Liveseed - Improving The Performance Of Organic Agriculture By Boosting Organic Seed And Plant Breeding Efforts Across Europe

Summary

LIVESEED is a Horizon 2020 project applying interdisciplinary and multi-actor approaches aiming to transform the organic seed and plant breeding sector. The main goal is to reach 100% organic seed of cultivars suited for organic agriculture in order to improve competitiveness and integrity of organic production. LIVESEED covers the five main crop categories: legumes, vegetables, fruit trees, cereals and fodder crops, considering diverse cropping systems across Europe including mixed cropping and agroforestry. LIVESEED explored legal, technical, scientific, and socio-economic aspects that impact the use of organic seed from breeding to seed availability. LIVESEED developed policy recommendations on the implementation of the rules for organic seed in the EU organic regulation and an EU wide router database for organic seed. Innovative concepts for seed health and systems-based breeding have been developed as well as several breeding and selection tools for improved resilience. Innovative governance models for assessing suitability of homogeneous and heterogeneous cultivars for organic agriculture are designed and recommendations made to ease the official release of organic bred varieties. Economic business models for the whole seed supply chain including financing of organic breeding allowing simulation of interventions are under development. Science based policy recommendation of LIVESEED can have an immediate impact on the delegated and implementing act of the new organic EU regulation promoting organic seed and plant breeding.