IFOAM Conference on Organic Animal and Plant Breeding

The international Conference on Organic Animal and Plant Breeding was held at the end of August 2009. It was the first conference of its kind and was organised by IFOAM, the umbrella organisation of organic farming associations worldwide. The representatives of traditional breeding companies, organic farming associations and experts in organic seed and breeding assembled in Santa Fe in New Mexico (USA). (Picture: Klaus-Peter Wilbois, FiBL Germany; participants at the conference)
Globally, organic breeding does not play a significant role. De facto, most of the big breeding companies are not involved in organic agriculture, let alone specialists in this field. Moreover, a clear distinction between organic and conventional breeding is impossible because there is a lack of standards. In the case of organic plant and animal breeding there are no clear aims, definitions or guidelines that can be verified by inspectors. So the step taken by IFOAM to unite the worldwide organic farming community regarding this complex but basic issue is all the more remarkable. Players in organic agriculture have so far agreed on one thing only, namely their rejection of genetic modification which is, however, not a question of breeding but of a bundle of increasingly widespread laboratory techniques that are used in the context of breeding programmes and elsewhere. (Picture: Workshop on organic vegetable breeding)

There is much more clarity in the case of the propagation and use of organic seed! However, according to European law (Organic Seed Regulation: EG/1452/2003), seed is regarded as organic if it is propagated once under organic farming conditions. Provided the species and variety is available, organic farmers are obliged to use organic seed, and the databank  OrganicXSeeds means that availability can be checked. Current European legislation does not address the development/breeding of varieties or the preservation of varieties at all. However, in Germany there is a blacklist of CMS hybrids from protoplast fusion that is mandatory for members of the farming associations Bioland, Demeter,Gäa, Naturland and the Verbund Ökohöfe.

Matthew Dillon from the Organic Seed Alliance Washington said at the conference that he did not expect to see this kind of action in the USA in the next ten years. He pointed out that the discussion about bringing breeding methods into line with the principles of organic agriculture was far more advanced in Europe than in the USA. He specifically praised the farsightedness and commitment he could see in the “old world” and admitted that farmers and market growers in the USA were a long way behind. There was much more awareness of organic seed and legislation in west Europe than in Africa, Asia and America. Dillon said that the use of organic seed was still not an issue for US American organic farmers and growers. For them the priority was not to treat seed with synthetic chemical dressing agents. (Picture: Conference breaks: opportunity for discussion and information)

For many representatives of organic farming in countries in the south, the prescription to use mainly organic seed is seen as a threat. They fear that they will have to use organically propagated seed from mainstream varieties at the expense of local varieties that have in many cases been preserved and adapted to local conditions by generations of small farmers, and this would reduce biodiversity in agriculture. There is no doubt that their worries are unfounded, because in all cases the rules allow for exceptions in favour of farmers’ own seed, and using your own harvested seed on an organic farm is always a way of ensuring the availability of organic seed. But, in these countries, there is a much closer, even spiritual relationship with seed as the source of the next harvest. And at the same time, experience of multinational seed companies, sometimes employing very dubious business methods, is often devastating, because centuries-old cultural practices are lost forever.

Representatives from the countries in the south stated repeatedly that the biodiversity maintained in agriculture by using different traditional local seed varieties (characterised by low homogeneity, robust growth and suitability for saving and re-using) was fundamental to the peasant agriculture commonly found there. Against this background, the issue of the right to save and re-use seed, the right of the farmer to use his own seed and the breeder’s privilege is regarded as fundamental and sacrosanct, however contentious it is in Europe or the USA, or is circumvented by sterile hybrids and later by G.M. varieties. (Picture: Excursion to Seeds of Change)

The presentation by the firm KWS-AG was somewhat disconcerting - it’s true it is doing excellent research (for example into fodder maize) on its organically run monastic estate Wiebrechtshausen near Göttingen, but not a word was said about its big, in fact much bigger, area of operations, namely gene technology. This notwithstanding, in view of the manifold requirements of organic cropping, an unequivocally defined commitment to organic agriculture is urgently required – including from conventional firms.

This does not, however, mean “greenwashing” and diverting attention from the issues that could one day be the death knell of organic farming. Thus, Fred van de Crommert, organic seed representative of the firm Bejo, presented his company’s commitment as follows: testing conventional varieties under organic agriculture conditions and, if suitable, organic propagation of these varieties. This has been Bejo’s strategy in recent years, and this will be continued in future. Jan Velema from Vitalis explained the work involved in horizontal resistances in lettuce. Resistance breeding in general – both conventional and organic – is facing new challenges. In dealing with this issue, organic farming seems to be in the lead regarding vegetable breeding as a whole. (Picture: Various breeding lines of carrot)

Outside Germany and Europe, some breeding work is also carried out at universities or in state-run institutions, and there has to be potential here for extending organic breeding programmes. We should not forget the many contributions farmers worldwide make to preserving and increasing on-farm diversity of plants and animals. On the other hand, participatory approaches, with farmers collaborating with scientific breeders or firms, are the exception.

Summary: Organic breeding of plants and animals is still in its infancy – the pioneer work of individual initiatives will no doubt inspire further development. Thus, since last year there has been a guideline on organic-dynamic plant breeding, and as a result we now have a number of vegetable and cereal varieties from certified organic-dynamic breeding in the German-speaking region. This is, therefore, a clear indication of the key role that Europe is playing in the issue of seed and breeding.
(Picture: Excursion)

Participants at the IFOAM world conference in Modena/Italy in 2008 agreed the following statement regarding organic breeding. Building on these principles, further discussion should take place in Santa Fe. Statements by important players in Europe are documented in the annex: Bioland, Bingenheimer Satgut/Kultursaat e.V., Demeter, Eco-PB, FiBL, KWS.