37 LIVESEEDING project partners from 15 European countries gathered in Zagreb for an Organic Seed Policy Conference on 18 October to discuss how to boost organic seeds and plant breeding, especially in Eastern and Southern Europe where the sector is still underdeveloped.
While European legislation requires the use of organic seeds in organic agriculture, the loose handling of derogations for non-organic seeds discourages entrepreneurship in organic seed. In the framework of LIVESEEDING, much-needed resources to leading organisations of the organic seed sector are provided to end the practice of derogations and make 100 % organic seeds in Europe a reality. For the first time, in the new EU organic regulation a definition for "organic varieties" was set and recently implementing directives for the release of organic plant varieties that are suitable for organic production were published: Directive (EU) 2022/1647 and Directive (EU) 2022/1648.
Joint efforts needed to achieve EU goals
"LIVESEEDING project comes at a critical moment, to help achieve the ambitious targets the European Union set for the organic seed sector in the Farm2Fork Strategy and in the EU organic regulation," says Miguel De Porras, Director of FiBL Europe. "To reach 100 % organic seed use in organic farming by 2035 and 25 % of EU land under organic management by 2030, we need a six-fold increase in the production of organic seeds in the next 10 years. Such a massive increase will only be possible by joining forces. LIVESEEDING project brings together leading organisations in the sector," he added.
"The Seed Policy Conference provided an opportunity for different stakeholders to define together the roadmap to 100 % organic seed in Croatia and learn from the experience of other European countries," says Ana-Marija Špicnagel Ćurko of the Croatian project partner IPS Konzalting, adding “We hope the conference will plant the seed of a fruitful collaboration between policymakers and organic seeds sector operators in Croatia."
Kick-off event for the LIVESEEDING project
As a follow-up to the conference, LIVESEEDING project partners stayed in Zagreb from 19 to 21 October for the project kick-off meeting. The project is a 6.6 million Euro 4-year innovation action co-funded by the European Union (Horizon Europe programme), Switzerland and the UK. The project aims to promote the growth of the organic sector by delivering high-quality seeds of a broad range of cultivars for a wide range of crops.
"LIVESEEDING’s primary ambition is to reach a quantum leap in the development of a strong and economically viable organic breeding and seed sector in Europe, through a multi-actor approach. It builds on the previous EU-funded project, LIVESEED, and will implement research findings into EU-wide practice," states Monika Messmer, leader of the group plant breeding at FiBL Switzerland and scientific coordinator of LIVESEEDING, at the project launch. Her colleague Mariateresa Lazzaro adds: "Innovation will be cogenerated in 17 living labs involving the whole value chain, from breeding to consumers and citizens." The jointly gained knowledge will support national authorities to apply the new organic regulation more coherently (Reg. EU 2018/848) and will enter the policy dialogue with European policymakers to advance the Farm2Fork strategy.
Further information
Contacts
- Mariano Iossa, FiBL Europe, LIVESEEDING coordinator
- Monika Messmer, FiBL Switzerland, LIVESEEDING scientific coordinator
Link
fibl.org: LIVESEEDING in the FiBL project database
Background information
LIVESEEDING is an innovation project funded under the EU Horizon Europe programme and coordinated by FiBL. It aims to improve organic seed and plant breeding to promote sustainable and diverse food systems in Europe.
The project brings together 37 organisations operating in 15 European countries. The project started in October 2022 and lasts for 4 years.
LIVESEEDING contributes to the upscaling of organic food production in Europe through:
- improving availability of organic cultivars of a large range of crops, bred for improved biodiversity and adaptation to local conditions, and
- strengthening and diversifying the organic seed sector informed by market demands.
LIVESEEDING contributes to the transition towards environmentally friendly, climate-neutral, healthy and fair food systems through further development: 1) cultivars suited for organic and low external input production; 2) novel governance models linking breeders with value chain actors and citizens with local food production, and 3) awareness around the importance of biodiversity for our food and health.
LIVESEEDING addresses the topics in a holistic multi-actor, multi-stakeholder participatory approach. It focuses on the 3 main drivers for change: 1) the supply and 2) the demand of organic seed and cultivars, and 3) enabling frameworks and roadmaps through active policy dialogue with national and European authorities and policymakers. LIVESEEDING provides science-based evidence and best practice solutions to achieve 100 % organic seed.
For more info about LIVESEED (predecessor of the LIVESEEDING project), visit https://www.liveseed.eu
The European Union regulatory framework in which LIVESEEDING will operate
- New EU organic regulation Reg 2018/848 that will apply from 1 January 2022.
- Definition of organic varieties suitable for organic production (OV) - Article 3 Definitions [...] (19)
- Definition of organic plant breeding included - 1.8.4 of Part I of Annex II.
- 7-year temporary experiment on OV - Preface (39)
- Definition of organic heterogeneous material (OHM) - [...] (18)
- Marketing via notification of organic heterogeneous material (OHM) - Article 13
- Delegated act on rules governing the production and marketing of organic plant reproductive material of organic heterogeneous material - C(2021)3163 7.5.2021
- National organic seed databases- Article 26 & Derogations, authorisations and report – Article 53
- Preconditions for official variety registration
- European Seed Marketing directives - Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 68/193/EEC, 2002/53/EC, 2002/54/EC, 2002/55/EC, 2002/56/EC, 2002/57/EC, 2008/72/EC and 2008/90/EC.
- Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) tests - are carried out by the examination offices to ensure that a new variety is Distinct from existing varieties, that its characteristics are Uniform, and that the variety is Stable with consistent phenotypic characteristics from one generation to the next.
- Value for cultivation and use (VCU) tests - are carried out for all agricultural crops submitted for registration. To qualify for registration, a new variety must have ‘added value’. This is established by comparing it to a set of existing reference varieties.