Agrobiodiversity under threat: Coalition criticizes EU seed system policy and pushes for urgent review

A coalition consisting of 200 farmers, breeders, seed savers, and environmental organizations has criticized the current seed system policy in Europe, claiming that it needs urgent review and should not be backed by the European Council in its current form because it doesn’t allow key agri-food stakeholders to conserve and develop crop diversity in Europe.

EU member states are entering the final phase of negotiations on the Regulation on the Production and Marketing of Plant Reproductive Material (PRM), a proposed EU legislative framework intended to replace and modernize a large set of older directives that currently govern seeds, seedlings, cuttings, and other forms of plant reproductive material across the EU.

The EU claims its new plant and forest reproductive material law targets plant health, genetic diversity, and the quality of reproductive material, while aiming to harmonize rules across member states so that companies can market seeds and other PRM consistently. It’s also designed to improve traceability and labeling, while supporting sustainability, food security, and resilience to climate change.

Raising the alarm

However, the coalition believes that critical safeguards for agrobiodiversity and farmers’ rights are not a big enough part of the current PRM proposals, and a review is needed. It has now raised concerns directly with EU agricultural ministers via a joint letter.

Many believe the current PRM draft risks tightening the regulatory framework around non-commercial, diversity-enhancing activities, rather than protecting them.

Ahead of tomorrow’s talks, Magdalena Prieler, a seed law expert with Arche Noah, an Austrian non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and cultivation of plant diversity, especially traditional and rare crop varieties, speaks to Food Ingredients First.

The meeting on November 28 will be followed by a Coreper mandate in mid-December, which would conclude the Council’s internal process.

“Agrobiodiversity is our insurance. Open-pollinated, adaptable seeds help farmers deal with changed growing conditions and are therefore needed for long-term supply resilience. Less seed diversity means fewer colors, less taste, fewer regional specialities, and fewer vitamin-rich superfoods,” she says. 

“For both farmers and breeders, it is alarming that the Council’s position on plant reproductive material would disable many efforts to conserve plant genetic resources. We need to be able to use the entire genetic diversity we have both for farming today and for breeding for tomorrow.”

“The Council position would forbid the breeding of new, genetically diverse varieties of grains. Forbidding parts of the sector to innovate would be foolish and harmful for breeders, farmers, food producers, and consumers alike.”

A coalition believes that critical safeguards for agrobiodiversity and farmers’ rights are not a big enough part of the current Regulation on the Production and Marketing of Plant Reproductive Material.

Restoring farmers’ rights 

Prieler stresses that the proposed ban on breeding new conservation varieties, which are genetically diverse and adapted to different regions, could severely hamper regional food and beverage innovation.

“No matter if it is pasta or beer, regional specialities need seed diversity. Farmers have relied on seed exchange for Millennia and have created much of the diversity of cultivated plants available today. Their continued right to engage in on-farm breeding and dynamic management is essential to adapt plants to local growing conditions,” she says.

“Not only farmers, but also food producers and processors already face more and intensified climate shocks. Restricting the availability of seed diversity in what looks like shielding agro-chemical giants from competition by restricting innovation would further intensify the vulnerabilities, as farmers lack adaptable, resilient seeds that grow well without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.”

She adds that tomorrow’s decision could either safeguard farmers’ rights and seed diversity — or irreversibly restrict them. 

“Member states must choose wisely,” she concludes.

Eric Gall, deputy director of IFOAM Organics Europe, agrees that there is an urgent need for a framework review that better reflects the realities of organic and agroecological systems.

“It is essential that the future PRM legislation provide the legal space for a diversified seed market and for farmers to choose the cultivars best suited for their farming systems. For example, limiting conservation varieties to only certain crop species and to their region of origin will highly hamper the many organic and agroecological farmers and breeders who currently rely on them.”