Innovative techniques for seed treatments compatible with organic farming

This tool is a data sheet that can be used by farmers or seed companies who produce or want to produce seeds in organic conditions. It presents innovative seed treatments that can be used in organic agriculture, such as chemical or microorganism-based treatments. It also focuses on thermotherapy, which can be very efficient for many seed pathogens, but quite complicated to implement

Community-based management of cultivated biodiversity - A French initiative on forage crops to design agro-ecological systems

The over-simplification of modern intensive agro-ecosystems in terms of cultivated biodiversity had dramatically increased their vulnerability to stresses and perturbations. In order to create and use a higher specific and genetic diversity several community management seed systems (or “Seed Houses”) are being currently set up in France. In this country where most farmers are used to buying commercial seeds, these initiatives are considered innovative. They also raise several issues such as: how to obtain, improve and conserve adapted plant genetic resources? How farmers’ communities can organise themselves to produce and exchange seeds amongst their members? Which procedures, which quality thresholds, which skills and which tools must be developed? With the aim to finding solutions the participatory research project entitled “ProABiodiv” involving farmers, extension services and researchers in genetics, sociology and economy was set up in 2011 on forage crops. It is a good illustration of how we can bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and the know-how of practitioners. Solutions must be locally developed as they are connected to a specific background, producing outputs that guide practitioners in raising the relevant questions rather than providing recipes

Tools to integrate organoleptic quality criteria into breeding programs

This technical booklet provides methodologies and guidance to implement sensory evaluations for organoleptic quality assessment in multi-actor-projects for organic agriculture. It presents five detailed tests that can be used in sensory evaluation, methodologies on how to prepare the samples and a glossary. This booklet has been developed under Solibam project and updated during Diversifood project

A guide to participatory experiments with underutilised genetic resources

Diversifood has undertaken a series of parallel experiments, all testing the same underlying hypothesis expressed in the “working definition” that reintroducing genetic resources with a status of underutilisation can trigger benefits in provisioning agroecosystem services and supporting local, high-quality value chains, in the overall framework of agroecological systems. This booklets considers a diversity of practices and incorporates the experience of the trials and the lessons learned on how to plan and conduct such trials, including practical consideration and tips to facilitate their execution out of the controlled conditions of experimental stations while still obtaining detailed and relevant information. It includes sections on sourcing seed, evaluation of agronomic, environmental and quality performance of underutilised crops

Producing forage crop seeds for organic agriculture: evolving techniques

This tool is a data sheet that can be used by French farmers who produce or want to produce forage crops seeds in organic conditions. It provides advice starting from the contract signing to the seed drying, going through the specificities of the crop, the sowing, irrigation, specific pests and their management, and the harvest

Producing zucchini seeds for organic agriculture

This tool is a data sheet that can be used by French farmers who produce or want to produce zucchini seeds in organic conditions. It provides advices starting from the contract signing to the seed drying, going through the specificities of the crop, the sowing, irrigation, specific pests and their management, and the harvest

Organic seed health. An inventory of issues and a report on case studies.

This report describes the state of the art and research results on the production of heathy organic seeds, as performed in the frame of the LIVESEED project, with support from the European Horizon 2020 program. Organic seed health is based on a multitude of factors and cannot simply be managed through one-size-fits-all solutions such as curative seed treatments. Use of seeds produced under organic conditions can also have benefits, as organic soils may have a richer and more diverse microbiome and part of this microbiome enters the seed during development. Although much more research is needed, there are indications that certain microorganisms in this seed microbiome play a role in tolerance of the emerging seedling toward biotic and abiotic stress in the field. In the frame of the LIVESEED project, case studies have been performed on some of these issues, with the aim of providing background information and tools to tackle them

Thoughts for a new seed quality strategy, incorporating seed vigour and the microbiome

Official seed tests determine seed quality, using standardised lab conditions with an early and final count of germinated seeds and counting the frequency of normal seedlings, while seed health is considered as the absence of seed borne pathogens. In the field however, the seed or seedling will encounter biotic and abiotic stresses, therefore emergence in the field is often less than germination in the lab. In the field seed vigour is important. To favour the development of more resilient cropping systems, we suggest to place more emphasis on seed vigour , because early emergence in the field has a strong effect on crop establishment and frequently also on costs for corrective measures and total yield,. The ISTA handbook lists vigour tests, including the so-called controlled deterioration (CD) test, but only for a very limited number of crops. In the frame of the European LIVESEED project1,2 we develop a new organic seed health strategy, which will also has advantages for other sustainable farming systems. The basic idea is that both seed vigour and the seed microbiome should be taken into account as elements that can aid the seed and seedling tolerance towards biotic and abiotic stresses. We showed that a CD treatment, inducing slight reduction in carrot seed vigour, increased the sensitivity to the damping-off causing pathogen Alternaria radicina. Seeds are not sterile organisms, they contain a large amount of micro-organisms, collectively called the seed microbiome, that enable transfer of the microbiota from the mother plant to the next generation. Recent research has shown that the seed microbiome contains also organisms that can aid the seedling in its tolerance, sometimes even resistance, towards pathogens and abiotic stress. An overview of this will be presented, including how this can aid in a strategy towards more resilient cropping systems

Perspetiva europeia de melhoramento e propagação de macieira em agricultura biológica no âmbito do projeto LIVESEED

A maçã é um dos frutos de maior destaque na fruticultura europeia. No entanto, a sua produção em Agricultura Biológica (AB) é um desafio constante, dada a problemática associada à proteção das culturas, num quadro de forte limitação à aplicação de produtos fitossanitários. Deste modo, torna-se necessária a produção de material vegetal melhor adaptado às condições edafoclimáticas e ao modo de produção biológica. O objetivo do LIVESEED é melhorar o desempenho e a sustentabilidade em AB, impulsionando os esforços de produção de diásporos e de melhoramento de plantas em modo de produção biológica

Perspetiva europeia de melhoramento e propagacao de macieira em agricultura biológica no âmbito do projeto LIVESEED

Perspetiva europeia de melhoramento e propagação de macieira em agricultura biológica no âmbito do projeto LIVESEED