Sementes Vivas is a commercial and professional company of organic plant breeding services and seed propagation for Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.
It was set up in 2015 by Stefan Doeblin, Paulo Martinho, Micha Groenewegen, Bettina Gerike and an international team of experts, with the support of Demeter international.
It produces 100% organic, biodynamic and replicable seeds; free from chemicals, genetic modifications and intellectual property rights.
Its purpose is to make this material accessible to everyone.
Sementes Vivas
Like in the rest of Europe, Portugal produces very few varieties of seeds and imports around 90% of what it needs for its agriculture. Traditional varieties adapted to the particular Mediterranean climate conditions, have massively been abandoned by farmers.
Sementes Vivas is primarily dedicated to the reintroduction of traditional local varieties into the Portuguese agriculture.
Together with the Portuguese Gene Bank, it started developing and adapting the traditional varieties kept in the Gene Bank, in order to put them back on the market.
Sementes Vivas also is committed to improving the organic seed production sector in Portugal, Spain and Europe.
It collaborates with universities, municipalities and other institutions to develop seed multiplication programs.
With its different partners, it has created a centre for applied science focused on organic farming and organic plant breeding next to 500ha of organic fields, in Portugal.
The goal of that center is to reach a better collaboration between breeders, researchers and organic seed companies, regarding the need to deliver top organic seed quality on competitive cost base, in Europe.
Sementes Vivas’ agricultural activity is located in its farm of Idhana-a-nova, in the heart of Portugal.
Since 2017, Sementes Vivas is also operating in Spain, owning a land in Badajoz, in the Estremadura region, with a perspective of producing and delivering organic seeds in the South European region.
Both lands are testing grounds for new varieties of seeds Sementes Vivas tries to implement in Portugal and Spain. The aim is to verify how they behave and adapt to local climate.
Sementes Vivas produces and sells high quality of open-pollinated, organic and biodynamic varieties of vegetables, flowers, aromatic herbs, cereals, and green manures.
Its production is certified organic and biodynamic, by the EU-BIO legislation and by the European organization Demeter.
Since its creation, the company has organized several seed seminars and welcomes visitors on its lands for different activities, during farms’ open days and biodynamic fields’ tours.
Every year, the company organizes an international conference in Idhana; about biodynamic farming; ways to attract people to move to the countryside; organic food and cooking; poetry and music in agriculture.
Last but not least, it is quite important to notice that the farm is involved in developing a larger sustainable production process, resorting to technologies to reduce, for example, its water consumption and use a water of better quality.
Seed collection
The 2020 seed collection of Sementes Vivas contains 246 varieties of seeds.
This wide range of modern and traditional seed varieties is made for both professionals and “hobby farmers”. Indeed, the company directs and adapts its production to both groups of customers; publishing one catalogue for professionals and one for amateurs and providing small individual packages as well as bigger quantities of seeds.
Among its varieties, some are specifically adapted for soil and climate conditions of Portugal. Sementes Vivas has the will to enlarge that collection and spread Portuguese varieties of seeds all over the world.
How to get seeds?
Sementes Vivas seed production can be found in more than 1000 sale points all over Portugal and Spain. Its website mainly serves as an online shop where customers can order a large sample of Sementes Vivas’ seed production. It has a special section for varieties to be sown by month.
How to join or support the organisation?
Farmers, seed producers or sellers, can contact the organization to become a partner. Sementes Vivas will evaluate the production capacity plan, know-how and production quality of farmers wishing to become a partner. For those who are selected, Sementes Vivas will provide a training according to the defined crops given to them to multiply.
The organization offers no membership policy as it is a private shareholder company. However, people can support its activity by donating money or joining the farm as working volunteers. The organization shall be contacted for this.
All the photographs on this website were taken by professional photographers and are protected by intellectual property rights.
If you wish to reproduce them, please write to us and we will provide you with the necessary information. Thanks!