Organic plant breeding for sustainable agriculture

Organic farming currently relies largely on plant and animal varieties bred under non-organic conditions, many of which are poorly suited to organic systems and inconsistent with its holistic principles. To strengthen both performance and integrity in organic agriculture, it is essential to develop varieties specifically through organic breeding programmes. Such breeding must occur entirely under certified organic conditions, respecting natural reproductive barriers and avoiding methods that compromise plant integrity such as genetic modification, cytoplasmic male sterility without restorer genes or protoplast fusion.