ACCESS TO PLANT VARIETIES IN THE ARCTIC AGRICULTURE Greenland Faroe Islands Iceland Northern Norway Northern Sweden Northern Finland Canada Russia Overview Seed sector, -Survey - NordiGen
Grass for animal feed
Strawberries
Barley and other cereals Carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, radish, onion and other vegetables Red currant, Black currant, Gooseberries, Raspberries and others Rhubarb, hops and other herbs and spices
RICH PICTURE OF TODAY S SEED SECTOR A consolidation in seed sector is ongoing. Public breeding decreases Private enterprises focuses on major crops resulting in termination of breeding programs in minor crops and marginal regions. What is minor crops? What is marginal regions?
SWEDEN AS EXAMPLE: SINCE THE 1960S BREEDING HAS TERMINATED IN THE FOLLOWING CROPS Agricultural crops: White mustard, Flax, Fibre-hemp, False flax, Poppy, Swede, Turnips, Fodder beet, Fodder sugar beet, Fava bean, Soya bean, Vetch, Blue lupine, Dry bean, Grey pea, Soup pea, Smooth brome, Field brome, Swamp meadow-grass, Late meadow grass, Hybrid ryegrass, and Redtop. Vegetables: Except for wrinkle pea the vegetable breeding in Sweden has terminated for all crops. This includes Bean, Broad bean, Cabbages, Onion, Leek, Carrot, Parsnip, Parley, Radish, Garden beet, Celery, Dill, Lettuce, Spinach, Tomato, Cucumber, Melon, and Sweet pepper. Sources: The official variety lists from the National Plant Variety Board in Sweden (NPVB 1952, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2007, and 2013)
OVERVIEW OF PLANT BREEDING FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE BY 2013. Country Company/Institute Crops Sweden Denmark Lantmännen Syngenta Seeds Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Sejet Plant Breeding Nordic Seed DLF Trifolium LKF Vandel Barley, oat, winter wheat, spring wheat, spring oilseed rape, forage grasses, red clover, white clover, Lucerne Sugar beet Potato, Fruit, Berries Barley (both spring and winter types), winter-wheat Barley, winter-wheat Forage grasses, red clover, white clover, fodder beet. Potato Finland Boreal Barley, oat, rye, spring-wheat, winter-wheat spring turnip rape, spring oilseed rape, pea, fava bean, potato, forage grasses, red clover Norway Graminor Barley, oat, spring-wheat, potato, forage grasses, red clover, white clover, Lucerne, fruits (Apples, Plum) and berries ( (strawberry, raspberries). Iceland Agricultural University of Iceland Barley, timothy, white clover
FOCUS ON THE ARCTIC - A SURVEY A online survey was sent to institutions working in the Arctic region. We presented claims about breeding efforts and variety testing. They could respond on a scale from 1 to 5 from strongly agree to strongly disagree to the claims. Number of responses - country Canada Finland Iceland Faroe Islands Sweden Norway 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
There is a proper plant breeding for the Arctic? There is a proper testing of varieties for the Arctic? 18 20 16 18 14 16 12 10 8 6 14 12 10 8 6 4 4 2 2 0 Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree 0 Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
NORDIC CO-OPERATION IS IMPORTANT A Nordic co-operation on plant breeding for the Arctic region is important? A Nordic co-operation on variety testing for the Arctic region is important? 35 40 30 35 25 30 20 15 25 20 15 10 10 5 5 0 Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree 0 Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
WHAT (CAN) WE DO? Create an Arctic bridge Connecting communities across borders and disciplines Breeding enterprises, research institutions, farmers communities, NGOs Co-work on variety testing, breeding, research Sharing experience Public Private Partnership on pre-breeding
KEY ISSUES Long-term commitment and funding Involvement of stakeholders How to include different forms of expertise Nordic Synergy Knowledge exchange Variety testing Plant breeding Seed legalization
NORDIC GENETIC RESOURCE CENTER Crops Farm animals Forestry Running a common Nordic genebank Operating Svalbard Global Seed Vault
WHAT DOES A GENEBANK DO? Aquasition of seeds (or living plants) Conservation (ex situ) Characterization and evaluation Documentation Distribution
Ex situ genebank conservation system Seed dried to app. 5% humidity Stored in sealed al-bags Drying room at 10 degrees C and 10 % RH 3or 4 layers of PE and Al Stored at -18 C ----- Safety back-up at Svalbard
Collections: # of samples Cereals 17.532 Vegetables 6.446 Fodder crops 5.067 Oil crops 1.554 Potatoes 90 Herbs and spices 350 Ornamentals 100 TOTAL 32.000
NORDGEN ANNUAL DISTRIBUTIONS (2013) Private Production Training Conservation Research Breeding 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
MATERAL TRANSFER AGREEMENTS Conventi on on Biological Diversity (1992) Interna tional Treaty (2001) Kalmar Declar ation (2003) Standard Material Transfer Agreement FAO (2007) AEGIS smta All species (Dec 2008) Online ordering (2009)
Arni Bragason Svein Øivind Solberg Senior Scientist Thanks to: Nordregio for project funding Áslaug Helgadóttir, Sigridur Dalmannsdóttir, Rólvur Djurhuus, Aqqalooraq Frederiksen, Arni Bragason and Magnus Göransson for scientific input