Training & teaching materials

In the frame of - LET’S LIBERATE DIVERSITY! Forum, DUBLIN, 26/27/28th October 2023 - ECO-PB organised the workshop "Multi-actor culinary breeding methodologies: from theory to practical examples in Europe".
ECO-PB supported the participation of six young professionals in organic breeding and seed production for their participation. Four experts were invited to present their work and experiences with multi-actor culinary breeding methodologies.

• Category: Plant breeding
• Institution: ECO-PB
• Author: Lazzaro, Mariateresa und Petitti, Matteo
• Location: Dublin, Ireland
• Relation: LiveSeeding
• Year: 2023
• Crop group: Cereals, Vegetables
• Language: English

EU LiveSeeding webinar “Entrepreneurship in the organic seeds and breeding sector” was implemented during 13 and 14 December 2023. This webinar was the first in a series of online training activities focusing on EU-level aspects to strengthen the organic seed and plant breeding entrepreneurship. Presentations and discussion during the webinar was focused on:

• organic seeds and breeding ecosystem in Europe
• updates on the EU Seed legislation revision
• business planning and entrepreneurship in the organic seeds and breeding sector
• how to pitch a business idea to potential funders and donors
• opportunities in public and private funding for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
• successful business strategies from existing SME

• Category: Seed production, Plant breeding
• Author: Carrascosa, Maria; Maričić, Dora; Zintl, Maria; Špicnagel, Ana-Marija; Fabbri, Federico; Martinez, Pilar; Colmenares, Ricardo; Olaziregi Alberdi, Irati und Rossmanith, Gebhard
• Location: Online
• Relation: LiveSeeding
• Year: 2023
• Language: English

The Tomato Seed Production Guide includes the history of tomatoes, the various types and fruit colors, as well as the tomato lifecycle and biology. The guide was developed by Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) and Tomato Organic Management and Improvement Project (TOMI) partners to help growers produce organic tomato seed.

• Category: Seed production
• Institution: Organic Seed Alliance (OSA)
• Author: Laurie McKenzie & Jared Zystro
• Year: 2021
• Crop group: Vegetables
• Language: English

The Seed Economics Toolkit helps organic seed growers and seed enterprises understand the economics of organic seed production. The toolkit entails budgeting spreadsheets, inventory management, and foundation and stock seed planning. The entire toolkit was developed by Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) in partnership with agricultural economists at Highland Economics – experienced professionals who understand the importance of a farm budget and production plan.

• Category: Seed production
• Institution: Organic Seed Alliance (OSA)
• Year: 2021
• Language: English

The training material is aimed at farmers, breeders and advisors in the EU to improve their crop evaluation skills to enhance farmer selection and seed production efforts in PPB for wheat, soybean, potato and buckwheat.
Some of the training material will be distributed to participants and/or can be used for presentations at training events or meetings. It will be translated into different languages for meeting the target groups’ needs (e.g. farmers).
The document is divided into basic information and chapters with field sheets for each crop for data collection.
Farmers conducting the trials and participants in the training courses will also receive some materials from the phenotypic data management system (DMS) for partners, in particular images for scoring/evaluation.

• Category: Plant breeding
• Institution: NATUR, UNITUS, UNEW, KIS, CRI
• Author: Werner Vogt-Kaute, Janina Herrmann, Susanne Fittje, Sophie Egerer, Paul Bilsborrow, Mario Pagnotta, Marion Champailler, Leonidas Rempelos, Dagmar Janovská
• Relation: ECOBREED
• Year: 2021
• Crop group: Legumes, Cereals, Arable Crops
• Language: English

The document contains material for improved genotyping training. The booklet is divided in several chapters, with suggested further reading material and links to tutorial. The four sections are: 1) Genetic background, 2) Germplasm conservation, evaluation, and utilisation (breeding), 3) Molecular procedures and tools and 4) Statistics and bioinformatics.
Audience: The material is aimed at providing background knowledge for young researchers and scientists with a new blend of applied and fundamental R&D skills required to, (a) further improve the selection and breeding of organic crops (b) apply breeding and agronomic methodologies/approaches developed in the project to other crops and/or (c) contribute to transferring technologies developed into commercial practice. This training material will provide background material for the ECOBREED workshops on Advanced Genotyping.

• Category: Plant breeding
• Institution: UNITUS, BOKU, IFVC, IHAR, NPPC
• Author: Pagnotta Mario A., Forte Paola, Kuzmanović Ljiljana, Ćeran Marina, Meglič Vladimir, Pipan Barbara, Plich Jarosław, Sedlar Aleš, Timperio Annamaria, Turco Silvia, Bürstmayr Hermann, Ehn Magdalena, Titan Primož
• Relation: ECOBREED
• Year: 2021
• Language: English

The document provides information on the potential and available techniques for Advanced Phenotyping. It also highlights the range of sensors that can be used to assess phenotypic traits in both wheat and potato. It is divided into 5 chapters and provides general background knowledge and information for researchers and plant breeders participating in the Advanced Phenotyping training events under ECOBREED. The training events will highlight the potential for improved phenotyping capabilities in terms of digital, thermal, and hyperspectral imaging, when where and how they can be used effectively.

• Category: Plant breeding
• Institution: NPPC, UNEW, KIS
• Author: Pavol Hauptvogel, Ankush Prashar, Uroš Žibrat, Paul Bilsborrow, Matej Knapič, Leonidas Rempelos
• Relation: ECOBREED
• Year: 2021
• Crop group: Cereals, Arable Crops
• Language: English

Traditional and innovative fruit production in Baden-Württemberg. Ute Ellwein from Landratsamt Karlsruhe gives an overview of traditional and innovative fruit production methods in Baden-Wurttemberg. This online course was organised as part of the LIVESEED German-Swiss cross-visit. 

• Category: Plant breeding
• Institution: IFOAM Organics Europe
• Author: Ute Ellwein (Landratsamt Karlsruhe)
• Relation: LIVESEED
• Year: 2020
• Crop group: Fruits
• Language: English

Technical aspects of apple breeding with Poma Culta. Niklaus Bolliger - organic fruit grower, apple breeder and founder of Poma Culta - explains the process of breeding new apple cultivars suitable for organic growing conditions. This online course was organised as part of the LIVESEED German-Swiss cross-visit. 

• Category: Plant breeding
• Institution: IFOAM Organics Europe
• Author: Niklaus Bolliger (Poma Culta)
• Relation: LIVESEED
• Year: 2020
• Crop group: Fruits
• Language: English

Lecture on shaping diversity for on-farm organic plant breeding - case of wheat (and other cereals) in France by Estelle Serpolay-Besson (ITAB) & Veronique Chable (INRAE). The presentation explains how to re-create diversified cultivars and and how to exploit the remaining diversity from ex-situ conservation in a large scale.

• Category: Plant breeding
• Author: Estelle Serpolay-Besson (ITAB) & Veronique Chable (INRAE)
• Relation: LIVESEED, DIVERSIFOOD, Solibam, COBRA
• Year: 2020
• Crop group: Arable Crops, Cereals
• Language: English