Inventory of initiatives on seeds of landraces in Europe

One of the objectives of the Farm Seed Opportunities (FSO), a research project in the FP6 European Research Framework (2007-2009), was to develop on farm breeding methodologies for the conservation and development of landraces, amateur and conservation varieties. The starting point for the development of these methodologies were the already existing experiences of farmers, small scale seed producers and researchers. To be able to draw on the expertise of these practitioners, an inventory of all known initiatives within the European Economic Area and five breeding initiatives were selected for in depth case-studies. Results are presented in this article.