Page 32 - Breeding and regulatory opportunities, Renaud

Chapter 1

How can the lessons learned be applied to support further global development

of organic seed sector governance?

Research Question 2. Do currently available broccoli cultivars perform diferently

in organic compared to conventional production systems for horticulture traits?

In order to analyse to what extent present commercial broccoli cultivars

suiciently meet the diverse needs of organic management systems such

as adaptation to low nitrogen input, mechanical weed management and no

chemical pesticide use, and to propose the best selection environments for

crop improvement for organic production we conducted ield trials to address

the following questions: (1) Do currently available broccoli cultivars perform

diferently for head weight and other horticulture traits in organic compared

to conventional management systems in diferent regions and diferent

seasons?, (2) Is the relative ranking of cultivars the same under organic and

conventional conditions?, (3) Does heritability difer for certain traits under

organic conditions compared to conventional conditions?, and (4) Under which

growing conditions and in what locations would selection for broccoli cultivars

for organic agriculture be most efective?

Research Question 3. Do currently available broccoli cultivars perform diferently

in organic compared to conventional production systems for phytochemical traits?

In order to analyse to what extent present commercial broccoli cultivars difer

in phytochemical concentrations when grown under organic and conventional

conditions in diferent seasons and locations, and to identify diferences

in genotypic class performance for the concentration of phytochemicals

associated with health promotion, the trials established to evaluate horticultural

traits as described under research question 2 were harvested and analyzed

for glucosinolates, tocopherols, and carotenoids by cultivar and by genotypic

group. Speciically, we sought to address the following questions: (1) What is the

impact on phytochemical variation of organic management system compared

to other environmental factors including climatic region, season and their

interactions [Genotype (G) x Environment (E) x Management System (M)]?, (2)

Is there a signiicant diference in phytochemical content between diferent

genotypes and genotypic classes (old and modern cultivars; open pollinated

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