THE SEED SOURCES OF ORGANIC FARMERS IN ITALY

Summary

This paper presents the result of the survey done in 2010 by AIAB on the seed sources in Organic Agriculture (OA) in Italy. The aim of this work is to better understand and clarify the relationships between the formal and informal seed system (Almekinders and Louwaars, 2000) and quantify the role of the latter in OA. In a time where the choice of the varieties to grow will be in the hands of public institutions or seed industries (GRAIN, 2008), it is pivotal to check the needs of Organic farmers and the seed they are sowing. The questions addressed were:
a. Are Organic farmers still self-producing seeds?
b. Are they using only varieties listed in Official National Catalogue?
c. What is the role of old varieties not listed anymore or local varieties in organic systems?
d. What is the role of exchange amongst farmers in the supply of new varieties?
e. What are their needs in term of variety characteristics?
This survey was undertaken within the EU project SOLIBAM and in the framework of the Italian National Plan on Organic Seed.