Welcome to State of Seed, a four-part series about how seeds feed and sustain the planet in surprising and complicated ways. On this first episode, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem visits a Rijk Zwaan lettuce plant breeding facility in the Netherlands, watching seeds pollinate in real-time. She then goes to Rotterdam to attend the centennial World Seed Congress, an annual gathering of seed leaders. Here, she interviews Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Bechdol comes from a grain farming family, going back seven generations. She reflects on what the policy world misunderstands about agriculture and the key barriers farmers face in accessing quality seed. 

State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.