Organic Plant Breeding: Module 2

Overview

The LiveSeeding project offers a set of 5 training packages, organized in 25 Modules on organic breeding and organic seed production, including online and on-site sessions. These materials offer a comprehensive perspective on organic breeding knowledge, concepts, strategies, tools and opportunities, adapted to a diverse group of target trainees, from organic farmers to PhD students of different levels (high school, undergraduates and/or MSc students) and scientists, seed producers, organic breeders, and any others involved in the value chain of organic systems with interest in some (or all) of the main issues in organic breeding.

Link to website: https://liveseeding.eu/trainings-summer-school/

Link to repository on ECO-PB website: https://www.eco-pb.org/trainings.html

Modules

Module 2: Phenomics: approaches and tools for genetic resources and breeding material characterization (4 units). 

• Topics: PGRs phenotyping and characterization is essential: i) to estimate and manage their diversity and ii) to identify sources of variation in traits of interest for breeding. To accomplish these purposes a wide range of descriptors, tools and strategies are available. These allow to characterize properly and comprehensively the agrobiodiversity available in standardized parameters, follow the flow of seeds lots, manage the information in an efficient way and share phenomic and agronomic info to other interested actors. One unit (unit 5), planned at first and entitled “Methods for phenotyping and selection of added-value traits” (e.g. taste and nutritional value), was not finally given because of the lack of availability of lecturers (ITAB). The unit primarily focused on phenotyping plant populations for nutritional value and organoleptic quality, including taste and flavour, in both raw and processed foods. The goal was to present how to include these traits in the breeding process to favour the valorization of the selected materials using a "differentiated quality" approach. Nevertheless, as a contingency plan, many of these concepts were incorporated into some of the final units of the module.
• Target groups: In this module, the targeted actors learn about the main methodologies for phenotyping PGRs, keep traceability of seeds lots, and tools to manage the phenomic info. This module is open to seed networks managers, a wide range of organic farmers (particular interest for farmers committed with agroecology, preservation of landraces and starting in breeding their own varieties), organic breeders and students (mainly undergraduate University degrees and MSc students in plant breeding).
• Number of units: 4