To evaluate the status quo, the project carried out for the first time a comprehensive data analysis on the current supply and demand of seed used in organic farming in the EU and Switzerland. This exercise revealed several bottlenecks in data availability and transparency, and we made recommendations on increasing the quality of the data collection on organic seed production and use in the EU. A study on the functionality of the obligatory national seed databases was also carried out and found large differences across the EU with some common shortcomings. To increase the transparency and the access of seed suppliers to the national seed databases, LIVESEED developed an EU-wide Router Database (seeds4organic.eu) where national authorities can evaluate seed offers from abroad and export them to their national databases, while seed suppliers can place offers in many EU countries using a single entry. The project, furthermore, organised extensive consultations, national visits and workshops involving twenty-one EU Member States to learn about the national implementation of the EU Organic Regulation, collecting transferable good policy practices that support the production and use of organic seed and gaining insight into political obstacles. These showed that to succeed, it is crucial to limit the derogations, set up national seed expert groups that developing national roadmaps to achieve 100% organic seed supply for crops and to invest in organic seed production, variety trials and organic breeding. Research in LIVESEED involving 800 farmers across the EU confirmed that organic breeding of locally adapted varieties and in general, breeding for organic farming was considered the most important by farmers to boost organic seed use.
For the promotion and professionalisation of organic seed production by farmers, LIVESEED organised cross-visits, published 65 Practice Abstracts, and created new sections for disseminating practical know-how on the Organic Farm-Knowledge Platform. To improve the quality of organic seed, and to respond to the remaining challenges of seed-borne pathogens and seed production, LIVESEED developed a new holistic organic seed health strategy, which takes into account the broader environment and the entire seed cycle, and includes seed vigour, maturity and pathogens, plant and seed microbiome, and several aspects related to seed processing and storing. The project developed crop-specific guidelines for on-farm and official cultivar testing (DUS and VCU), and made several recommendations on the upcoming EU Temporary Experiment for Organic Varieties (Art.39 EU 2018/848), and helped interpret the new types of organic plant reproductive materials. These processes speed up the release of organic varieties to the market. The project explored concepts for increased diversity through field trials with Composite Cross and Dynamic Populations, variety mixtures, species mixtures and agroforestry, and participatory approaches, creating partnerships between breeders, farmers, value chain actors, consumers at the local level. A wide variety of new organic cultivars were released from these activities, which are adapted to local and climatic conditions. The project built crop expert networks for white lupin, brassicas, apple, winter wheat, and tomato. We explored via economic modelling exercises selected organic seed supply chains and researched the attitudes of consumers on new genomic techniques.
With its multi-actor approach, LIVESEED disseminated results to several stakeholder groups, via over XXX scientific and non-scientific workshops, meetings, conferences, field farm days, policy forums, and through the creation and dissemination of over 150 practical and scientific materials and reports, via the extensive LIVESEED website, open repositories (OrgEPrints, Zenodo), social media, and an EU-wide stakeholder platform. Results were exploited as new services and products (e.g. Router Database), the release of several new breeding materials, and new research projects and academic positions.
