b'EDITORS MESSAGEHAPPY BIRTHDAY TOEUROPEAN SEED!For the past 10 years, the magazineengage with local and EU politicians, so has covered a wide range of topics from thelets make sure they get the appreciation latest political developments and innova- and the appropriate resources for the hard tions in this field, to intellectual property,work they do.phytosanitary matters, plant breeding and the latest advances in crop genetics,HOMEWORK FOR YOU ALL gene-editing, biodiversity, sustainability,I do have some homework for you all. In a crop protection, HR policies, and manyworld where fake news and mis- and dis-other topics. It has become a go-to resourceinformation is more rampant than ever, it for professionals in the sector, plant breed- has also become a task for all of us to make ers, salespeople, researchers, policymakers,sure we spread more information about the and anyone with an interest in plant breed- positive contributions of our sector. ing and seed. Over the past decade or so, we have A recurring cherry on the pie are theseen some adverse political decisions in our 20 Most articles featuring influential seedssector, that were devoid of science. Gene-people, innovative breeders, with theirediting, neonics and glyphosate are just Marcel Bruins innovative varieties, famous plant breeders,some of those topics where the decisions had an interesting encounter the otherclimate friendly companies or inspiringignored peer-reviewed data. This means Iyoung people. It is a great joy to see thewe are losing the battle against quacks and day. One day, after the release of theeagerness with which the EU seed sectorfear-mongers, whose business it is to spread online version of the February 2023participates in this annual listing. fear, and distract from the facts. And issue, I was contacted by a journalist fromalthough several of you regularly share our one of the national TV stations in Europe.LEADING EXPERTS content on social media, it is not enough.He was working on a documentary onOur articles are often written by or haveSo, your homework is to make sure you GMOs and had received the electroniccontributions from leading experts in thebecome even more vocal about those posi-version of our magazine from a publicfield, providing us with their insights andtive contributions that our sector is making sector researcher he was working with. Heanalysis. At the same time, the magazineto our planet. Do this in your presentations, was interested in the source of one of thealso features interviews with key playersat birthdays and on social media, and like, data that we presented in our Myths onin the sector, updates on regulations andtweet, and share as many of our articles GMOs article. After I had sent him theresearch initiatives, and critical reviews onand other content as you can. Start with peer-reviewed source article, I realized thatrecent developments. one post on social media per day and build our magazine European Seed had branchedSpeaking about interviews, over theit up from there. out into the public R&D sector, and alsopast decade, we have given the floor to sev- The European plant breeding and seed to national TV journalists. We had comeeral EU politicians. But I have to say thatsector is an incredibly important and con-a long way.it is getting harder and harder for us to getstantly evolving sector, which is providing Ten years ago, we started with a newthem to speak out about certain topics. Andessential resources for Europes and the magazine for the European seed sector,I find that a pity. I wish many more poli- worlds agriculture and in turn their food and we didnt know if it was going to work.ticians would take the time to engage withsupply. So, I am sure you all are and should Now, a decade later, we can safely say thatus, as I think one of the benefits of suchbe very proud of our sector, therefore, lets it clearly serves a purpose, fills a gap, andinterviews is that it will raise our awarenessbe vocal about it. Dont sit back and think has earned its place. about the activities and importance of EUit will all blow over! I cant say this enough: In the 34 printed issues that have comepolitics for the agricultural and seed sector.make sure our voice is heard. Our planet out so far, we have filled close to 1,750And it puts the spotlight on the impact thatneeds you!pages of content, informing a broad rangethe political developments in Brussels and of readers. And from the website analyticsthe various national capitals can have onMarcel Bruinswe know that our articles are read, not justour sector. And we should not forget that iteditorial director, European Seedin Europe, but all over the globe.is often the national seed associations thatmbruins@seedworldgroup.com4IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'