susvar: sustainable low-input cereal production: required varietal characteristics and crop...

SUSVAR: Sustainable low-input cereal production: required varietal characteristics and crop diversity

Notes from 1st MC meeting of COST 860, Brussels 11th May 2004 including amendments from the WG leader planning meeting Wednesday 12th May concerning STSM as well as program for SUSVAR Opening Workshop

By

Hanne Østergård

Chair, COST 860


Agenda MC meeting chaired by Hanne Østergård 8. Working plan for the implementation of the COST Action. 11.00-12.00

– Presentation of objectives and working programme. Setting up groups for discussion of the Working Plan

12.00-14.00 Lunch and Group discussion 14.00-17.00

– Organisation and management/distribution of tasks

• Working groups: leaders, milestones and deliverables

– Time-table for 2004-2008

– Organisation and management/distribution of tasks (cont.)

• STSM: assessment panel, assessment criteria, application dates

• Dissemination: homepage and others

• Association of national projects 9. Place and date of next meeting 10. Miscellaneous 11. Closing



Hanne ØstergårdSenior Research Specialist

Risø National Laboratory,Roskilde, Denmark

EFRC, UK, copyright


Sustainable low-input cereal production (1)

Reduced pesticides towards no pesticides (organic) Reduced synthetic fertiliser towards no synthetic fertilisers

(organic) Emphasis on crop rotation

Implying Less possibilities for control of weeds, pests and diseases Less possibilities for nutritional input More need for understanding the processes in the field to be

able to prevent problems in stead of cure them More need for skillfull management based on choice of

varieties (homogeneous or heterogeneous), rotations, cropping methods


Sustainable low-input cereal production (2)

Questions for research Are new varieties/more diverse crops necessary to obtain

stable yield and good quality? Which new breeding methods are needed to develop these

varieties, variety mixtures and segregating populations? How can we measure important varietal characteristics for

selecting such varieties in a simple way?

Questions for variety testing and practice How can we organise low input/organic variety testing? How can we involve farmers in selection and breeding of the

desirable varieties?


About 60 national projects from 18 countries on:

– Cropping systems: Low input, sustainable, organic, integrated

– Cereals: wheat, barley, triticale

And some of the factors:

– Crop diversity: Variety mixtures, populations, intercropping

– Genetic resources, diversity, molecular markers

– Breeding methods, marker assisted, participatory

– Genotype-environment interactions, multivariate statistics

– Nutrient uptake efficiency, soil microbiology

– Weed competitiveness, weed management

– Disease resistance, disease complexes

– Variety trials, variety testing Co-ordination of nationally funded research activities

Why a COST Action –


The main objective

To establish methods for selecting varieties, lines and populations

to develop ways to increase and make use of

–crop diversity and

–genotype-environment interactions to ensure stable and acceptable yields of good-quality

crops

for low-input, especially organic, cereal production in Europe


WG 1Genetics & Breeding

WG 3Plant – Soil Interactions

WG 4Plant – PlantInteractions

WG 5Plant Disease

Complex

WG 6Variety testing &

certification

Organisation of activities and reciprocal benefits

WG 2Biostatistics


Organisation of activities within WG1 and connections with other WGs

Main goals : Improve knowledge on relevant traits for adaptation to low-input/organic conditions and the genetic bases underlying these traits, use it in selection, identify appropriate genetic resources with regard to this traits, evaluate conventional and « original » variety structure (line, hybrid, mixture, population) most adapted to low-input/organic farming, improve conventional or original breeding methods for such varieties.

- Evaluation of different kinds of material : varieties, breeding lines, genebanks resources, populations, mixtures - Identify traits specific for adaptation to low-input/organic conditions

- QTL detection, gene association mapping, - Line breeding in low-input/organic conditions mapping genes in evolving populations - Breeding for mixture ability

- Testing gene/QTL effect using transformed plants - Participatory/decentralized breeding - Marker assisted selection - Selection in genetically diverse populations

Screening of genetic diversity in low-input/organic conditions

Identification of gene/QTL involved in low-input/organic

adaptation

Breeding methods for low-input/organic farming

WG1

methods : WG 2

criteria : WGs 3, 4, 5

criteria : WGs 3, 4, 5

methods : WG 2 designs : WG 6

methods : WG 2 criteria : WGs 3, 4, 5

Isabelle Goldringer, F


Stat. Anl. of ringtest

Stat. experience in variety trials

Non-normal distributed data

WG 3

WG 6WG 5 WG 4 Other WG’s

WG 2

GxE interactions

WG 1WG 5

WG 1

WG 4

Kristian Kristensen, DK


Fabio Mascher, CH

WG 3Plant-Soil

InteractionsCereal genotype

- microbes interactions

Nutrientacquisition

• study beneficial interaction of microbial root colonizers in low-input/organic farming.

• determine specific interaction between cereal genotypes and soil micro-organisms.

• understand nutrient acquisition and use by plants in low-input/organic farming

Stabilize the low-input production system

• provide information to breeders• develop strategies to favorize the beneficial microflora• study the use of microbial inoculants


WG 4: Plant-plant interactionWhat makes species mixtures perform better than the individual species?

Individual species

Species mixture

Identify basis for added value of variety mixtures

Develop strategy for combining species in order to maximize added value

Develop screening procedure for individual varieties for their performance in mixture with

respect to productivity, stability and weed suppression

Lammert Baastian, NL


Scott Philipps, UK

Main Goals Analyses of interactions among pathogens on the same host plant, methods for disease assessment and field resistance in complex systems, disease assessment in variety mixtures and populations

Complementary and Compensatory effects in terms of

both the host plants and pathogen populations Interactions between varieties and soil, and other non-

pathogenic organisms

Analysis and assessment of spatial development of disease in heterogeneous crops

Analysis and assessment of the effects of plant resistance levels and types

Durability and conservation of plant resistance levels and types Plant pathogen population dynamics and genetics

DISEASE ECOLOGY

EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS

DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY


Justification VCU

Which Plant Characteristics

Methodology for evaluation

Guidelines VCU

Inventory and analysis of comparative variety research (organic vs conventional)

Inventory of plant characteristics which are currently used in organic variety trials

Inventory of evaluation methodologiesAnalysis influence environment on variety ranking

Aart Osmann, NL WG 6: Variety testing and certification Main goal:Develop guidelines for setting up VCU (Value for Cultivation and Use) testing for organic and low input agriculture


Who are we? - as it is listed in the proposal

100 experts (scientists, breeders, extension service, variety testing authoratives)

80 technicians 100 PhD students (genetics, plant pathology, weed science,

plant physiology, agronomy, biostatistics)

Austria Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany

Hungary Italy Latvia The Netherlands Norway Poland

Portugal Slovak Republic Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom


Discipline

012345

Breeding/genetics

Plant nutrition/physiology/soil

Plant competition/weed sciencePlant pathology/mycology

Biometry/statistics/mathematics

End-user

012345

Research

Governmental body(varietytesting and certification)

Practical breedingIndustry

Advising farmers etc.

Expertice of MC members on scale from 0 to 5


Level of system diversity

0

1

2

3

4

5Variety mixtures

PopulationVarieties

Type of system

0

1

2

3

4

5Organic

Conventional low-inputConventional GMO


Remember professional and personal values!This Action concerns cereal production being

• ‘sustainable’

• ‘low input’

• ‘integrated’

• ‘organic’What is behind these words? Do we have different

definitions depending on our professional and personal values (what we think before we think, often unspoken assumptions)


Conclusion from group work

All WGs have to take into account

–Diversity

–Definition of varieties

–Genotype, phenotypes and populations

–Quality in the broad sense

–Alternative uses of cereals in cropping systems

–Adaptation to cropping systems

–Low input, integrated and organic systems

–And all other WGs


Input to WGs from group work

WG1

– Discuss breeding goals

• Prebreeding programmes

• Multilocation variety trials

• Local adaptation

– Evaluate association genetics methods and mapping populations

– Metanalyses (WG2)

WG2

– Genotype-environment interactions

– Stability analyses

– Data analyses for variety mixtures in different cropping systems (spatial components)



WG3

– Microorganism – plant variety interaction

– Genotypes-soil disturbance interactions

– Nutrient acquisition and use efficiency

WG4

– How to create variety mixtures

– Simple methods to evaluate competitive ability against weeds for breeders

– allelopathy



WG5

– Ring tests for disease complexes?

– Which diseases play an important role in organic farming

– Fusarium resistance

– Influence of environment and cropping system on disease complexes

– Methods (assessment and analysis) to evaluate diseases in variety mixtures and populations

WG6

– Inventory of testing systems and extraction testing systems and approval criteria

• Specific organic aspects

– Comparison between testing in different growing systems


General organisation of WGs

One responsible WG leader (can appoint a deputy), subgroup leaders for particular purposes are OK

WG leader responsibilities

– 3 monthly e-mail letter to MC + WG leaders

– 6 monthly word document to web site

– 12 monthly report (summary and plans) to COST

– Minutes of any WG related meetings

Begin

– Emails: end August 2004, end October 2004

– Report: end January 2005


Preliminary Time table as in proposal

WG MC

1 2 3 4 5 6

Conference/Workshop

Other activities

– 1st MC Year

1 – joint meeting MC+WGs

– Field trial inspections for participants

– Exchange of scientists

– MC Year

2 – Conference+MC+WGs

Genotype-environment interactions and variety testing

– Field trial inspections for farmers, advisors, breeders, authorities etc.


– MC Year


Variety mixtures and populations

– Field trial inspections for farmers, advisors, breeders, authorities etc.


– MC Year


Closing conference with proceedings in reviewed journal

– European VCU and certification of heterogeneous crops



Revised time table for 2004

SUSVAR Opening Workshop all WGs and MC

–28-30 June Roskilde, Denmark (local org. Hanne Østergård)

Focus finding workshop

–11th noon -13th noon Mid October, Witzenhausen (local org. Maria Finckh)

Common workshop WG1 and ECO-PB on low input/organic breeding strategies and use of markers

–5-8 December, Driebergen, NL (local org. Edith Lammerts)


Short Term Scientific Mission (min 1 week, max 1 month)STSM applications (forms on webside) are send

to Maria Finckh ‘not before July 1st 2004’ (this is suggested to be changed to ‘starting from now’ UNLESS COMMENTS FROM YOU BEFORE JUNE 1ST)

assessment panel:

–chair + vice chair + 1-2 WG leadersassessment criteria:

–support the aim of SUSVARapplication dates not needed from the beginning Focusing on learning methods among scientists


Dissemination

Home page: www.cost860.dk

– Organised by Hanne Østergård supported by Adrian Newton and ?

– Team service system

– A preliminary version before June meeting Flexible brochure – before the end of the year Common trials STSM reports on web site as well as in reports from WGs Remember to acknowledge COST860 when writing papers based on

results from the networking COST supports meetings/training courses between breeders,

extension service, farmers, scientists Interaction with other COST Actions


Association of projects

HØ receives description of projects associated to the action to put on our home page

To be member of the Action one has in general to have a project associated – projects need to be revised according to the present list

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