In a sense, Andre is the “other” side of this situation. We’ve written at length before about the seed regulations in the EU; this is a good place to start because it has links to other pieces, and we’ve generally considered it a bad idea that all growers and seed merchants, no matter how large or small, should be bound by the same set of laws.

Andre is giving us the benefit of his years of experience, for which we are very grateful, but you can see that he does not seem to consider that amateurs and small-scale growers might have different needs. Many would be prepared to take the risks he mentions, if they were allowed to.

It is awfully difficult to find figures, but a very limited search suggests that the Royal Horticultural Society (despite recent “crises”) has around 363,000 members, while the National Farmers Union (in England and Wales) has 63,000.

That’s at least a ballpark figure for the difference in numbers. And while farmers may be perfectly happy with the existing system, gardeners by and large are not. (Actually, I know farmers who would like the freedom to risk uncertified seed too, but that’s neither here nor there.)