Report describing three crop case studies investigating in detail the socio-economic factors influencing the behaviour of various stakeholders regarding the use of organic seed

Summary

This report explores common aspects and differences in relation to organic seed in arable, horticulture and forage crop sectors. It builds on literature, an analysis of the status quo and regulatory regime for the different sectors, and interviews with stakeholders of a number of seed supply chains in different countries. In total 68 interviews were carried out with experts in organic seed production across Europe, in the following countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom. In addition to the overview of the crop sectors, a more detailed analysis has been carried out for three selected crops within each sector (focus crops): durum wheat, bread wheat and lupine for arable crops; carrot, cauliflower and apple for horticultural crops and lucerne (syn. alfalfa), perennial ryegrass and white clover for forage crops.