Managing on farm populations. Mixtures of landraces or old varieties (Liveseed Practice Abstract)

Practical recommendations - Selection will be continuously applied by the farmer since the environment/practices will make evolve the populations; he will observe his field and determine the best part for seed production. - Local (collective or individual) technological means should be available for seed preparation (sorting and calibration) and conservation. - Create market for dynamic and heterogeneous populations if needed and cooperate with local organisations/food chains

Diversity and Participatory Research for Organic Agriculture

The purpose of the tool is to present the issue of seeds and organic agriculture and how together they can connect peasant seeds and participatory plant breeding approaches. Starting from a parallel analysis of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology concept, the presentation provides an overview of the issues useful for policy makers, researchers, advisors and farmers. The tool is specifically focusing on organic farming, but it can also be of interest for other low input systems that want to work with peasant seeds and the multi-actor approach

Participatory Plant Breeding for Organic Farming in France, the cauliflower experience at the PAIS

The availability of organic seeds is a great problem for organic farmers. The private sector of plant breeding meets difficulties to answer to the organic farming (OF) demand, characterized by small quantities and a great diversity of criteria and by breeding methods which respect the natural species characteristics (see IFOAM Draft Standard on organic seeds and plant breeding). So, the organic sector is organizing breeding and seed production by itself In France, since 2001, a Brittany regional organic umbrella (IBB, Inter Bio Bretagne), and some researchers from the national institute for agronomical research (INRA) have initiated a breeding program for organic production and a participatory plant breeding (PPB) program for organic cabbages and cauliflowers in Brittany, from the evaluation of genetic resources of several European gene Banks. In the PPB, the farmers are taking in charge breeding and seed production of open pollinated varieties. Several types were kept and bred, depending on the way of production and commercialization for each farmer. In the northern Brittany, farmers have not forgotten the traditional production of cauliflower seeds. PAIS, the agrobiological experimental station of IBB on the organic site of an agricultural school (Suscinio, Morlaix), is the meeting point for all the involved actors (farmers, traders, trainers, researchers…). There, the farmers and traders can find technical and scientific information, and they can share their experiences from the plant selection to seed production. Today, other French PPB initiatives involve several species and organic farmers groups, to promote biodiversity and a best adaptation to a local production: durum wheat in the Mediterranean area, bread wheat with the “paysan-boulangers”, maize and sunflower in the South-West of the country, tomato in the South-East, radishes, parsnip and summer cauliflower, in Pays de Loire. From these experiences, the PPB for organic farming consists in the constitution of the organic farmers group with the creation of exchange space for researchers and others organic actors, the definition of the priority in matters of crops, the discovering and selection of genetic resources in the farmers fields, the exchange of experiences and genetic resources through formal and informal, regional, national or international, farmer and organic professional meetings (accompanied by researchers and often enlarged to gardeners and trainers). The seed distribution has been depending on the French legislative evolution. By nature, the varieties issued from PPB could not fill the DUS (Distinction, Uniformity, Stability) characteristics for registration. And mainly, by ethics, the organic way of development should enhance the ancestral link between the plant and the farmers, link which needs exchanges to allow the evolution of the crops and the conservation of a living biodiversity

An Approach to Organic Plant Breeding of Cabbage and Cauliflower

Plant breeding activity has to be considered in the context of the agricultural system. The organic agriculture (OA) is more than a way of production: it is consistent with an ethics of the place and role of the man in the nature. Working for OA means to prefer a holistic approach with a ecological vision of the plant and animal in their environment to an analytic approach with a biochemical vision of the living beings. The variety plays at least two roles in the organic way of production: (i) an ecological adaptation of the crop and the keeping of the environment equilibrium in the planting, (ii) a valorisation of products from a soil and a savoir-faire. Moreover, the breeders have to take in account the respect of the natural crossing barriers and the fertility of the species to enhance the vitality of the planting and to optimise the seed production. The adaptability to OA of the current varieties has to be examined for each species. For cabbages and cauliflowers, the F1 hybrids have replaced the population varieties for the last two decades and moreover, the cytoplasmic male sterility is largely widespread in these hybrids. This male sterility, created by protoplast fusion, will not be allowed for organic farming. For two years, an INRA project with the collaboration of IBB (Inter bio Bretagne) has initiated the first step of a breeding programme: the evaluation of the Brassica genetic resources and the definition of the selection criteria of cabbage and cauliflower with the farmers. A second project is building up to go further and to begin the selection and the organisation of a seed production. At the long term, in order to join the environment and the production qualities of the variety, we propose a composite structure with useful fixed characters (agronomical and economical traits) which will maintain the heterozygoty of the genetic backgrounds. Others alternatives have to be examined for the next years. The close participatory of the farmers will be necessary to a better targeting of the means and the needs

On farm research for quality of maize. Populations evaluation for old and new recipes in France

Participatory research in South of France aimed to create and exploit diversity on maize. Farmers and researchers have organized an on-farm experiment with traditional and new populations to assess key quality parameters. Population characteristics were evaluated through the different steps of food processes. Chef and cookers have also proposed new recipes to better exploit the diversity

Local trial network for organic wheat. A French multi-actors research project from grain to bread

In West of France, the association Triptolème aims to develop farm seeds and cultivated biodiversity for organic agriculture and natural products for environment and human health. Scientists and practitioners of this association have built a participatory research project around wheat (PaysBlé) in order to explore diversity at different levels from grain to bread and try to link them

Variétés et semences de choux et choux-fleurs pour Agriculture Biologique : de l'évaluation des ressources génétiques vers l'organisation d'une filière semences

Les professionnels de la filière bio pour les choux et choux-fleurs en Bretagne, coordonnée par IBB (Inter Bio Bretagne) en partenariat avec l'INRA, ont initié un travail de sélection pour l'AB à partir d'une évaluation de ressources génétiques, disponibles à l’INRA et dans d’autres banques de gènes européennes, sur la PAIS (Plateforme Agrobiologique d’IBB à Suscinio) à Morlaix. Les collections ont été évaluées conjointement pour des critères de qualité des produits et d'adaptation au milieu (présence/absence d'anomalies physiologiques, de maladies et d'insectes ravageurs). Des plantes ont été sélectionnées et les meilleures populations en terme de qualité et d'adaptation ont été reconduites pour démarrer une expérience de sélection participative chez les producteurs. Une dynamique a été lancée sur le plan technique et socio-économique. Il reste à développer des recherches pluridisciplinaires pour optimiser les schémas de sélection répondant à la double exigence de qualité et d'adaptabilité du peuplement végétal, et à concevoir un espace réglementaire cohérent pour la sélection participative et l'AB

Shaping diversity for on-farm organic plant breeding. Case of wheat (and other cereals) in France

Shaping diversity for on-farm organic plant breeding. Case of wheat (and other cereals) in Franc

Participatory research for organic agriculture: the case of Brassica plant breeding in Brittany

1. General context and objectives 2. One example: creation of the «bricoli» 3. Evolution of the collective organisation, emergence of the Community Seed banks of Kaol kozh 4. Activities of Kaol kozh, the seed association which had emerged from participatory researche

Concerning Brassica vegetables ...

The purpose of the tool is to train students about plant genetics and inform them on how a plant breeding program for Brassicae is typically set up; from conventional plant breeding to a participative selection approach. The presentation describes different genetics and physiological features of Brassicae that are considered for current Brassica breeding, e.g. cytoplasmic male sterility and self-incompatibility. The description has a strong scientific background and gives many practical recommendations to understand all forms of Brassica breeding and how they fit into organic plant breeding, and on how to move from selecting the relevant traits to the production of seeds and inscription of the variety to the institutional registry. Finally the presentation illustrates a specific INRAE programme on aberrant plants in Brassica species in this field