The Effects of Interventions Targeting Increased Organic Seed Use—The Cases of Perennial Ryegrass in England and Durum Wheat in Italy

Eva Winter,Francesco Solfanelli,Christian Grovermann,Joachim Aurbacher,Stefano Orsini

doi:10.3390/su132313326

Abstract

To meet policy goals targeting increasing the share of organic agriculture, an organic seed needs to be provided. Currently, this is far from being the case. This study investigates two cases of important crop country combinations in organic agriculture, namely perennial ryegrass in South-West England and durum wheat in Italy. A novel multi-agent value chain approach was developed to assess public and private-sector interventions aiming at increasing organic seed use. Phasing out of derogations for non-organic seed comes with 2–7% gross margin losses at the farm level. Seed producers and breeders profit by 9–24%. Mitigating measures can be subsidies of 28 €/ha or price premiums of 12 €/ton at the farm gate for durum wheat, in the case of durum wheat in Italy, and subsidies of 13 €/ha or price premiums of 70 €/ton for lamb meat, in the case of perennial ryegrass in England. Further mitigating measures are the promotion of farm-saved durum wheat seed and investments in breeding for better nitrogen efficiency in organic perennial ryegrass seed production.

Highlights

The governmental goal to increase the organic land area in Europe has become a priority in the European Union (EU) policy agenda to facilitate a sustainable food system transformation
We focus on specific crops and countries because the implementation of the EU organic regulation concerning the derogation system regarding the categorisation of species and sub-species differs between countries [4]
This study addresses a dual research gap: first, it presents a novel approach for quantitative ex-ante value chain analysis; second, this approach is applied to test interventions aiming at increased organic seed use and production, a topic where little information is currently available, and which is of growing importance in the light of changing policies

Summary

Introduction

The governmental goal to increase the organic land area in Europe has become a priority in the European Union (EU) policy agenda to facilitate a sustainable food system transformation. An example is the Farm-to-Fork strategy of the EU [1], which sets the ambitious goal to increase the organic land area in Europe by 25% by 2030. An essential aspect in the organic value chain that needs to be tackled simultaneously is the increase in organic seed use by organic farmers: a key principle of organic farming is that inputs need to be organic, including seeds. This is an unresolved challenge of the organic sector since organically multiplied seed use remains the norm for a small share of organic farmers. Addressing the unresolved issues relating to the organic seed sector has become as relevant as the new Organic Regulation (EC/848/2018), which will come into force from 2022 and envisages that all derogations for non-organic seeds will be phased out by 2036 [3]

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Conclusion