Implementing the systems-based breeding approach: Lessons learned from the European Union LIVESEED project

Organic breeders must meet many requirements when developing cultivars to satisfy demand for high yield, good quality, resource efficiency and climate robustness, cultural and ethical accepta­bil­ity, and the provision of ecosystem services. Given the current and future climatic, agronomic, eco­nomic, and socio-cultural challenges, resilience can only be efficiently achieved through concerted actions. The concept of systems-based breeding integrates the strengths of different breeding orientations and provides a perspective where breeders can initiate developments toward ecologi­cally and societally resilient crop production that address six sustainability targets, including (1) food security, safety and quality; (2) food and seed sov­ereignty; (3) social justice; (4) agrobiodiversity; (5) ecosystem services; and (6) climate robustness. In this paper we present five supportive pillars for implementing the concept of systems-based breed­ing, based on experiences obtained during the European Union (EU) project LIVESEED from 2017 to 2021, and including results from prior related projects and literature on innovation sys­tems and systems change. The five supportive pil­lars we have identified are (1) increasing social awareness and reflection, (2) developing alternative financing approaches, (3) promoting the develop­ment of appropriate breeding methodologies and methods, (4) applying integrative interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning in education, and (5) fostering facilitation for connecting these pro­cesses. These five supportive pillars are all neces­sary for fostering sustainable transformative change in complex systems, such as organic plant breeding. Based on workshop outcomes, we find that the main impediments to a wider embrace of a more holistic perspective on organic breeding are the current strong focus on short-term profits and EU law and regulations. Increasing social awareness, alternative financing models, new breeding meth­ods, and multi-actor approaches are necessary for broadening breeding approaches.