Perspectives on European organic apple breeding and propagation under the frame of LIVESEED Project

Summary

Apples are the most prominent fruits produced in Europe. However, their organic production is very challenging and most cultivars can only be produced economically with copper application to combat fungal diseases. Therefore, the existing cultivars need to be replaced by more resilient genotypes also considering improvement of the rootstocks for better adaptation to organic soil, fertility conditions and new diseases. The objective of LIVESEED Horizon 2020 project is to improve the performance and sustainability of organic agriculture by boosting organic seed and plant breeding efforts, and increasing the availability of cultivars adapted to organic growing conditions. LIVESEED apple task aims to improve breeding for organic apple production through a network that will join forces, share knowledge and genetic resources. Organic apple breeding priorities until today should concentrate on several key issues, the main ones being: high quality and regularly bearing apple varieties with durable disease and pest resistances. Ongoing initiatives will be connected and a European network for testing candidate genotypes under organic conditions will be established to join forces, breeding strategies and share knowledge and genetic resources.