came to Kenneth Alness, the inventor of ThermoSeed, when reading about farmers treating seeds with hot water before the introduction of artificial pesticides.

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New pesticide reduction laws in the European Union are spurring the adoption of pasteurized steam seeds …. The European goal is to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 50 percent by 2030.

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