Organic Plant Breeding: Module 2

Overview

The LiveSeeding project offers 5 training packages, comprising 25 modules on organic breeding and seed production. These include online and on-site sessions. The materials provide an in-depth overview of the knowledge, concepts, strategies, tools and opportunities of organic breeding, and are tailored to a diverse range of trainees, including organic farmers, students at various levels (secondary school, Bachelor's, Master's and PhD), scientists, seed producers, organic breeders and others involved in organic and agroecology-oriented farming who are interested in organic seed systems.

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