FiBL, a Swiss organic research centre, and FiBL Europe bring together 37 organisations across 16 European countries to make organic from seed to plate a reality.
The LiveSeeding project, under the scientific coordination of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, focuses on enhancing organic seed and plant breeding to promote sustainable and diverse food systems in Europe. Recognising that seeds are the foundation of farming, LiveSeeding, as a 4-year Innovation Action focused on technology transfer and market uptake started in October 2022, aims to address the current lack of appropriate organic seeds and cultivars by tackling unsolved technical and socio-economic issues. The success of LiveSeeding notably hinges on the improved availability of organic seeds and resilient cultivars suited for organic production across a range of crops. Additionally, the project seeks to strengthen the organic seed sector by considering the fast-growing demand, regulatory settings, and the diverse development levels, governance models, and scales of initiatives and enterprises in their local contexts. The project is financed by several donors, including the European Commission, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), and the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) programme. Notable partners include the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (KIS), the Institut Technique de l’Agriculture Biologique in France (ITAB), the Ökológiai Mezőgazdasági Kutatóintézet in Hungary (ÖMKI), the Red de Ciudades por la Agroecologia in Spain (RCxAe), and IPS konzalting in Croatia (IPS). The project’s scientific coordination is secured by FiBL Switzerland while the FiBL Europe office in Brussels ensures the overall project coordination. “In this way there is an optimal division of tasks, where each team focuses on what we do best” says Mariano Iossa, LiveSeeding’s Project Coordinator. He adds “I really enjoy working with such a diverse partnership, bringing together researchers, breeders, examination offices and seed companies from 16 countries. A strong team spirit in the partnership helps us overcome challenges”.
With LiveSeeding, FiBL aims to address the underdeveloped organic seed market in Europe, which struggles with unresolved technical issues and limited capacity for breeding locally adapted cultivars suited for organic farming conditions. Currently, many organic farms still rely on conventional seeds and seedlings through derogations. This approach is suboptimal, as evidence suggests that selecting seeds under organic farming conditions and breeding for higher diversity improves local adaptation and resilience to various stresses. “Organic breeding is key to close the yield gap between organic and conventional farming, whilst maintaining genetic diversity and ecosystem functions”, explains Dr. sc agr. Monika Messmer, Crop Sciences Department Co-head and LiveSeeding Scientific Coordinator. “LiveSeeding provides science-based evidence and best practice solutions to help achieve 100% organic seed’s use in organic agriculture”, she points out.
The project addresses the complexity of the current lock-ins in the organic breeding and seed sector through a “PUSH-PULL-ENABLE” model. This model aims to enhance the availability and adequacy of organic seeds appropriate for organic farming (PUSH), increase and stabilise the market demand for these seeds (PULL), and foster an enabling policy and regulatory framework (ENABLE). In addition, the project also aims to improve skills and knowledge creation, promote the competitiveness of the organic seed and breeding sector, and ensure efficient scaling out and scaling up of organic seed and breeding initiatives. To achieve these goals, LiveSeeding has adopted a multi-actor, multi-stakeholder participatory approach involving partners from major actor groups in 16 countries covering different pedoclimatic zones and socio-economic contexts, including those with a low level of development in organic seed and breeding in Eastern and Southern Europe. These actors are integrated through 17 Living Labs (LLs) and 3 established networks of organic breeders (ECO-PB), seed savers (ECLLD) as well as cities engaged in sustainable urban food policies (Milan Urban Food Policy Pact – MUFPP), in which a co-created innovation approach is adopted and an innovative ICT-based citizen-science methodology is applied. “Social innovation is a key component of innovation in LiveSeeding” and “Living Labs are the space where all actors of the whole value chain, from breeders to consumers and citizens, come together and engage in co-creation, testing and also tasting. Ultimately, we want to change seeds and grow difference”, explains Dr Mariateresa Lazzaro, Co-leader of the Group Plant Breeding at FiBL Switzerland and LiveSeeding’s Scientific Coordinator.
LiveSeeding builds up on results and success of a previous project, LiveSeed coordinated by IFOAM OE and under the Scientific coordination of FiBL Switzerland. It aimed at improving the performance and competitiveness of the organic sector by boosting organic seed and plant breeding efforts. This initiative focused on harmonising the implementation of legislative requirements, developing an EU-wide router database tool for seed suppliers, improving cultivar testing systems, introducing novel breeding concepts and selection tools, and addressing institutional, legal, technical, scientific, and socio-economic barriers to organic seed availability; laying the groundwork for the ongoing LiveSeeding project. The innovative multi-actor and -action research approach of LiveSeed ensured a broad and fast implementation of project outputs across Europe by targeting all dimensions impacting the use of organic seed, from breeding to seed availability, covering five main crop categories: legumes, vegetables, fruit trees, cereals, and fodder crops.
LiveSeed’s key objectives included providing a level playing field regarding the use of organic seed across Europe, increasing the volume and quality of organic seeds derived from cultivars suited for organic farming, accelerating the breeding process and adoption of new cultivars, improving the competitiveness of the organic seed sector, enhancing the greater uptake of organic seed, and promoting seed and breeding-related innovation in the organic sector. The project involved 49 organisations and over 30 stakeholders from 18 European countries, including researchers, breeders, seed producers, organic associations, and retailers. It also developed a range of recommendations for policymakers to increase the availability and use of organic seed considerably by 2036. These recommendations included establishing or extending organic seed expert groups in Member States, developing national roadmaps towards 100% organic seed use, and setting clear targets and deadlines for derogations. The establishment of national seed expert groups is crucial for involving stakeholders in organic seed policy and creating support for stricter derogation measures. These groups can advise national authorities on implementing organic seed regulations, discuss how to increase production and use of organic seed, make recommendations on crop classification for non-derogation lists, and stimulate public research and breeding programs for organic varieties.
These two consecutive initiatives are playing an important role in advancing organic farming in Europe by addressing the challenges in organic seed availability and breeding, while simultaneously promoting market uptake and creating an enabled policy environment. These projects also show the extensive potential of Swiss-EU cooperation in research and innovation by demonstrating the significant impact international partnerships can have in driving advancements by pooling resources, connecting transnational expertise, and bringing together innovative approaches across borders to drive a transition towards sustainable and diverse food systems in Europe. This example of cooperation underlines the importance of international R&I efforts in achieving common goals, such as advancing sustainable development and the value for both EU and Swiss R&I stakeholders and organisations to collaborate more closely together in order to tackle Europe’s most pressing societal and environmental challenges.