Agroecology calls for a global approach, integrating scientific, practical, and advocacy dimensions, to redesign agricultural systems based on ecological and socio-cultural processes and emphasizing biodiversity. This review is grounded on the results of DIVERSIFOOD, a European H2020 multi-actor research project, and explores the concept of cultivated diversity using various dimensions relevant to foster sustainable organic food systems and agro-ecological transition. From the evaluation of underutilized genetic resources and forgotten crops, DIVERSIFOOD has proposed plant breeding strategies, on-farm experimentation, and statistical tools to create new populations, landraces, and organic cultivars with intra-varietal diversity. The added value of Community Seed Banks and forms of collective seed management in Europe have been described in terms of goals and activities, and their value for improving seed regulations, treaties, and genetic resources management is discussed. In the context of the current agro-food system characterized by standardization, DIVERSIFOOD raised awareness of qualities of ‘biodiverse food systems’ in which all actors have a role to play. It highlighted the critical capacity to preserve a diversity of cultural values embodied in ‘biodiverse products’, thereby involving consumers in collective strategies for reviving diversity, and empowering all actors of organic food systems to really and efficiently implement research within their farms and networks.

Farmer seed systems come in many shades: Conserving, producing, and using diverse plant material for different motives and purposes, whether the conservation or selection of locally adapted plant varieties and populations, or the safeguard of social bonds to secure economic stability and integration into rural communities. In Europe, strict seed marketing rules, by viewing any exchange of seeds as commercial exploitation, have first outlawed these farmer seed systems and the varieties conserved and developed in these systems, before carving out limited space for them as derogations to the main regime that remains based on mandatory variety registration and certified seed production. Examining these spaces in the legislation of the European Union (‘EU’) and Switzerland, along with their practical implications on the ground, the article shows the conceptual shortcomings of the EU legislation to fully address all the characteristics of farmer seed systems, especially to recognize farmers’ innovation. It exposes the need to carefully define, assess and adjust the underlying objectives of the future EU legislative effort to register farmers’ varieties or allow for their exchange, to fully represent and address the complex socio-economic values and diversity of farmer seed systems. The success of these endeavors will lie in the truthful representation, but also the engagement of farmers and social actors that not only conserve, but also dynamically manage agrobiodiversity.

In 1998, the European Union aimed to make the official Common European Catalogue of Plant Varieties more flexible and to mitigate the decline of agricultural biodiversity in European rural areas by introducing the Conservation Varieties Regime (CVR): a set of rules pertaining to local and/or traditional varieties cultivated in specific regions that are at risk of genetic erosion. This initiative was intended to permit the sale of those varieties that do not fully meet the distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) criteria required for the registration of standard varieties in the Common European Catalogue. In this review, we examine the impact of establishing the CVR 25 years after its first definition. As of the date of data collection, 191 conservation varieties were registered throughout Europe, representing only 0.88% of the total number of varieties included in the Common Catalogue. The most important countries are Spain, Italy and Croatia, which have, respectively, 57, 43 and 26 conservation varieties. The case study from Italy highlights that the CVR is poorly structured and is characterised by the initiatives of individual entities that take it upon themselves to protect and/or promote specific vegetable varieties. In this review, we discuss such data in relation to the protection and commercialisation of vegetable landraces in Europe. Overall, the CVR has failed to promote and enforce a dedicated market for all those varieties excluded from registration in the Common Catalogue due to DUS requirements.

Rice is the fourth most important crop in Italy with a growing area under organic management. We conducted a participatory evaluation of 21 rice cultivars (10 old, 10 modern and a mixture) in four organic/biodynamic farms, for two cropping seasons, to assess the extent of varieties × farms and varieties × years within farm interactions and farmers’ preferences. There were significant differences between farms and varieties, as well as large interactions between varieties and farms, particularly in the case of plant height and reactions to Fusarium fujikuroi Nirenberg (bakanae) and Magnaporthe oryzae B Cooke (leaf and neck blast), but also for grain yield. There were also large interactions between varieties and years, which resulted in considerable differences in stability among varieties with one of the old, one modern and the mixture combining high grain yield and stability. Farmers, regardless of gender, were able to visually identify the highest yielding varieties in a consistent way across years, and although accustomed to seeing uniform varieties, they scored the mixture higher than the mean. The results are discussed in the context of a decentralized-participatory breeding program, to serve the target population of heterogenous environments represented by organic and biodynamic farms.

This article enlightens the role of community seedbanks (CSBs) in Europe within the plant genetic resources for food and agriculture community and their role in the conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity in complementarity with the ex situ management system. For more than 40 years, CSBs around the world have emerged as part of the so-called informal seed system to counteract the loss of locally adapted varieties through the development of collective seed systems. Most of the studies and articles refer to experiences from the Global South, whereas a comprehensive analysis of the impact and role of CSBs on seed systems in industrialized countries is still missing. This paper provides three case studies describing the community seed banking experience of different European organizations: Pro Specie Rara (Switzerland), Arche Noah (Austria) and Rete Semi Rurali (Italy). These organizations exemplify the diversity among European CSBs and their efforts to engage with genebanks and the formal seed system.

Plant genetic resources (PGR) serve as the cornerstone for global varietal enhancement and food security. However, these resources face significant threats, including diversity erosion and extinction, are often inadequately conserved, and frequently remain inaccessible for practical use. Traditionally, PGR have been primarily conserved through population seed samples stored ex situ in genebanks. In contrast, complementary in situ techniques – whether involving crop wild relatives in genetic reserves or crop landraces on-farm – have largely remained experimental. The demand from breeders for a broader diversity is driving a more integrated approach that combines ex situ and in situ methods. This paper posits that such an integrated strategy would be mutually advantageous for PGR, biodiversity and farmer-based conservation communities. As a foundation for future PGR science, we propose the three 'Principles of PGR Conservation and Use Congruence' and outline the practical processes involved in in situ and on-farm conservation. We also review the challenges associated with integrating ex situ and in situ conservation, specifically addressing how collaborative resource management can be established, how potential resource users can access in situ and on-farm conserved PGR, how to promote user access to in situ conserved populations, and the progress made thus far in integrating in situ and ex situ efforts. While it is acknowledged that full integration may be unrealistic without adequate resources for Genetic Resource Centres and the rectification of skill gaps, the potential to significantly enhance the long-term, sustainable conservation of PGR diversity holds profound existential benefits for humanity in the 21st century.