We were back in Taiwan at the turn of the year (2024-2025) and continued to work there in our own way. This time we were busy helping to establish a non-hybrid seed propagation network, with a little support from Bingenheimer Saatgut AG, which provided the seeds.

So, all around the island, we are working on this issue in collaboration with various schools, farms and a Buddhist monastery. At seven different locations with very different climate and soil conditions, we have created double spiral mother plant beds and planted them with around 50 open-pollinated vegetable varieties.

At the moment, more than two months have passed since the first sowing, and so far, all crops are looking very promising, even though the plants seem to be developing very differently compared to here in Germany!

Although Taiwan has a diverse and intensive culture of vegetable growing and consumption, there is currently no seed production on the island, and the seeds that are available are far from organic quality.

And then we can look at the insights gained from these experiences to determine in which cases seed propagation could help to bring Taiwan one step closer to food sovereignty.

This is the first phase of the process, in which we are experimenting to see how the different crops develop in the different locations and how, over time, flowering and seed formation will be possible in the tropical/subtropical climate. We will be able to observe this over the next year.

(Here is a gallery of photos with descriptions from the spiral-making activities. The story continues below the gallery):

(Here is a gallery of photos with descriptions from the various spirals as they have developed since our return to Germany):