Brussels, 09/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - “Despite the current attempts by the plant breeders and the multinational biotech companies against the freedom of choice of farms and the biodiversity of seeds”, mobile seed processors from Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom once again stressed, at the fourth general meeting of EMSA (European Mobile Seed Association) on 7 May, the need to “ensure that the farm saved seed should remain at the heart of the European agricultural model”. In addition, according to a press release, they reiterated the importance of the mobile seed processors' contribution to the fruitful coexistence of farm saved seeds and certified seeds for the benefit of agricultural production in the EU. “While the attention of the European Union is mostly reported on legal issues related to the certification and the patenting of seeds, the economic significance of the farm saved seed in the European agriculture is too often overlooked. In Europe, the farm saved seed is predominant: more than half of the 57 million hectares of cereals are produced with self-produced seeds. In a seed market of approximately €1.5 billion, these seeds represent one third of the value”, said Nigel Day, President of EMSA. (LC)