Success stories on organic seed production & breeding - Experiences from LIVESEED Cross Visits
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Success stories
on organic seed
production
& breeding
Experiences from
LIVESEED Cross Visits
www.liveseed.eu
Editors
Matteo Petitti (RSR), Frederic Rey (ITAB),
Monika Messmer (FIBL-CH)
& Ágnes Bruszik (IFOAM OE)
Authors
Frederic Rey (ITAB), Ágnes Bruszik (IFOAM OE):
Introduction
Maddalena Moretti (UBIOS), Matteo Petitti (RSR),
Abco de Buck (LBI), Katharina Meyer (FIBL-DE):
Interviews
July 2020
Photo credits LIVESEED, except for pages: 8-9 Vincent Lefevre; 16-17
© Agrico; 18-19 © Vitalis; 20-21 © Felix Heiber; 22-23 © Bio-Weingut Rummel
This booklet was produced within the LIVESEED project,
which has received funding from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant
agreement No. 727230 and by the Swiss State Secretariat for
Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract
number 17.00090
The information provided reflects the views of the authors. The
Research Executive Agency or the SERI are not responsible for
any use that may be made of the information provided.
3
Contents
Introduction 4
What is organic seed? 4
Why should we produce and use organic seed
and organic cultivars? 5
Producing organic seed 5
LIVESEED Cross-Visits in France, Italy, the Netherlands,
Switzerland and Germany 7
Success stories :
1. Organic seed multiplication on farm 8
2. A cooperative organic seed company 10
3. Organic open pollinated vegetable seed production 12
4. Closing the circle: cereal populations
from seed to plate 14
5. Organic potato production by Agrico potato giant 16
6. A leading seed company with ‘organic blood’
in its veins 18
7. On-farm apple breeding by non-profit
organization Poma Culta 20
8. Fungus-resistant grapevine breeding 22
4
Introduction
Seeds and their biodiversity are key elements for the development of or-
ganic agriculture and for the agro-ecological transition of food systems.
The availability of seed and vegetative propagating material that are not
only adapted but also adaptable to the diversity of organic farming sys-
tems and agro-ecological environments, can boost organic farms’ pro-
ductivity, their yield stability and the quality of their end products, while
making them more independent from the conventional sector.
Yet, although the supply and diversity of organic seed is improving, the
majority of organic crop production1 is still based on seed selected for and
produced within the conventional sector. Major changes in how seed for
organic regimes is bred and multiplied are long overdue, and will involve all
the actors of the seed value chain, from producers to final users.
In this context, the LIVESEED project organised a discovery journey through
a number of cross-visits in Europe (see chapter 2) with the aim of:
• documenting success stories of organic seed selection and production/
multiplication,
• enabling mutual learning among professionals,
• forging relationships as a basis for an EU professional network on or-
ganic seed
• inspiring and initiating change
This booklet illustrates a selection of these success stories. It is based on
interviews recorded during the LIVESEED cross-visits in France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. All of the farmers, breeders, seed
companies or cooperatives portrayed in this publication have something
in common: having embarked on a unique and inspiring journey towards
becoming leading organic seed producers or breeders of their particular
crop. We hope you will be inspired by them!
What is organic seed?
Organic seed is seed of which the organically requires an even more
mother plant (if seed) or the parent specific skill set (it is indeed a much
plant (if vegetative propagating ma- more risky business to produce seed
terial) has been produced following organically than conventionally).
the principles of organic agriculture, Seed crops need to stay in the field
as laid out by the European organic longer than edible crops to reach full
regulations2. seed maturity: this means a higher
Seed production is a highly special- risk of weeds, pests, diseases or abi-
ised activity and producing seed otic stresses spoiling the harvest.
1 See LIVESEED booklet: “The State of Organic Seed in Europe” https://www.liveseed.eu/wp-content/
uploads/2019/12/FNL-FNL-Web-Interactive-NOV19-Booklet2-LIVESEED_web.pdf
2 EC No 834/2007; EU 2018/848
5
Why should we produce and consumer expectations. All the
and use organic seed and above would increase the coherence
and credibility of organic agriculture,
organic cultivars? making it more independent from
conventional agriculture and main-
Despite the challenges, there are a stream research & development for
number of good reasons for using the seed it requires.
organically bred and reproduced In addition, the European organ-
seed in organic agriculture. Conduct- ic regulations require that the seed
ing seed production under organic and vegetative propagating materi-
conditions would create a more fully al used by organic farmers must be
coherent value chain (from seed to organic. However, it currently pro-
plate) for organic regimes, avoiding vides a series of derogations which
all chemical interventions since the allow the use of untreated conven-
very beginning. Devising non-chem- tional seed in organic production in
ical solutions for the production of a number of cases (Article 22), until
organic seed implies investigating 2035.
and applying alternative, more sus-
tainable techniques for seed qual-
ity and health management. This Producing organic seed
process in itself is likely to positive-
ly influence the adaptive capacity While organic seed production is a
of the resulting seed to the condi- highly specialised trade, it can also
tions of organically managed fields represent an attractive income di-
in which it will eventually be used. versification strategy for organic
Further adaptive advantages of farmers. However, it requires a cer-
organically produced seed can be tain level of technical skill and en-
achieved through using existing cul- tails specific risks, two aspects that
tivars which are known to be better should not be underestimated.
capable of striving under low-input The production of certified organic
conditions (such as landraces, local seed must comply with the existing
varieties or heterogeneous material), European seed and plant propaga-
or through breeding specifically for tion directives, as well as with the
such traits. Organic plant breeding3 European organic regulations.
holds great potential in this direction, The quality standards (germination
by generating new cultivars which rate, varietal purity, seed health)
are more robust and perform better which apply to the marketing of or-
under organic conditions, both as ganic seed are the same as those for
food and as seed crops, while also conventional seed: when the quality
responding to present-day producer doesn’t meet the set thresholds, cer-
For technical resources and useful tools on organic seed
production and plant breeding please visit the new
“seed” section on www.organic-farmknowledge.org
3 https://www.fibl.org/fileadmin/documents/shop/1202-plant-breeding.pdf
6
tification will be denied, leading to the cultivation of seed crops, espe-
a net loss to the seed multiplier un- cially for biennial vegetable species
less the seed production contract in- that can stay in the field for over 12
cludes some form of guarantee. Such months: carrot for instance is sown
a contract is drawn up between a at the beginning of August of year 1
seed company and the farmer/seed and seed is harvested at the end of
multiplier before the crop is grown, August of year 2; leek, the absolute
laying down the rights and obliga- champion in terms of cycle length,
tions of each party and the condi- takes 17 to 18 months to produce
tions of remuneration. Risk-sharing seed! Weed control under organic
clauses can be difficult to determine conditions tends to generate high
in advance, which is why it is impor- labour costs (accounting for up to
tant to get advice before committing 30-70% of the total seed production
oneself. For reasons related to biol- costs), and is among the main rea-
ogy (autogamy, allogamy), life cycle sons for the extra price of organic
(annual, biennial), and weed or pest seed on the market. In some cases it
and disease management, some is extremely difficult to sort out cer-
species are “easier” to multiply than tain weeds whose seeds closely re-
others. Seed production is generally semble those of the crop itself.
Producing and using more organic seed and cultivars
can:
• ensure the operation of fully organic value chains
from seed to plate
• foster the development of seed production and
seed quality management techniques specific to the
organic sector
• boost breeding and selection activities specifically
tailored to the needs of organic farmers and the
market they serve
• enhance the credibility and independence of the
organic sector
more predictable with annuals (e.g. This can heavily depreciate the seed
lettuce, chicory, cucurbits and sola- lot, sometimes even leading to its
naceae), and more uncertain with rejection. It is therefore preferable to
biennials (carrot, cabbage or onion) accurately plan weed control strat-
due to their longer cycle and greater egies even before planting the crop
weed and disease challenges. (including preparing the plot appro-
However, even some annual seed priately, performing advanced or
crops, although apparently easy to false sowing, hoeing in pre-emer-
grow, can present technical chal- gence and other possible solutions)
lenges: for example threshing of and to be equipped with suitable
small batches or bacterial blight and tools. Adapted irrigation equipment
weevil attacks can be a problem for is also essential for carrying out
beans, broad beans and peas. some of these weed control strate-
Weed control is the trickiest issue in gies successfully.
7 LIVESEED Cross-Visits in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany The LIVESEED cross-visits4 took applied elsewhere. The French cases place in June 2018 (France), June describe the activities of organic ce- 2019 (Italy), October 2019 (the Neth- real farmer and seed producer Vin- erlands) and May 2020 (Germany cent Lefevre, and those of UBIOS, an and Switzerland5). They primarily organic seed cooperative which pro- targeted organic farmers, advisors, duces and commercialises seeds of seed producers and multipliers, arable crops and with whom Lefevre breeders, and to a lesser extent re- successfully collaborates (as seed searchers, national authorities, pro- multiplier). The Italian cases include cessors, retailers, seed health and a short value chain model involving quality officials. Most of the partici- the Floriddia organic Farm (which pants who attended the visits came grows cereal Organic Heterogene- from Member States where organic ous Materials and conservation va- seed production is less developed, rieties), and a vegetable seed coop- such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, erative whose activities stem from Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Portu- breeding to seed processing (in a gal. The methodology for structured dedicated organic seed processing learning which was followed was facility). The two examples from the partly adapted from the approach Netherlands highlight two different developed within the AgriSpin pro- models and scales under which or- ject’s cross visits6. In each of the ganic seed production can be made countries, an effort was made to successful: the (initially small) veg- cover different crop groups and pe- etable seed company Vitalis, and do-climatic conditions, as well as the seed potato giant Agrico which different aspects of seed production engages farmers in the production and socio-economic and organisa- of organic seed potatoes. The cases tional seed production models. The from Germany and Switzerland tar- choice of the examples presented get organic fruit propagation: a suc- in this booklet reflects this diversity cessful selection and marketing of of aspects but also keeps in mind modern organic apple varieties, and the transferability of each case, a well-working model for the prop- highlighting the success that was agation and processing of organic achieved in-country and the possibly grapevine. different scales at which it could be 4 https://www.liveseed.eu/results/wp2/reports-cross-visits/ 5 Due to the Covid-19 emergency, the German & Swiss cross visit took place in the form of a series of webinars 6 https://agrispin.eu/about/
8
1. Organic seed multiplication on farm
Preserving diversity with Vincent Lefevre, France
Conventional breeding and selection is usually performed in fertile
soils and under optimal conditions. My farm is not like that. So I
had to find something different to grow and I made a different
choice. Instead of uniformity and high input varieties, I choose
dynamic populations. And I choose to produce them myself.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach
unique?
I work on three aspects of organic
seed production:
• I multiply cereal and pulse seed
(wheat, rye and peas) for UBIOS
(see next interview, page 10).
• I conserve heritage germplasm
collections: I started with 35 pop-
ulations and now I have about
100. I test them to check for their
adaptation capacity in my tough
soil conditions and keep those
mixtures that appear to be best
adapted to my context, letting
Business name: them adapt dynamically. I also
Vincent Lefevre Ferme Bio try to select dynamic populations
adapted to specific crop systems
such as intercropping with clo-
Location: vers, or which have high quality
Puisaye region,
and taste traits.
annual rainfall 740 mm
• I participate in breeding pro-
grams to create new composite
Area: cross populations (CCP) with
220 ha INRAE (Isabelle Goldringer).
I like diversity and I do my best to de-
velop it on my farm.
Soil type:
mostly hydromorphic, shallow, Why are you producing organic
heavy textured (silty clay), seed/PRM?
with a high content of
flint-type stones (>25 %). The reason why I produce organ-
ic seed is that there is a need for it,
Crops: and UBIOS is capable of providing
cereals, legumes, green manures. good quality planting material for
All intercropped, except for seed organic farmers in France. I also do
crops.
it because I enjoy the technical chal-
lenges of seed production: sowing,
Workforce: sorting, harvesting and storing. I am
1 to 3 depending on season also interested in the added value
that seed production provides.
9
When did you start? has been important to me. During
I started in 2013, since my establish- the cross-visit on my farm I met peo-
ment as a farmer but my father used ple with whom I’m still in touch. We
to multiply seed for Cocebi since exchange tools and tricks that help
2000. me improve my knowledge and my
procedures.
Is it economically viable? Or which
other benefits do you see in pro- What are you most proud of?
ducing organic seed/PRM? I’m proud of my breeding work to ob-
Yes, it is economically viable. An ex- tain heterogeneous material, which
tra price is paid for crops used as is more adapted to my fields and to
seed. It’s about 60 €/t for cereals, my crop management techniques.
and 120 €/t for protein crops. The I’m proud of my fields. In June, when
latter are harder to produce because the wheat ears come out, I look at
their seeds are more delicate and their different colours and shapes
less durable, so extra attention must and find it wonderful. I’m very proud
be paid during harvest and storage. to be part of UBIOS, which today is
It is a technical challenge and this able to provide high quality seed to
is an indirect benefit to me. Another organic farmers in France. And fi-
benefit is the connection with other nally I’m proud to participate in the
farmers who share my passion for small revolution that is taking place
diversity and maintenance of herit- and that will bring breeding back in
age crops. the hands of farmers.
What are the main success factors? What are your plans for the future?
Passion and motivation are neces- I hope there will be more breed-
sary because seed multiplication ing activities targeting heteroge-
and conservation need more time neous material and that diversity
and more care than simply produc- will become more important as an
ing grain crops. Rigour is needed to end product of breeding programs.
prevent cross-contamination with This will allow farmers and society
other varieties or with weeds. in general to face climate change
An important success factor is also through the development of a more
being part of a network that gath- resilient agriculture. This goes hand
ers highly professional and skilled in hand with a greater involvement
people, be they farmers like myself of farmers, not only in the organic
or technical advisors who work for seed multiplication phase but also in
organic cooperatives. Being part of the definition of the selection guide-
a European project like LIVESEED lines.
10
2. A cooperative organic seed company
Producing organic seed of arable crops with UBIOS, France
Interview with the president, Jean-Pierre Bouchet
As organic farmers, autonomy is an important part of our overall
strategy. Our ambition is to master the whole chain of organic
production, from seed to the final product. We believe that seed
production plays a key role and has to be managed by organic
farmers themselves.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach
unique?
Our work on seed starts when we
receive grain lots from farmers’
multiplication fields, and we trans-
form them into ready-to-use seed.
To get there, we have to sort them
accurately, in order to eliminate any
foreign or damaged element (weed
seed, broken or irregular grains, dust,
stones). Germination and other tests
are done to ensure performance and
health. All wheat seeds are treated
with vinegar, and lots that are too
Business name: contaminated with common bunt
Union Bio Semences (UBIOS) are not sold as seed. Then seeds are
bagged and prepared for delivery.
Location: We produce organic seed of a wide
Maisse, France
diversity of species. We never refuse
Area: any lots as long as they respect the
Seed crops are grown by a health and germination standards.
network of 40 farmers belonging Our only limit can be our sorting ca-
to the cooperatives Biocer and pacity concerning weed seeds.
Cocebi
Why are you producing organic
Crops: seed/PRM?
Seed production of wheat, barley,
oat, triticale, spelt, pea, lentils, Because it makes sense! Organic
buckwheat, faba bean, rye, and farming has its own needs which
alfalfa. require specific solutions. Organic
seed crops are often contaminat-
Assets: ed with weeds. Conventional seed
The company holds a certification companies are not ready to accept
laboratory approved by the and process this kind of product
national authority (SOC).
because it needs more time, more
Employees: knowledge and more specific tools
10 than what they are prepared to en-
gage in, especially considering that
organic seed production is often only
Website:
http://unionbiosemences.fr/ a small share of their activity. As a11
result, many seed lots are refused. nal seed bag. We have acquired this
This is a huge loss for farmers. knowledge over time.
We ensure a high quality level for
What would your advice be for
our seed, and farmers may repro-
someone who wishes to become a
duce our seed on-farm. Once again,
seed producer?
autonomy is promoted.
Our advice to create an organic
When did you start?
seed company is to start providing
We started in 2011. Before, cooper- high-performance sorting tools to
atives Biocer and Cocebi produced farmers. This will reduce the time
organic seed alongside their grain and costs of processing at the fac-
producing activity, but these two tory. Once the farmers are well
activities soon entered into conflict: equipped, it is easier to go forward.
after the harvest, the sorting ma- The second advice is to find expe-
chines which were usually used for rienced staff, in the specific field of
grain sorting were needed for seed organic seed production.
sorting and this had a negative im-
What are you most proud of?
pact on their grain production sec-
tor. Moreover, the two cooperatives We are organic farmers and we cre-
were growing fast and needed to ated a seed company which has a
invest in seed production machines direct connection with the needs of
anyway. This is why we choose to organic farmers themselves.
create a specific, separate seed pro- UBIOS allows us to be independent
duction activity. and self-governing. We are proud of
our highly professional staff. And we
Is it economically viable? Or which
are proud of the high quality of our
other benefits do you see in pro-
product.
ducing organic seed/PRM?
What are your plans for the future?
The high quality standards that we
impose on our product make it ex- We would like to produce seed of
pensive. Until last year our seed pro- crops that can be sown later than
duction was not viable, because we cereals (for example legumes like
wanted to stay competitive in terms beans or soy). This would optimise
of prices. Seed processing required a the factory’s operations guarantee-
great amount of time and we should ing seed production throughout the
have produced larger amounts to year. And, at the same time, it would
make the factory profitable. We increase the diversity of our crop-
could have made much more money ping systems.
if we had chosen to select only the
cleanest lots and to multiply only
the most widely cultivated varieties.
But this is not our goal. So we had
to increase the seed prices this year,
which has led to economic sustain-
ability.
What are the main success factors?
Our main success factor is the high
seed quality and the crop diversity
that we provide. Organic seed pro-
duction is not easy. There is a huge
need for knowledge and experience
on sorting and processing organic
seed lots, starting when the harvest-
ed seed enters the factory, to the fi-12
3. Organic open pollinated vegetable
seed production
Interview with Antonio Lo Fiego, Arcoiris & CAC, Italy
Arcoiris is a pioneer of organic seed production with a particular
regard for biodiversity. Since 1998 it has been producing organic
seed of open pollinated varieties. The company specialises in
vegetables, cover crops, conservation varieties and evolutionary
populations of cereals. Arcoiris has recently joined forces with
Cooperativa Agricola Cesenate (CAC), a leading seed producing
cooperative at EU level.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach
unique?
Arcoiris is the only seed company
in Italy that is supported by 100%
Italian capital and produces exclu-
sively organic seed. All our vegeta-
ble production takes place in Italy,
thanks to agreements with produc-
ers/multipliers whose fields are fully
certified organic. As a company, we
chose to deal with open pollinated
Business name: varieties and not to use hybrids. Our
Arcoiris Sementi & Cooperativa core business are vegetable crops,
Agricola Cesenate (CAC) followed in order of importance by
Seed company
cover crops, cereal conservation va-
rieties and heterogeneous popula-
Location: tions. A portion of our work consists
Cesena, Emilia Romagna
in “rescuing” landraces and making
(Central Italy)
their seed available on the market:
Area: over the past few years we’ve regis-
production is undertaken through tered (or supported the registration
the CAC’s cooperative network of) 12 vegetable landraces “with no
(2100 farmers of which 105 intrinsic value for commercial crop
organic) and seed processed at production”7; we collaborate with
CAC’s dedicated organic plant. Slow Food to rescue the seed of
those varieties whose end products
Crops:
vegetables, cover crops, cereals, are registered in their list of Presidia.
legume Our main market is the Mediterrane-
an region (Italy, Spain, Portugal), but
Turnover: in recent years we have witnessed
Arcoiris: € 800k, 100% organic; increased market space in France,
CAC € 34mln of which 5% organic Germany, the Netherlands, the UK
Employees: and Sweden. We are among the
Arcoiris 5; CAC 220 few seed companies which offer a
broad range of organic cover crops.
Website: And since 2017 we have been com-
https://arcoiris.it/en/home & http:// mercializing heterogeneous popu-
www.cacseeds.it/ lations of bread wheat (Bioadapt,
7 According to Directive 2009/145/EC13
Bioappennino, Bread mix Tuscany atives in Europe. This collaboration
1, Bread mix Tuscany PA1) and du- has brought important benefits to
rum wheat (Evoldur and Durum mix both partners. CAC inherited a fully
Tuscany PA1) within the temporary functional and already well-known
experiment 2014/150/EU, as well as organic seed brand, allowing the or-
wheat, emmer and millet conserva- ganic members of the cooperative
tion varieties. We are working on the to immediately get engaged in pro-
selection of three local varieties of T. duction and multiplication of organic
turanicum (Khorasan wheat), having seed. Arcoiris benefited from a con-
requested and obtained the creation sistent quality improvement in the
of the voluntary register of Khoras- whole process of seed production
an wheat from the Italian Ministry of and multiplication, thanks to CAC’s
Agriculture. long-lasting experience and efficient
seed handling infrastructure.
Why are you producing organic
seed/PRM? When did you start? What would your advice be for
someone who wishes to become a
The original founders of Arcoiris in
seed producer?
1998 were four organic/biodynam-
ic farmers, together with an agron- The organic seed market is growing
omist and a person with a back- and will be doing so even more over
ground in management: the choice the next few years, when deroga-
to produce organic seed came as a tions will be definitely phased out.
natural response to our desire to fos- So now is definitely a good moment
ter and support organic agriculture to enter the playing field. Opportu-
and agricultural biodiversity, provid- nities can also come from the pos-
ing farmers with a product which, at sibility to create small regional seed
the time, barely existed on the Italian companies for the production of or-
seed market. ganic seed within local value chains
geared towards the production of
Is it economically viable? Or which
healthy, artisanal foodstuffs.
other benefits do you see in pro-
ducing organic seed? What are you most proud of?
The company as a whole is certain- We are most proud to have con-
ly self-sustainable. The sectors with tributed to the conservation and
the best turnover are vegetables sustainable use of agricultural bio-
and cover crops. On its own, the diversity, as within the recent effort
production and marketing of cere- to study and commercialize heter-
al conservation varieties and het- ogeneous populations of cereals, in
erogeneous populations would not which we were involved together
be economically viable. This means with Rete Semi Rurali and the Uni-
that our leading sectors contribute versities of Florence and Bologna.
to the sustainable use of agricultur-
What are your plans for the future?
al biodiversity (which is not current-
ly self-sustainable per se), and this In the past few years, we have start-
responds to a deliberate choice from ed producing organic seed for a few
our side. We certainly are very proud seed companies from Northern Eu-
to be contributing to safeguarding rope. This is an expanding market,
and spreading agricultural biodiver- compared to the amateur and hobby
sity. gardener sectors which I believe will
lose importance. There’s a strong
What are the main success factors?
growth in the request for organic
We are now associated to the CAC cover crops, particularly for the fruit
(Cooperativa Agricola Cesenate and wine sectors: we are already
based in Cesena), one of the most producing tailor-made mixtures for
important seed producing cooper- specific farms.14
4. Closing the circle: cereal populations
from seed to plate
Interview with Rosario Floriddia, farmer, processor
and seed producer at Floriddia organic farm, Italy
The Floriddia farm is a pioneer in innovation and valorisation of
organic products. Specialized in high quality cereal products (flour,
pasta, bread), it considers seed quality the central element of its
fully closed value chain. Since 2010, Floriddia has been growing
bread wheat populations, and since 2017 it started producing
and marketing certified organic seed.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach
unique?
We are an organic cereal farm, pro-
ducing organic heterogenous ce-
real seed in the framework of the
European temporary experiment
(2014/150/EU). I wouldn’t consid-
er our work unique, as there are
many other organic seed producers
around, but certainly special be-
cause we are a farm that, on top of
producing and transforming its own
crops into foodstuffs (flour, pasta), is
also producing certified seed of ce-
Business name: real populations.
Azienda agricola Floriddia
Why are you producing organic
seed/PRM?
Location:
Peccioli, Pisa, Italy As a member of Rete Semi Rurali
(the Italian Seed Network) and as a
Area: farm with many links with our local
200 ha of which 13 ha devoted to organic farming community, we felt
organic heterogeneous material that there was a need for someone
seed production to take on the challenge of produc-
ing enough quantity of quality seed
Crops: of cultivars that were suitable for
cereals, legumes and green organic cultivation and that could
manures provide products of high nutritional
value and digestibility8. We initially
Turnover: started using local varieties of du-
€ 700k rum and bread wheat, then moved
on to using populations. These have
the added value of offering good
Employees:
yield stability year after year, which
9
makes us optimistic in relation to the
challenges posed by climate change.
Website: During our journey from trialling
https://www.ilmulinoapietra.com/ unusual local varieties, to becom-
8 See: Dinu, et al. “Ancient wheat species and human health: Biochemical and clinical implications”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095528631730035915
ing a licenced seed producer of ce- bine harvester and a mill with a
real populations, we realised the modern grain seed cleaning plant.
importance of becoming legitimate All we had to do really, was to in-
owners of our own seed. Producing tensify our quality and plant health
certified seed represents a strategic controls in the field prior to harvest
goal for us: when your value chain is and setting up the administrative
based on certified seed, nobody can side of the seed company to fulfil the
challenge the legitimacy of its use requirements.
and question the products derived
What would your advice be for
from it. This applies both to our own
someone who wishes to become a
business, and that of the farms that
seed producer?
buy our seed.
My advice is directed to other farm-
When did you start?
ers, who may have the right set-up
The first production of certified seed to becoming a seed company for the
of a bread wheat population9 start- production of organic heterogene-
ed in 2017 with the backup and ous material. Before even thinking of
support of the organic seed compa- starting, look around and evaluate
ny Arcoiris. In 2019 we obtained the if there is a real need or gap in your
seed producing licence, becoming community or network for certified
a seed company. However, we’ve seed. If that gap is there, one can
been experimenting and producing think of starting this journey, oth-
our own seed for over 15 years. In erwise there is no need to replicate
2005 we started introducing local what professional companies are al-
varieties in our value chain, and in ready doing.
2010 we acquired the first wheat
What are you most proud of?
and barley populations.
The feeling of having reclaimed a
Is it economically viable? Or which
small portion of freedom. Knowing
other benefits do you see in pro-
that I have my own certified seed
ducing organic seed/PRM?
gives me a sense of financial secu-
The economic advantages of be- rity and a great reason of pride. I am
coming a seed producer are two- also proud of the acknowledgement
fold: we don’t have to buy certified and recognition received from pub-
seed elsewhere, and we make some lic bodies and research institutions
profit selling a quality product for a during this process. We were very
good price. In our case we can say pleased to see that seed certifying
that the production of seed is finan- body CREA-DC had a genuine inter-
cially viable and contributes a small est in our work.
additional profit to the overall farm
What are your plans for the future?
budget. However, increasing the
farm’s revenue wasn’t our primary The recent Covid-19 emergency
goal. What we want is to foster a highlighted the positive role that ag-
community-based model of agricul- riculture can and should play in the
ture, as opposed to the dominating transition of our food systems from
global materialism. Our farm gains an industrial to a localised model.
enormously from becoming self-suf- Using seed that works in synergy
ficient with relation to seed, a vitally with nature brings many benefits to
strategic objective for us. our society. Being able to produce
food which is good for our health
What are the main success factors? using considerably less energy, is a
In our case, it’s important to clari- strong incentive to strengthen our
fy that we didn’t have to make any communities and move toward in-
capital investments to become seed creased self-sufficiency at local level.
producers. We already had a com-
9 Created at the International Centre for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in 2009 by Salvatore
Ceccarelli and Stefania Grando and introduced in Italy in 2010 during EU FP7 SOLIBAM project. The
population was registered as part of 2014/150/EU as “SOLIBAM tenero Floriddia”.16
5. Organic potato production by
Agrico potato giant
Interview with Daniël Slegers, account manager
at the Agrico cooperative, The Netherlands
From the mid-eighties, Agrico started its first breeding program on
Late Blight resistant potato varieties, resulting in a first commercial
variety in 2008. This was the basis for the company’s current
leading position with resistant and well performing varieties for
the organic market and the chip and crisp sector.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach unique?
Daniël’s work focuses on the sale
of organic potatoes for table potato
production. In the Netherlands, po-
tato breeding companies organize
the production of their seed potatoes
in so-called pools with seed potato
farmers. In these pools, production
and market risks are levelled. The
account manager strives to obtain
the best overall seed potato price
that is paid to all participating farm-
Business name: ers at the end of the sales season.
Agrico
The Dutch system in which variety
development, seed production and
Location:
seed sales are integrated is unique
Emmeloord, The Netherlands
in the world and one of the success
Area: factors for the potato industry in the
14,000 ha seed potato (250 country. Amongst the Dutch potato
ha organic) and 2000 ha ware companies, Agrico is the only coop-
potatoes (500 ha organic) erative owned by seed producers
themselves. Furthermore, Agrico has
Crops: a strong position in the consumers’
Seed potatoes, including Next market thanks to subsidiaries and
Generation blight resistant participations.
cultivars Why are you producing organic
seed/PRM?
Scope:
Cooperative with 900+ members The market for organic table pota-
(ware and seed potato growers). toes is rapidly growing, also in the
Has its own packing station and Netherlands. Agrico occupies about
research branch (Agrico Research) 40% of the organic market share
thanks to a good portfolio of vari-
Employees: eties which meet consumers’ de-
100 in NL and 200+ in subsidiaries mands. For Daniël, it is a pleasure
in 8 countries to work on behalf of very dedicated
and knowledgeable organic seed
Website: producers and in close contact with
https://en.agrico.nl/ customers and farmers.17
When did you start? varieties under an organic label. This
Agrico was established back in approach caught international at-
1973 as a merger of 3 cooperatives. tention and has been copied in Bel-
It started developing varieties for gium already. Company-wise, short
organic farming already in the late communication lines and chain in-
eighties, resulting in the first Late tegration are other success factors;
Blight resistant variety ‘Toluca’ in Daniël is also involved in production
2008. planning, monitoring of quality and
quantity of (stored) potatoes and
Is it economically viable? Or which logistics.
other benefits do you see in pro-
ducing organic seed/PRM? What are you most proud of?
The main determinant of economic Daniël is proud to work for a large
viability is the final seed potato price player in the market and the ‘just
that is achieved for the producers’ do it’ mentality. Working in the or-
pool. The average gross margin for ganic sector is very fulfilling, as for-
growing organic seed potato is com- ward-thinking, sustainability and
petitive amongst the crops which economy come together.
compose a typical Dutch organic What are your plans for the future?
crop rotation. Another aspect is that
varieties for organic farming provide To have at least one robust, resist-
more certainty, as they are typically ant variety for each segment of the
Late Blight resistant and more resil- organic market, that is productive
ient to unfavourable growing condi- under a wide range of conditions.
tions. To date Agrico provides potato va-
rieties for cooking, both firm (waxy)
What are the main success factors?
and mealy (starchy) types, as well as
What would your advice be for
a resistant crisp variety. A major trait
someone who wishes to become a
of a robust variety is a durable Late
seed producer?
Blight resistance that holds under
Success starts with a good variety, heavy infestation pressure. In the fu-
capable of growing under a wide ture, Agrico only wants to have du-
range of favourable and unfavour- rable resistance, based on ‘stacked’
able conditions and for which there combinations of resistance genes
is a demand in multiple countries. within one variety. The greatest
Another unique success factor in challenge is to develop organic va-
the Netherlands is the agreement rieties for the crisps and French fries
between breeders, growers, traders industries, as the specifications are
and supermarkets to sell only ‘ro- skin-tight and the monetary returns
bust’ (resistant and resilient) potato for the processor is what counts.18
6. A leading seed company with
‘organic blood’ in its veins
Interview with Marcel van Diemen, breeder
at Vitalis Organic Seeds, the Netherlands
Vitalis is the world market leader in the development and
production of organic vegetable seed. The company operates
along the whole organic seed chain, from breeding to marketing
and sales. Vitalis is growing rapidly: the worldwide increasing
demand for healthy, organic food fits in seamlessly with the high-
quality organic vegetable varieties that Vitalis has in its portfolio.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach
unique?
Marcel van Diemen is a breeder of
winter squash and leafy crops (let-
tuce, endive and spinach). Vita-
lis’ unique approach is to develop
Business name: organic varieties which serve the
Vitalis Organic Seeds (part of needs of local markets and short
Enza Zaden group)
vegetable value chains. For this,
Headquarters location: Marcel has ‘organic’ colleagues all
Voorst, The Netherlands over the world.
Employees: Why are you producing organic
35 (at headquarters) seed/PRM?
Crops: The Vitalis team is convinced that
Vegetable seed organic farming can have a huge
Production: role both in feeding the world and
The organic seed production is in taking care of our planet to the
carried out through contracts benefit of future generations. Or-
with third parties in the EU ganic breeding and seed production
(Netherlands, Denmark, Italy), enable the growth of the organic
North and South America, Asia farming sector by providing strong,
and New-Zealand. resilient varieties and high-quality
seed, which are perfectly adapted to
Breeding:
organic growing conditions.
Vitalis currently breeds several
leafy crops, cucurbits and leek. When did you start?
The portfolio of organic varieties,
however, is much broader. The The founder of Vitalis, Jan Velema,
varieties with the best resistance together with Edith Lammerts van
and a strong root system are Bueren, Emeritus professor of Or-
selected from the Enza Zaden ganic Plant Breeding at Wagenin-
breeding programmes. These gen University, made the first plans
varieties are then tested under to start organic breeding in the
strict organic conditions, before Netherlands in the early nineties,
the production of organic seed for based on the evident lack of regis-
the market starts. tered vegetable varieties specifically
Website: suited for organic farming. In 1994,
https://eu.biovitalis.eu/ Vitalis Organic Seeds was founded,19
based on the grounds of an organ- rate, seed vigour, disease incidence,
ic farm site with fertile soils in the and other quality traits.
centre of the country. In 1998, Vita-
What are you most proud of?
lis joined the Enza Zaden vegetable
breeding company. Marcel started Working for a fantastic company
as a breeder at Enza Zaden in 1991 with the broadest organic vegeta-
and moved to Vitalis by 2011. ble seed portfolio in the world and
an excellent reputation is a reason
Is it economically viable? Or which
for pride. In an interview, a Vita-
other benefits do you see in pro-
lis customer once mentioned that
ducing organic seed/PRM?
he trusted that “Vitalis makes the
For sure it is economically viable; right choices regarding new breed-
look at the increasing worldwide de- ing techniques”. This appreciation is
mand for healthy, organic food. This another important point to be proud
drives our growth rates in terms of of, and we need to work hard to pre-
organic seed sales. Unfortunately, serve such a relationship of trust.
the market for organic products in Good communication is key in this
the Netherlands is lagging behind respect.
those of Spain, Germany, France or
What are your plans for the future?
the US. Besides being economically
viable, organic seed production has In terms of our own company, since
a lot of other benefits for our planet, we are growing, our seed clean-
starting with less plant protection ing and packaging facilities will be
products used even in the seed pro- moved close to the Enza Zaden plant
duction phase. At the end of the day, in Enkhuizen. In more general terms,
it is a highly satisfying endeavour. we are observing more and more or-
ganic growers wishing to enter the
What are the main success factors?
organic market. Thanks to this, the
What would your advice be for
organic seed sector will also grow
someone who wishes to become a
from a niche to a large-scale market,
seed producer?
increasing the volumes of organic
Be confident and just do it! Also, seed available and bringing prices
good partners and clients are es- down. To further support the devel-
sential to allow optimal positioning opment of the organic sector, much
on the market. These are the most more institutional research should
important pieces of advice for es- be conducted. However, as it stands,
tablishing a successful breeding no professor for organic plant breed-
and seed production program. In ing has been reappointed at Wage-
addition to breeding and reproduc- ningen university. This results in a
ing good-performing varieties, seed very sparse research effort for the
quality should also be the highest organic sector, compared to the con-
possible, in terms of germination ventional one.20
7. On-farm apple breeding by
non-profit organization Poma Culta
Interview with Niklaus Bolliger, breeder and founder of
Poma Culta, Switzerland
As a biodynamic fruit farmer, Niklaus Bolliger was looking for
new possibilities to create high performing varieties, which did
not require high inputs for pest control. In other words, he was
selecting and crossbreeding for cultivars which could meet the
high quality standards of the market, while also being robust and
healthy.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach unique?
I do on-farm apple breeding only,
since my opinion is that selection
and breeding should take place
within the plants’ actual growth en-
vironment. I also believe that seed-
lings should not be treated with
pesticides. This helps to identify the
seedlings that will prove themselves
in practice. After two years of culti-
vation, you can already appreciate,
in a holistic perspective, how suitable
an apple variety is. After that, I start
with minimal pesticide treatment
(Myco-Sin and bicarbonate without
Organisation name: any sulphur - I do not use copper or
Poma Culta sulphur because of personal and po-
litical conviction). This is also when
Località: I begin the second selection stage:
4577 Hessigkofen (Switzerland) 2-20% of the seedlings will come to
fruit. I can judge the fruits and their
Area: storability. Only 5% will reach the
15 ha organic vegetable and fruit third selection stage, where I assess
farm with livestock (of this 1 ha is many agronomic parameters such
reserved for breeding and 0,5 ha as tree growth, yield, robustness of
for fruit production) the variety, etc.
Turnover: Why are you producing organic
€ 400 k seed/PRM?
Crops: The quantity of pesticides that was
fruit and vegetable crops necessary to produce fruit for the
Employees: market simply felt wrong, and led
5 full-time employees (2 of them me to believe that this could not be
are family members) the ecologically correct way to pro-
duce food. Hence, we needed to de-
Website: velop robust varieties to reduce the
https://pomaculta.org/en/ burden on the environment.
pomaculta/21
When did you start? What are the main success factors?
What would your advice be for
My wife Regula Bolliger-Flury and
someone who wishes to become a
I have managed the biodynam-
seed producer?
ic vegetable and fruit farm Rigi
since 1985. In the late 90s, I start- It is very important to do the breed-
ed selecting and crossbreeding. The ing in the crops’ natural growth en-
non-profit organisation Poma Culta vironments. I am trying to reduce the
was founded in 2004 to support my time the seedlings are grown OUT of
efforts to breed new apple varieties their natural environment (e.g. in the
and in general, to promote research greenhouse), as much as possible.
into biodynamic fruit breeding. In I conduct all selection phases out-
2017 I was able to plant 20 trees of doors. Another advice I would give
6 varieties in different locations for is to start out with as many seed-
further testing. I would describe two lings as possible. I grow 4.000 seed-
of these varieties as excellent and lings per year and think that 10.000
two as average. The remaining two seedlings are the maximum. Every-
have been replaced with other vari- one needs to find their own balance.
eties, as I was not happy with their However, one must be aware that
performance. only 2-20% of these seedlings will
come to fruit and only 5% of them
Is it economically viable? Or which
will reach the second phase of selec-
other benefits do you see in pro-
tion. That’s the reason why I prefer
ducing organic seed/PRM?
to start with many seedlings.
I am financing the apple breeding
with around 20% revenue from my What are you most proud of?
own farm and around 80% with I am proud of my breeding lines: they
funding from Poma Culta. In the first all have really good pulp quality and
year, when Poma Culta was estab- are also robust and genetically di-
lished, it provided around € 20k and verse.
today, 15 years later, it is around €
What are your plans for the future?
200k. However, Poma Culta was not
only helpful with funding my breed- We have just recently applied for
ing work; it also brought together public funding for a pear breeding
many people sharing a similar inter- project. It will be nice to expand our
est, who helped me in many other work on a different fruit species,
ways. while of course continuing our apple
breeding program.22
8. Fungus-resistant grapevine breeding
Collaboration across the Swiss/German border -
Interview with Klaus Rummel, with contributions
from Valentin Blattner and Volker Freytag
This joint adventure of three pioneers wishes to achieve one
goal: environmental-friendly wine production using PIWIs (Pil-
zwiderstandsfähige Rebsorten in German, i.e. fungus-resistant
grapevine varieties). Their activities consist in crossbreeding and
strengthening natural resistance, with the aim of reducing the use
of plant protection agents to the minimum.
Could you please describe your
work with organic seed or other
plant reproductive material (PRM)?
What makes your approach unique?
I am engaged in fungus-resistant
grapevine breeding with two col-
leagues: Valentin Blattner, a breed-
er and viticulturist from Switzerland,
and Volker Freytag, a transplant
grower from nearby. We collaborate
closely and share responsibilities.
The PIWIs are our joint adventure.
Valentin Blattner does the cross-
breeding and first selection. Promis-
ing cultivars are then cultivated and
further tested at Rebschule Freytag.
Volker Freytag also does the multi-
plication and grafting. I am respon-
sible for the winemaking, marketing
and sales. Something I want to clar-
Place: ify is that a PIWI variety is not 100%
76829 Landau-Nussdorf resistant to fungi. They are fungus
(Germany) tolerant, within a context of moder-
ate fungus management. Fungi can
Area: break tolerances over time. If you
15 ha want to preserve and maintain the
crossbred resistance of the grape-
Turnover: vine variety, you need a moderate
€ 650k plant protection management. The
intensity of the management de-
Crops:
30 different grapevine varieties pends on the variety, its genetics,
(white and red), 15 of them are the annual weather conditions, etc.
PIWIs Nevertheless, you must be careful to
reduce fungal pressure since there is
Employees: a possibility that the fungi will by-
5 full-time employees (3 of them pass the resistances.
are family members)
Why are you producing organic
Website: seed/PRM?
https://rummel-biowein.de/ We are doing this work because of
weingut/ my own and our collective convic-23
tion. When I took over the vineyards I would say no, we are not viable. In
from my father, I decided to grow other words, if you are too lazy to
the grapevines organically and at educate consumers, you shouldn’t
the same time my interest in fun- cultivate PIWIs. But with PIWIs we
gus-resistant varieties grew. I knew have much better yield stability and
that the commonly used grapevine we have more freedom, in terms of
varieties would not have worked for not being so heavily dependent on
me. They bear a high risk of fungus tight spraying times. Grapevine is
infestation, which can be avoided a very expensive crop to breed and
only by applying high amounts of therefore is normally the task of
pesticides and copper. The environ- public institutions. However, we did
mental impact is tremendous and I our breeding work on our own and
did not want to go down that path. financed it privately. We were and
I knew that breeding would allow us still are pioneers of the PIWI breed-
to seek and find naturally resistant ing and invest what we have avail-
varieties that would not need chem- able. Our team has been successful
icals and still result in high-quality for many years now.
wine. Back then, people laughed at
What are the main success factors?
me and did not think that I would be
What would your advice be for
successful. However, I never doubt-
someone who wishes to become a
ed my idea and knew that this is the
seed producer?
right way for me, the environment
and future generations. For my part, I would say that soft
skills are particularly important, es-
When did you start?
pecially for persuading consumers.
In 1986, when I took over the busi- You must be eloquent, ambitious and
ness from my father. positive about what you do. There is
no master plan.
Is it economically viable? Or which
other benefits do you see in pro- What are you most proud of?
ducing organic seed/PRM?
Of making it this far! Looking back
It would probably be more eco- to 33 years ago, I wouldn’t have
nomically profitable to grow Pinot thought we would be so successful.
Gris, Riesling, Pinot Blanc or Pinot
What are your plans for the future?
Noir – the common varieties that
sell like hot cakes and do not need Well, there are plans to pursue the
any explanation to consumers. If I 20% organic farming target, in viti-
consider the higher economic ex- culture as well. I would say this is a
penditures for consumer education positive prospect.
and the increased marketing effort,BOOSTING ORGANIC SEED AND PLANT
BREEDING ACROSS EUROPE
Duration: 4 years (2017 – 2021) Budget: 7.5m EUR
Project coordinator: IFOAM OE from the European Union &
Scientific coordinator: FiBL-CH 1.5m EUR from Switzerland
LIVESEED is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 under
grant agreement No. 727230 and by the Swiss State Secretariat
for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract
number 17.00090. The information provided reflects the views
of the authors. The Research Executive Agency or SERI are not
responsible for any use that may be made of the information
www.liveseed.eu provided.You can also read
