The final conference of the EU-funded Horizon 2020 INVITE project, held on 10 December in Brussels, marked the successful conclusion of a 5.5-year journey dedicated to advancing innovations for plant variety testing in Europe. Organized jointly with the sister project funded under the same call, InnoVar, this event brought together researchers, government authorities, plant breeders, policymakers, and stakeholders to reflect on the achievements of both projects and discuss the future of plant breeding and agricultural sustainability. Organized by Arcadia International with the support of Euroseeds, the conference marks a milestone in the field of plant variety testing.
Key achievements of the INVITE project:
Under the coordination of François Laurens from INRAE, the INVITE project has made substantial progress in enhancing the efficiency and quality of variety testing for a diversity of crops such as apple, fodder grass, wheat, sunflower, soybean, maize, potato, tomato, oil seed rape, and lucerne, which resulted in the following three notable achievements:
– Development of bioindicators for climate resilience
– Introduction of advanced phenotyping and genotyping tools
– Recommendations for improving variety testing performance
Key advancements presented at the conference included the development of trait-specific markers for tomatoes, enabling more accurate variety identification, and the creation of a reference collection for heterogeneous crops. Innovative phenotyping approaches, such as drone-based estimation of plant height and biomass in ryegrass and a mobile app for assessing fruit characteristics in tomatoes, were also highlighted. These innovations, leveraging genomics, phenomics, and machine learning, aim to advance the development and market release of improved and competitive plant varieties in Europe for agriculture.
Collaboration with the sister project InnoVar on wheat
The InnoVar project presented its groundbreaking innovations, particularly in the testing of wheat varieties. By collaborating with INVITE, both projects showcased the potential for integrating their tools and methodologies to maximize impacts for plant variety testing.
Keynote address by MEP Herbert Dorfmann about legislative actions
Mr. Herbert Dorfmann is Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur for the legislative proposal on the production and marketing of plant reproductive material in the Union that was published by the Commission on 5 July 2023. He delivered a keynote address emphasizing the strategic importance of sustainable agriculture for food security. “Agriculture has never been as crucial as it is today, given the global challenges we face,” Dorfmann stated, highlighting the role of the revised EU seed marketing legislation in balancing innovation with sustainability.
Multi-stakeholder panel discussion on the future of plant variety testing
A highlight of the conference was the stakeholder panel moderated by Jean-Paul Judson (NOWMORE), featuring diverse perspectives from policymakers, industry representatives, and researchers. Panelists included Herbert Dorfmann (European Parliament), Philippe Lesigne (Bayer), Thor Kofoed (Copa-Cogeca), Jean Maison (Community Plant Variety Office), Monika Messmer (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL), Päivi Mannerkorpi (European Commission), François Laurens (INRAE), and Lisa Black (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute).
Key elements from the panel discussion:
– Future-proof legislation: The new EU plant reproductive material (PRM) legislative proposal aims to balance innovation with sustainability, fostering resilience and adaptability in plant breeding. Päivi Mannerkorpi noted, “It is important to look not only at productivity but also at the resilience of a variety, which contributes to sustainability.”
– Sustainability in variety testing: Thor Kofoed emphasized the need for information provided to farmers about sustainability traits, and Philippe Lesigne called all relevant actors to aim for a common understanding and hence alignment of sustainability characteristics to enable transformative change in plant variety testing and to foster competitive agriculture in Europe.
– Fast-tracking innovation: Accelerated breeding cycles and cost-efficient testing were deemed critical to bringing faster resilient varieties to the farming community in Europe. Jean Maison remarked, “The time and cost efficiency are very important to advance the system.”
– Global outlook: Sustainability is a global priority requiring unified approaches. Philippe Lesigne stressed the importance of leveraging INVITE as a pilot to better understand relevant characteristics for evaluation.
– Organic sector: Monika Messmer underscored that improved harmonization and flexibility in the PRM legislative proposal is needed for varieties that could be used in organic agriculture.
– Enhanced collaboration: Exchanges among researchers, farmers, breeders, and examination offices are deemed essential for fostering innovation in variety plant variety testing and advancing concrete solutions to the benefit of agriculture and society.
Concluding remarks
The coordinator François Laurens shared his reflections on INVITE’s achievements, including the development of a variety testing database prototype, tools tailored to Europe’s diverse agricultural systems and the collaboration with InnoVar. Laurens noted that the diversity of outputs will have a long-lasting impact on plant variety testing in Europe, paving the way for a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future.
Participation and future outlook on plant variety testing
The conference attracted significant interest, with over 123 participants registering and up to 83 actively following online discussions. This high level of engagement underscores the growing demand for innovation in plant variety testing, particularly at the variety registration stage.
The INVITE and InnoVar projects highlighted that the research, tools, and partnerships they have cultivated will undoubtedly facilitate future advancements in the plant breeding and testing process and as of consequence contribute to agricultural sustainability.
Project outputs are available online!
All the presentations from the conference are available on the INVITE project’s website. Project posters summarizing the research conducted throughout the project can be viewed here.
Video interviews with project partners sharing the results of their work can be viewed on the INVITE YouTube channel.
