Page 21 - Breeding and regulatory opportunities, Renaud

General introduction

Table 1.1 Four principles of organic agriculture as described by IFOAM (2012).

Principle Description
Health Organic Agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal, human

and planet as one and indivisible

Ecology Organic Agriculture should be based on living ecological systems based on living
ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them

Fairness Organic Agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to

the common environment and life opportunities
Care Organic Agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to

protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment

The research program under consideration here was designed to investigate

eforts to translate the requirements of organic growers for seed that will allow

them to optimise their production system, and fulil consumer expectation

for the integrity of organic products, into a strategy for seed production and

crop improvement. Broccoli was used as a model crop because it is one of

the most important horticultural crops in the world’s fastest growing organic

product market, the United States (US). This study speciically explored the

mutual inluence of the regulatory environment and technical opportunities for

organic seed sector development in the US, Europe Union (EU) and Mexico, and

the extent to which cultivars performed diferently under organic conditions

compared to conventional conditions, measured by selected horticultural

traits and phytochemical compound concentrations. The research was based

principally on a range of stakeholder interviews, participant observation,

documentary analyses, laboratory analyses, and paired ield trials (organic/

conventional) conducted in two contrasting regions in the US, Northeast US

(Maine) and Paciic Northwest (Oregon), over two seasons (spring, fall) and two

years for a total of 16 trials with 23 cultivars (Figure 1.1).

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