Old cereal varieties are broadening the genetic base for organic farming and will increase the

quality for consumers

Hans Larsson Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Department of Agriculture

IFOAM standards for organic agriculture Participatory plant breeding Quality and health aspects Plant breeding and climate change Manifesto on the future of seed* Farmers rights

*Manifesto on the future of seed: http://www.arsia.toscana.it/petizione/docume nts/semi/futurosemi_eng.pdf

IFOAM The use of organic seed and plant propagation in organic agriculture
Organic seeds and plant breeding: more than just organic farm inputs The value of seeds in organic farming occupies a unique position. Seeds embody the accumulated history of plant domestication and all the biological and cultural adaptation that has been achieved in the previous millenia Traditional varieties contain a greater genetic variability than modern commercial varieties, especially since they are developed under specific local conditions Environmental sustainability includes environmental resilience, economic performance, nutrition and consumer satisfaction

IFOAM position paper organic plant breeding: http://www.ifoam.org/press/positions/Seedpostionpapervtobeconsulted.pdf

Desirable variety traits for organic plant breeding

Optimal adaptation to local climate and nutrient dynamics in the soil Nutrient use efficiency Water use efficiency(drought tolerance) Weed tolerance Salinity tolerance Plant health(tolerance and resistance) Natural reproductive ability ofaccessions including seed health and vigour Maintaining the nutritional quality including taste and flavor Market quality for storage and transport Good yield and yield stability

Hypotheses for organic plant breeding

To utilize in the most efficient way each locations specific climat and soil you must find the best adapted varieties The genetic biodiversity in our cultural heritage of food plants with a long adaption to different regions conserved in our gene banks is the most valuable resource for organic agriculture

Excellent plant breeding in Sweden 1880-1970

Local cultivars for different regions Cultivars for different soil types Cultivars with ability to resist early summer droughts Resistent cultivars against nematodes and diseases Very extensive regional testing of cultivars This means a very valuable national gene bank that can be used for organic agriculture

Participatory plant breeding

Varieties from the Nordic Gene Bank 600 varieties or lines are selected each year with 10 ears/variety The varieties are multiplied and distributed to the farmers for demonstrations 10-15 varieties for each farm About 330 farmers have joined the project

Demands on organic varieties

Long tough straw Fast spring development Adapted to the habitat Resistant to pests and diseases Ability to grow at low nutrient levels High quality and taste Sustainable vitality

Early growth and straw length of different cereals

180 160 140 120 100

cm

80 60 40 20 Winter wheat Holger 1980 Spelt wheat Winter wheat 1938 Winter rye Winter wheat 2000

0 2000-05- 2000-05- 2000-05- 2000-05- 2000-05- 2000-05- 2000-06- 2000-06- 2000-06- 2000-06- 2000-0604 09 14 19 24 29 03 08 13 18 23

Wet gluten and glutenstrength in seconds, old winter and spring wheat varieties 30,00

25,00 G lu te n s tre n g th s e c o n d s

20,00

15,00

10,00

5,00

0,00 0,00

10,00

20,00

30,00
% wet gluten

40,00

50,00

60,00

Protein content and specific bread volume, old winter and spring wheat varieties 1500,00 1400,00 1300,00
b r e a d v o lu m e k u b ic c m

1200,00 1100,00 1000,00 900,00 800,00 700,00 600,00 8,00

10,00

12,00

14,00
protein content %

16,00

18,00

20,00

Weeds in different spring wheat varieties 180 160 140 120

g r a m /s q m

Dragon

100 80 60 40 20 0 0 10 20 30 40 50
number weeds/square m

Krn lands lantvete

60

70

80

90

100

Disease occurrence on 138 old winter wheat varieties

No disease Weak Brown rust 23 61 Yellow rust 111 9 12 6 Septoria Mildew 2 35 79 22 115 4 11 9

Moderate 50 High 4

Mixtures of species and mixtures of varieties can limit the spread of all diseases having air dispersal Rust Mildew Septoria Dreschlera Helminthosporium Rhynchosporium

Vrmlandsfilialen hstvete 1922-1949 Krna kg/ha Sammet 3936 Svea II Prl I Thule III Ergo Gluten
Bjrnvete

Reltal 100 112 111 104 114 111 105

Halm kg/ha 9610

Reltal 100 97 91 95 85 89

Advantages with old varieties

High biodiversity Adapted to organic farming Varieties with a history Beautiful varieties, colour and form Good taste Functional food

Allkorn a network for marketing of old cultural quality varieties

Quality varieties Organic grown Local production Fresh food Good taste www.allkorn.se

Slow food for the taste

Local production Organic production Fresh food Food with a cultural history Good, clean and fair

Wheat
Triticum monococcum einkorn 11000years old, contains carotenoids Triticum dicoccum, emmer wheat, high minerals and antioxidants Triticum spelta, the first hexaploid wheat Landraces high quality, good taste

Enkornsvete

Aegilops

Svart emmervete Gotland

Speltvete

Kortstrig enkornsvete

Lngstrig enkornsvete

Rdemmer

Svart emmer

Vit emmer med borst

Lantvete Gotland selektion

Lantvete Gotland Genbank

Speltvete Gotland selektion

Speltvete Gotland genbank

st Burgsdorfer

Spelt Schweiz Schwaben Ostro Steiner Roter Tyroler Ostar

stby

Algot

Peko 99 Peko vit

Diamant vit Apu

Progress lands

Lantvete Dalarna Lv Dal

Lv Gotland Lv Gotl

Dala urval land 16 land sammet land 15 land urval land 18

Golden

Krim

Borstvete Gotl

Russisk hvede

Barley
10000 years old Contain betaglucanes Is called the Nordic rice , can be grown up to the polar circle Hulless barley(naked) can be consumed without shelling Dominating 1750 in Scania

Brun spelt

Pansar

Holger rd

Naket rtt korn

2-rads naket korn

6-rads naket korn Odensker

Oats
4000 year old, first as weed in wheat fields Contain betaglucanes, soluble fibres decreasing the risk of food related diseases Have antioxidants like vitamine E, phytosterols, and cinnamon acid Old black oats rich in antioxidants

Blenda vithavre

Naken havre Jacub

Argus svarthavre

Rye
4000 year old, first as weeds in wheat fields Rye has antioxidants like lignans, phenols and sterols Lignans are used by microorganisms in the intestines and transformed into phyto ostrogens which protect against cancer

Grekisk Satres

Gotlandsrg

Midsommarrg

Schmidtrg

Biodiversity for human health, the seven cereals

Wheat Barley Oats Rye Millet Rice Maize

Bromus grossus

Regionala produktionsgrupper
Wstgtarna i Vstergtland Gutekorn p Gotland Hlsingesd i Hlsingland Halland Bohusln Jmtland Uppland

Decreasing mineral density in wheat grain

Iron, zinc, copper and magnesium decreasing Inorganic fertilizers decrease the concentration Soil depletion Variety differnces Organic farming higher concentrations because of farmyard manure and lower yields

Conclusions from fertility experiments since 1958

Farmyard manure increases the mineral concentration in wheat grains Inorganic fertilizers decreases the mineral concentration in grains

Rothamsted wheat experiment

Started 1843 Different fertilizers inorganic, farmyard manure Change of varieties over time Archived samples since the beginning

Fig. 3. Changes in the total concentrations of Zn (a), Cu (b) and Mg (c) in the soils from three

plots of the Broadbalk Experiment. Lines represent regression lines: dashed line for the control, dotted line for N2PKNaMgS, and solid line for FYM.

Table 4. Comparison between the mean mineral concentrations of wheat grain of the ten longstraw cultivars (18451967) and the five short-straw cultivars (19682005), and between the longstraw cultivar Squarehead's Master and the short-straw cultivar Brimstone, which were grown sideby-side during 19881990a Cultivar Zn (mg/kg) Fe (mg/kg) Cu (mg/kg) Mg (mg/kg)

Long-straw (18451967)

33.2

38.2

5.4

1138

Short-straw (19682005) Significance (P value) Squarehead's Master Brimstone Significance (P value)

24.3

29.7

3.9

924

<0.001 27.3 19.5 <0.001

<0.001 41.3 32.6 <0.001

<0.001 4.5 3.4 <0.001

<0.001

1099 831 <0.001

Table 3. Multiple

regression analysis of Zn, Fe, Cu and Mg concentrations with grain yield and the harvest index

(HI)a

Elementb

Radj2

Constant

Grain yield Coefficient

HI Significan Significan Coefficient ce (P) ce (P) <0.001 0.58 <0.001 <0.001 17.9 22.4 1.97 504 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001

Zn Fe Cu Mg
a

0.56 0.33 0.45 0.47

42.7 46.0 6.5 1365

1.13 0.081 0.23 14.3

Data included all years and all plots (n=362), except that for Mg the plot 10 data (N only) were excluded (n=313), because in this plot Mg has never been added since 1843. b Concentrations are in mg/kg.

Table 5. Comparison of the concentrations of Zn, Fe, Cu and Mg in wheat grain between plots
receiving inorganic fertilizers or organic manure

Plot

Zn (mg/kg) 1845 1967 1968 2005 27.4

Fe (mg/kg) 1845 1967 40.3 1968 2005 30.4

Cu (mg/kg) 1845 1967 5.4 1968 2005 4.0

Mg (mg/kg) 1845 1967 1263 1968 2005 1015

FYM (plot 37.2 22) N2PKNaM 32.2 gS (plot 7)

21.9

38.4

28.2

5.0

3.6

1146

932

N14PKNa MgS (plot 32.2 9)

20.8

38.8

32.2

5.0

3.4

1147

913

Significanc <0.001 e (P value) LSD (P<0.05)

<0.001

0.48

0.092

0.076

0.009

<0.001

0.137

2.3

3.0

3.1

3.6

0.4

0.4

501

108

Conclusions from Rothamsted

The concentration of zinc,iron, copper and magnesium remained stable,between 1845 and 1960s but since then have decreased significantly which coincided with the introduction of semi-dwarf, high yielding cultivars The concentration in soil have either increased or remained stable Regression analysis showed that both increasing yield and harvets index were highly significant factors that explained the downward trend in grain mineral concentration

Mineral analyses old varieties

Analyses from four places Alnarp, Gotland, Uppsala and Bohusln Different groups of wheat primitive wheats, spelt wheat, landraces, old cultivars (1900-1960), newer cultivars after 1970, selections Totally 630 analyses

Cu Selektioner Gamla sorter primitiva Spelt Lantsorter Sorterefter1970 5.27 5.1 5.75 5.5 5.33 4.49

Se 0,18 0,1 0,11 0,1 0,09 0,11

Fe 35,8 39,4 32,2 38 38,5 33,4

Mg 1330 1223 1300 1277 1286 1245

Zn 41,6 38,1 45,7 39,2 38,1 36,3

Antal analys er Speltvete Sorter efter 1970 Svenno Emmer Lantvete land Lantvete Gotland Lantvete Dalarna Lantvete Jacoby Borstvete Gotland Enkorn Fylgia Hansa 25 16 11 10 27 20 10 11 17 7 9 9

Zn 40 36 35 40 42 38 48 38 35 46 41 40

Se 0,09 0,11 0,09 0,07 0,09 0,1 0,14 0,09 0,09 0,13 0,12 0,09

Mg 1279 1221 1211 1356 1323 1280 1415 1284 1307 1250 1248 1189

Cu 5,6 4,1 5,1 5,6 5,4 6,2 6,3 4,8 5,6 6,5 5,8 4,7

Cd 0,04 0,05 0,06 0,03 0,05 0,06 0,08 0,05 0,05 0,01 0,06 0,05

Fe 38 31 41 32 47 41 52 34 31 30 47 34

Analyses conventional wheat

Analyses of four cultivars from 6 places Fransker, Hedemora, Jrps, laholm, Sknninge, Vassmolsa Akteur, Olivin, Opus, Tulsa

Konventionellt hstvete Cu Se Fe Mg Zn Ca Mn Mo P S K 3,2 0,016 28,7 1000 20,3 297 21,6 0,4 2850 1160 4250

Ekologisk hstvete 5,1 0,1 32,5 1252 38 355 22,5 1,9 4266 1224 3920

% 60 625 13 25 87 24 4 75 50 6 -8

140 120 100 LantveteDalarna 80 60 40 20 0 Mg Fe Zn Cu Se Speltvete Behov Konventionellt

old England England England England Sweden Sweden Sweden Sweden Zn Fe Cu Mg Zn Fe Cu Mg 33 38 5,4 1138 38 33 5,1 1252

new 24 30 3,9 924 20 29 3,2 1000

% 73 80 70 80 52 87 62 80

Antioxidants in cereals complete antioxidants in fruit and vegetables

Mostly in bound forms and are activated by help of microorganismes in the intestines

Antioxidants
Carotenoids highest in emmer, enkorn durum landraces Tocols highest in emmer, enkorn and landraces of breadwheat Landraces of black oats have more antioxidants Maize has highest antioxidantactivity of cereals, Carotenoids, antocyans

The health effect of whole meal comes from the combination of all substances in the grain and protects against many diseases
Heart and coronary diseases, antioxidants have synergistic effects with fibres Cancer, whole meal protects against cancer in stomach and intestines Diabetes, whole meal protects against the risk to develop diabetes

Plant breeding and climate change

Ceccarelli et al

Climate change challenges for plant breeding

Higher temperatures Increase in CO2 Increasing frequency of drought Increase in the areas affected by salinity Increasing frequency of biotic stress

Biodiversity of cultivated plants

250000 plant species 50000 are edible 250 are used 15 provide 90 % of calories in the human diet 3 wheat,rice and maize provide 60% Varieties of these three crops are genetically uniform Food security is potentially in danger

Biodiversity is the solution

The current industrial agriculture system is the single most important threat to biodiversity A serious consequence of the loss of biodiversity has been the displacement of locally adapted varieties which may hold the secret of adaptation to the future climate Landraces and wild relatives are heterogenous populations and evolve and continously generate novel genetic variation

Evolutionary plant breeding

Combining participation and evolution, participatory evolutionary plant breeding Outcrossing rates of 2-3% in selfpollinated plants allow adaptation to stress environments Natural selection will in bulk breeding of selfpollinated plants evolve superior genotypes over time The core feature of the evolutionary plant breeding method are a broadly diversified germplasm and a prolonged subjection of the mass of progeny to competitive natural selection in the area of contemplated use A genetically diverse bulk population allows for adaptation to disease through the establishment of a selfregulating plantpathogen evolutionary system

Evolutionary plant breeding ICARDA

Barley and wheat in Syria, Jordan, Iran, Eritrea and Algeria The aim is to increase the probability of recombination within a population which is constituted to harbour a very large amount of genetic variation Barley mixture of 1600 F2, durum wheat mixture of 700 crosses Populations will be left evolving under the pressure of changing climate conditions becoming a unique source of continously better-adapted genetic material directly in the hands of the farmers Improved material will be readily available to farmers without the bureacratic and inefficient system of variety release and formal seed production

Manifesto on the future of seed

International commission with Vandana Shiva One of four manifestos from Slow food Manifestos for the future of food, adaptation to climate change and on the future of knowledge systems

Diversity of life and cultures under threat

Industrial productivity strategies are destroying the biodiversity that is the only proven strategy of living beings to cope with abrupt and uncertain changes The disappearance of local seeds has gone hand in hand with the disappearance of small farmers and local food cultures. So has the local knowledge about the use of cultivated and wild plant varieties in their different ecological and cultural habits Intellectual property rights, seed monopolies and privatisation of seed

A new paradigm for seed

The one dimensional focus on yield has led to a serious decline in systems productivity, food quality and nutrition. Quantity must give way to quality. Seed production by food communities is based on a holistic concept of food quality that considers taste, compatibilities with human physiological and cultural conditions, all aspects of nutritional properties, the degree of biodiversity present, the environmental impact of production, as well as the working conditions, processes of participation and value of retribution to producers. This holistic concept should be the first step towardss reinforcing or creating and dispersing seeds for quality food systems

The law of seed

Diversity is our highest security. There is an immediate and urgent need to conserve seed diversity to expand the number of plants used for human nutrition as well as the number of varieties used in any single plant species. Agricultural biodiversity is best conserved when the produce from seeds enters directly into productionconsumption circuits that enable farmers to earn a decent income Preserving, maintaining and re-expanding the remaining agricultural trditions and culutres of production is an immediate and most urgent challenge to prevent the further erosion of biodiversity and the depletion of global and regional options for the future

Freedom of seed
Freedom of farmers to save seed Freedom of farmers to breed new varities Freedom from privatisation and biopiracy Freedom of farmers to exchange and trade seeds Freedom to have acess to open source seed Freedom from genetic contamination and GMOs Freedom of seed to reproduce

Breeding tomorrows seed

Community based seed conservation and development Embedding in agricultural eco-systems Reduce greenhouse gas emission Eliminate and fase out toxic inputs Diversity within varities Breeding for food quality Women are the protagonists of biodiversity

Farmers' Rights in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
The realization of Farmers' Rights is a cornerstone in the implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, as it is a precondition for the conservation and sustainable use of these vital resources in situ as well as on-farm.

The Treaty recognizes the enormous contributions made by farmers worldwide in conserving and developing crop genetic resources. This constitutes the basis of Farmers' Rights. According to Article 9, governments are to protect and promote Farmers' Rights, but can choose the measures to do so according to their needs and priorities. Measures may include the protection of traditional knowledge, equitable benefit sharing, participation in decision-making, and the right to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds and propagating material

Farmers' Rights, as they pertain to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, are an issue of central importance in countries where most of the population lives in rural areas, their livelihoods based on farming - and particularly so when farming systems centre on traditional varieties. This is the case in most developing countries. In Northern countries, Farmers' Rights concern a much smaller segment of the population. Although most farmers in the North rely on commercial plant varieties, saving and re-use of propagating material is still practised to some extent, and among eco-farmers there is increasing interest in developing plant breeding based on traditional varieties. Thus, Farmers' Rights related to crop genetic diversity are also important in the North.