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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LIVESEED (Improve performance of organic agriculture by boosting organic seed and plant breeding efforts across Europe)

Teaser

Summary

Seeds are the foundation of farming. We must ensure that farmers have organic seed available both in terms of proper quality and sufficient quantity, and at the time when they are needed. In most EU Member States, there is a lack of high-quality organic seeds or the amount of such seed is limited, and farmers are therefore allowed to request derogations to use conventional untreated seeds instead. The LIVESEED project is addressing many of the issues around the lack of organic seed from policy striving to achieve 100% organic seed to market factor analysis and to scientific methodologies to improve organic plant breeding.

Transparency within the EU organic seed market and the implementation of EU legislation requirements on a national level need to be improved. In order to understand how to best approach these, first we need sufficient information on available seed. This information is essential to build national and EU policy and incentives to promote the use of organic seed. LIVESEED will therefore analyse national databases, the factors influencing organic seed production and use, explore national policy environments and best practices in the EU, and build infrastructure (a router database) that facilitates the information exchange on seed at the EU level.

The amount and the quality of organic seed that is suitable for Organic Agriculture needs to be increased through targeted breeding. Some conventional seed performs well in organic systems, but they need to be organically propagated and the costs related to that (such as registration, testing) and other difficulties (lacking testing protocols and guidelines specific to organic) reduces the interest of seed companies to produce organic seed. LIVESEED will analyse the issues around propagation and improve necessary testing protocols.

It is important that the varieties used are resilient enough to secure yields under a variety of conditions. LIVESEED will carry out research to better understand what improves resilience.

Research has shown that the type of market influences producersâ€™ choice of seeds and varieties, and it is necessary to investigate the range of economic and social factors influencing the use of organic versus non-organic seed from a market point of view.

LIVESEED will furthermore carry out capacity building and knowledge transfer bridging the disconnect between stakeholders in organic agriculture with the issues on organic seed and breeding.

Work performed

In order to understand how the EU organic regulation is implemented in the EU, research has started to analyse the status quo on the current availability of seed and the national databases. We looked into the policy environments of each country to see what incentives support the use of seed. After analysing the status quo at the Member State level, we summarized the best practices we found in a booklet to facilitate knowledge transfer across European countries.

With the information collected on national databases from database managers, we started to outline the structure and functions of a European router database that would connect national databases to a one entry interface.

In order to promote organic seed use, we interviewed farmers across Europe who already use organic seed on why it is important to them to use these seed, with the intention to motivate the farmer community.

To address the difficulties in organic propagation, we launched another in-depth research to learn about how the current testing protocols are set up. We analysed the main scientific issues around organic seed quality and seed health, and we launched comparative on field trials and laboratory tests to study some of them further.

Our research related to the resilience issues of organic varieties focused on developing and testing new breeding approaches and methodologies in the field and in laboratories. The project also launched and now coordinates EU-wide crop-networks for white lupin, brassicas, apple, winter wheat, tomato, where experts can exchange their expertise and discuss further development of a particular crop.

We have also started to collect data to support our research on the socio-economic aspects of organic plant breeding and seed production. Our research will focus on factors that influences the use of seeds, explored via economic modelling exercises of organic seed supply chains.

LIVESEED has applied a multi-actor approach, reaching out to all stakeholder groups involved in organic seed and breeding sector, at local, regional, national, and EU levels. We created several networking and knowledge exchange opportunities for our partners and for external stakeholders engaged to the project, in forms of cross-country visits, workshops, national visits, scientific and policy conferences, field farm days, major sector fairs and sector conferences, and through policy forums.

Final results

Although the EU organic regulations clearly state that organic seed shall be used in organic agriculture, there is still a tremendous lack of organic seed on the market. LIVESEED will raise overall awareness for organic seed use, help to harmonize the implementation of the regulations, promote different models to improve use of organic seed and help reducing the bureaucratic burden of the seed market.

Because only some cultivars specifically bred for organic agriculture are currently on the market, it is essential to identify conventionally bred cultivars that perform well under organic conditions. LIVESEED will develop innovative, context-specific models and protocols for organic cultivar testing for different crop categories and cultivar types. The LIVESEED activities will allow farmers to make an informed cultivar choice and, thus, improve productivity and performance of organic farming.

Seed quality and especially seed health are complex traits and highly influenced by plant genotype, soil, climatic conditions as well as farming systems. The restricted use of synthetic pesticides in organic agriculture increases the risk of infection during seed production. LIVESEED will research the interaction of the seed microbiome, soil properties and seedling vigour in case studies of seed and vegetative propagation material.

Several studies demonstrated that the highest breeding gains for organic agriculture could only be achieved when selecting under organic conditions. LIVESEED will develop novel breeding concepts combining participatory approaches with modern breeding tools considering different socio-economic contexts.

Several surveys have identified obstacles in the use of organic seed, with the higher price compared with conventionally produced seeds identified as very important. Other factors limiting the use of organic seed are related to concerns or doubts about its quality and value, lack of knowledge of organic farmersâ€™ needs and expectations, high production costs of organic seeds, as well as poor involvement of stakeholders in the design of legislation. LIVESEED will identify the potential factors that could optimise the use of organic seed under different scenarios. The LIVESEED approach will lead to well-grounded recommendations for market players and policy makers to design business and governance models.