Discussion of hobby growers agreement in Estonia 29.08.2019

At 29th August 2019 a small group of experts, representatives from the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Agricultural Board met at Estonian Plant Research Institute in Jõgeva. One expert had worked out a draft for a hobby agreement that would make it easier to give out seeds from the gene bank for hobby growers. Especially the handing out of potatoes was difficult to tackle. There are so many different diseases on potatoes. It was discussed that potato mini tubers could be produced in a closed greenhouse, controlled and after that handed out to hobby growers. Every year do not have to be handed out all sorts but each year some sorts could be chosen to be reproduced. Another question is concerning clone materials such as apple trees and berry bushes. It was discussed that these could be reproduced in Polli production garden, that is annually controlled by the Agricultural Board. The collection garden is closed and the control there is not as strict as in the production garden.