Breeding for diversity – political implications and new pathways for the future

Summary

At present, around 95% of organic production is based on crop varieties that were bred for the conventional high-input sector, lacking important traits required under organic and low-input production conditions. Populations with a high level of genetic diversity are promising for OA (organic agriculture) conditions due to their adaptation, resilience and performance stability in different environments. Organic farming will benefit from cultivars (populations, varieties) that can cope with multiple stresses such as weeds, diseases, pests, climate change and low nitrogen input from manure. In the COBRA project (Coordinating Organic Plant Breeding Activities for diversity), plant genetic diversity and its potential have been investigated from both an agronomic and a legal point of view. This booklet aims to give insight into the socioeconomic and legal aspects of organic plant breeding including High Diversity breeding. COBRA is a three year (2013-16) European project under the Core Organic II program. It has linked up existing organic breeding activities by a multi-partner coordinated approach. The pillars of the COBRA project are:
• Seed health
• Response of crops to multiple stresses
• Breeding efficiency for organic systems
• Networking and coordination
• Socioeconomic and legal issues related to organic plant breeding
Through case studies, several COBRA partners investigated how different quality requirements can be imbedded in local breeding initiatives and promote organic seed use and production. They also studied how different barriers affect organic seed production and breeding. Case studies from UK, Denmark, Slovenia, Italy and the outputs of the COBRA workshop “Financing of organic plant breeding” (Freising, Germany, 2015) are presented in the booklet.