As explained by Francisco Javier Rodríguez Usero, Head of Sales and Marketing at Semillas Fitó for Andalusia and the Canary Islands, "Fitovale is a marketing system launched last year to change the way we were marketing our tomato seeds. For quite a long time, fraud had been detected in many areas like Almeria, Granada and Murcia, by people obtaining more than one plant from each seed, which is illegal and harms both the breeder and the producer. To achieve traceability of both seed and plant, the process has been implemented on two fronts: a new seed marketing system and seedlings audits."
This dual control for tomato seeds is actually very simple. Francisco Javier explains that "the grower does not receive the seeds directly, and these cannot be sold in stores or cooperatives; instead, they will be given vouchers called Fitovales (Fitovouchers) with the amount of seeds purchased, which can be exchanged for the certified seeds authorised by Fitó.
These seed distributors, in partnership with Semillas Fitó through external auditors, monitor the plant until it is delivered to the grower. This is a major step forward to improve the traceability and quality of each seed sold by our company."
As regards control of the seed distributors, external audits were conducted last year in which the stumps that remain in the aerial part of the plant once the graft has been made were monitored.
In the 2015 campaign, Fitó will improve this control by also auditing the pruning which is done when the grower requests a pruned plant for transplanting in the greenhouse.
According to Francisco Javier, "at the beginning growers were surprised about the system but, seeing that everything went well and that distributors handed the plants out efficiently with the vouchers, they have apparently considered it a good system. Seed distributors have collaborated and have quickly seen the benefits brought by this control system.
Furthermore, it also serves to protect the grower, since it prevents problems with poor seed storage/condition. In short, the Fitovale system makes it impossible to obtain more than one plant per seed of protected varieties, thus preventing unfair competition between seed distributors and protecting the intellectual property of the breeder and producer, while offering the highest quality and traceability."
More information: www.semillasfito.com