ECOBREED participatory trials as valuable tool for farmer involvement in soybean breeding process

Abstract

As a part of the ECOBREED project, farmer participatory trials for organic soybean production were set up in Serbia, Germany, Romania, Austria and Slovenia (seasons 2021 and 2022). By setting up trials direct with organic producers, it was enabled that farmers assess the adaptability of the soybean varieties for organic production in specific agro-ecological conditions at their farm locations. This is one practical tool that enables organic producers to contribute and to be involved in the process of creating new soybean varieties, especially in crops composite population (CCPs) observations together with breeders. ECOBREED farmer participatory trials for organic soybean comprised field testings of soybean varieties from three breeding institutions from Serbia, Austria and Romania (Serbia-Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Austria-Saatzucht Gleisdorf, Romania-NARDI-Funduela). The network of organic participatory farms was established in 2021 at 17 locations in 5 European countries.