California Seed Industry

California is known throughout the world as a premier location for crop breeding, variety development and seed production, particularly of horticultural crops and agronomic crops other than soybeans. Many companies, both large and small, maintain research and production facilities in California and contract for seed production in the state.

California's seed industry is a major provider of specialty seed products, and the industry has evolved to fill an important niche in the global seed industry. California is an ideal location for seed production due to its favorable climate and sophisticated infrastructure for growing, harvesting, processing and marketing high quality seeds. These attributes have contributed to California's position as a leader in a highly interconnected and complex global seed industry that includes growers, processing facilities, distribution networks, and research institutions.

CSA Fact Sheets

The Industry Communications Committee is pleased to offer Fact Sheets on industry topics such as the Bagrada Bug, Certified Seed and Careers in the Seed Industry as well as fact sheets on biotechnology for sustainability. These are valuable tools to address some of the issues the industry faces and are available to view and download here. 

Bacterial Fruit Blotch, (A Commercial Growers Guide)

First observed in U.S. commercial watermelon fields in 1989, bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) can be devastating for commercial watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew growers with losses reaching 100%. Over the last 20 years, academia and industry have come together to study the disease and have made considerable gains in the areas of BFB epidemiology and management. There is general agreement that while there is no cure, all parts of the production chain including seed producers, transplant growers and commercial growers can take preventative steps to avoid losses from BFB. This educational pamphlet is designed to provide commercial cucurbit (watermelon, melon, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, etc.) growers with information about BFB and to provide recommendations on how to reduce the occurrence of the disease in production fields and greenhouses. This information was compiled with contributions from academic and industry BFB experts and distributed by industry sponsors. This brochure is the most current educational material on BFB to date (June, 2009).

English Guide / Spanish Guide

Bacterial Canker of Tomato, (A Commercial Growers Guide) 

Bacterial canker is a serious tomato disease caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm). The disease was first discovered in 1909 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA but is currently reported in tomato production areas worldwide and outbreaks occur annually. However, preventive measures can be taken at all stages of production to avoid losses from bacterial canker.

These guides have been developed and published by ASTA, with sponsors from the seed industry and contributions from public and private researchers.  They are available for download on the CSA website in English and Spanish.

English Guide / Spanish Guide