Austria’s seed industry

Plant breeding and seed production represent a central sector of Austria’s agriculture. Domestic plant breeders and seed companies offer farmers a wide spectrum of varieties. According to the Austrian List of Varieties (ÖSL) of 2023 about 1,246 varieties are approved in Austria. They provide the basis of the production of food and feed from plants. Austria’s seed production focuses on arable crops that are adapted to the local climate. They are grown very successfully both in Austria in other countries with similar climate conditions.

Plant breeding deals intensively with the adaptation of our crops to the effects of climate change. Climate change and the resulting changed production conditions represent a huge challenge for agriculture. Due to increased drought and higher climate variability, yield and quality losses are to be expected in the future, which in turn will have a negative impact on yield security. Furthermore, a higher pest infestation pressure and a more speedy development of pests have to be expected, with thermophilic insect species spreading strongly towards the north. The central objective of domestic plant breeding is to develop climate-fit varieties with particular attention being paid to dryness and heat tolerance, to adapt these varieties to the advancing climate change as well as to regional requirements, and to ensure crop diversity.

In order to foster this objective, the Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with the Federal Provinces promotes a research and development project of the Austrian seed management industry and the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety which aims to provide Austria’s farmers with healthy and climate-fit varieties also in the future. Austria’s leading breeding enterprises participate in the projects “KLIMAFIT 1” and “KLIMAFIT 2”. Together with the Federal Provinces, the Ministry of Agriculture provides subsidies of 1 million euros per year for the KLIMAFIT project.

In 2020, the seed production industry, including distribution, employed approx. 700 persons. Many companies also have branches in other countries. Seed propagation is predominantly organised on cooperative level in Austria. The national turnover of Austria’s seed industry amounted to about 189 million euros in 2022 (not including vegetables). On the one hand, the seed serves the demand of Austrian farmers, on the other hand, it is very successfully exported. Especially in the case of maize and soy exports exceeded domestic consumption and therefore ensured a high added value in Austria. Exports benefit Austrian agriculture, as seed propagation leads to higher added value and farmers can, with higher turnover, invest more money and time in the development of improved varieties again.