Page 90 - Breeding and regulatory opportunities, Renaud

Chapter 3

exemptions, an impasse that undermines the integrity and limits the potential

growth of the US organic sector, see Table 3.2.

In the absence of a strong convergence of interests at the national level, new

organizations with a regional focus have emerged to help manage local seed

concerns. Their scope variously includes the testing of organic seed varieties

with farmers, supporting participatory breeding (e.g. Organic Seed Alliance),

the development of local organic seed production (e.g. Family Farmers Seed

Cooperative), and the pursuit of funding for preparation and maintenance

of organic seed lists or databases (e.g. OMRI, AOSCA). Although over 100 US

seed production companies have developed niche markets in organic seed,

the expansion of the seed sector remains challenged by the lack of reliable

information about the requirements of organic growers for desired varieties.

Nevertheless, several stakeholder groups have demonstrated a willingness to

engage in the concerted development of the organic seed sector (Podoll, 2009,

Renaud et al., 2014). Others, such as large-scale commercial baby lettuce leaf

and spinach growers in California, where seed costs form a relatively large part

of their cost structure, have less incentive to proceed toward compliance.

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