Periodic Reporting for period 1 - InnOBreed (Innovative Organic Fruit Breeding and uses)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31
The fruit sector exhibits a positive image and impacts the human healthy diets; in this context, there is an increasing demand for crop production free from synthetic pesticides, with a growing preference for organic products. However, organic fruit production systems are still highly dependent on inputs, particularly in plant protection. Consumer demand for organic fruits is constantly increasing; however, existing commercial cultivars frequently fail to meet this demand due to their lack of suitability for organic production. Most fruit breeding and selection processes that are still conducted in a high input paradigm need to be transformed to address organic challenges.
It is important to highlight that, whatever the cultivation system, the huge impacts of climatic change are already evident in perennial fruit species, raising substantial concerns due to the lack of comprehensive understanding of the impacts, and the absence of clearly identified solutions able to be applied to sustain the fruit production.
InnOBreed proposes to mobilise Innovative Solutions (ISs) (i.e. social innovations, participative breeding, new ideotypes, new methods, tools and models) for fostering organic fruit breeding. These ISs will be targeted and developed using multi-actor, multi-trait and impact-oriented approaches. They are focused on the evaluation and valorisation of Fruit Tree Genetic Resources, pre-breeding lines and advanced breeding material. InnOBreed aims to improve the whole Fruit sector by creating Organic Variety Testing and multi-stakeholder Networks, as well as fostering collaboration with existing initiatives (EUFRIN, ECPGR) with new indicators focused on reducing chemical inputs and improving adaptation to climatic changes.
It deals with
(i) the identification of current needs in Organic fruit Farming Systems (OFS), which implies the traits and methods not yet integrated into conventional evaluation systems on which InnOBreed will focus attention,
(ii) the collaborative design of new ideotypes tailored to suit local Organic Fruit Systems (OFS), by identifying the mandatory traits to incorporate and their prioritization,
(iii) the identification of relevant available ISs, through the assessment of a synthetic picture of the methodologies, the markers, the genetic resources under study to evaluate their interest in breeding and evaluation processes,
(iv) the collaborative development of new ISs targeted onto climate change, fruit quality, pests and diseases tolerance, low input fitness and robustness, which means ensuring the development of methodologies for assessing these traits of interest through direct and indirect measurements, while also incorporating the influence of all actors and their organizational structure within the new frame of social innovation,
(v) the ISs testing, validation and implementation by several case-studies in different regions,
(vi) the evaluation of the sustainability of ISs and their consistency with the present regulatory framework,
(vii) the development of new business models based on organic-related value propositions.
Particular attention will be paid to assess direct and indirect project impacts along with strategies to optimize the impacts themselves. InnOBreed will, therefore, facilitate the collaborative development and implementation of nature-based solutions that enhance societal well-being.
It is important to highlight that, whatever the cultivation system, the huge impacts of climatic change are already evident in perennial fruit species, raising substantial concerns due to the lack of comprehensive understanding of the impacts, and the absence of clearly identified solutions able to be applied to sustain the fruit production.
InnOBreed proposes to mobilise Innovative Solutions (ISs) (i.e. social innovations, participative breeding, new ideotypes, new methods, tools and models) for fostering organic fruit breeding. These ISs will be targeted and developed using multi-actor, multi-trait and impact-oriented approaches. They are focused on the evaluation and valorisation of Fruit Tree Genetic Resources, pre-breeding lines and advanced breeding material. InnOBreed aims to improve the whole Fruit sector by creating Organic Variety Testing and multi-stakeholder Networks, as well as fostering collaboration with existing initiatives (EUFRIN, ECPGR) with new indicators focused on reducing chemical inputs and improving adaptation to climatic changes.
It deals with
(i) the identification of current needs in Organic fruit Farming Systems (OFS), which implies the traits and methods not yet integrated into conventional evaluation systems on which InnOBreed will focus attention,
(ii) the collaborative design of new ideotypes tailored to suit local Organic Fruit Systems (OFS), by identifying the mandatory traits to incorporate and their prioritization,
(iii) the identification of relevant available ISs, through the assessment of a synthetic picture of the methodologies, the markers, the genetic resources under study to evaluate their interest in breeding and evaluation processes,
(iv) the collaborative development of new ISs targeted onto climate change, fruit quality, pests and diseases tolerance, low input fitness and robustness, which means ensuring the development of methodologies for assessing these traits of interest through direct and indirect measurements, while also incorporating the influence of all actors and their organizational structure within the new frame of social innovation,
(v) the ISs testing, validation and implementation by several case-studies in different regions,
(vi) the evaluation of the sustainability of ISs and their consistency with the present regulatory framework,
(vii) the development of new business models based on organic-related value propositions.
Particular attention will be paid to assess direct and indirect project impacts along with strategies to optimize the impacts themselves. InnOBreed will, therefore, facilitate the collaborative development and implementation of nature-based solutions that enhance societal well-being.
The InnOBreed project successfully united stakeholders in the Organic Fruit value chain to enhance organic fruit breeding in Europe. Key achievements include mapping the current state of organic fruit production, developing new breeding methodologies, and devising innovative phenotyping techniques. The project also established harmonized descriptors of genetic resources important for organic fruit production and engaged stakeholders through national and EU stakeholder groups. The First Annual Meeting provided a platform to review progress and plan future activities. The work performed is extensively described in Part B.
The main results issued from the first period are
- An actualized vision of the Needs and Gaps of Organic Fruit Breeding and Evaluation was obtained from the survey conducted at the first beginning of the project. It induced an adjustment of the organization of the whole project.
- A clear, technical-based identification of the traits that have to be integrated within the descriptor list by crop and their prioritization. Harmonized protocols to address these traits were established. These elements will be proposed by the InnOBreed partners to the EUFRIN evaluation network and ECPGR groups.
- An identification of a list of Innovations (methods, markers), suitable for the characterization of fruit cultivars and breeding populations. They will be validated at a demonstration scale by the case studies.
- The implementation at large scale of NIRs indirect methodologies for accessing fruit quality traits in different species. That will give an opportunity for early addressing fruit quality traits in breeding and selection phases and enhance the expected quality value for the consumer.
- An effective definition and measurement of social innovations, that will be particularly useful for addressing the pathway of impact of biotechnical innovation for the end users
- An actualized vision of the Needs and Gaps of Organic Fruit Breeding and Evaluation was obtained from the survey conducted at the first beginning of the project. It induced an adjustment of the organization of the whole project.
- A clear, technical-based identification of the traits that have to be integrated within the descriptor list by crop and their prioritization. Harmonized protocols to address these traits were established. These elements will be proposed by the InnOBreed partners to the EUFRIN evaluation network and ECPGR groups.
- An identification of a list of Innovations (methods, markers), suitable for the characterization of fruit cultivars and breeding populations. They will be validated at a demonstration scale by the case studies.
- The implementation at large scale of NIRs indirect methodologies for accessing fruit quality traits in different species. That will give an opportunity for early addressing fruit quality traits in breeding and selection phases and enhance the expected quality value for the consumer.
- An effective definition and measurement of social innovations, that will be particularly useful for addressing the pathway of impact of biotechnical innovation for the end users