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1st International IFOAM Conference
on Organic Animal and Plant Breeding
- BREEDING DIVERSITY - |
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Sante Fe, NM, USA; August 25-28, 2009
Draft Position on Seed was discussed at the conference!
Follow this link for up-to-date information on the Seed Position Paper
The Breeding Diversity Conference brought together animal and plant breeders, seed savers, producers, consumers, governments and intergovernmental agencies, researchers and universities from around the globe.
Organic breeding includes efforts of both professional companies involved in the organic market, as well as participatory farmers’ initiatives from all around the world. The conference aimed at encouraging the dialogue between commercial and subsistence farmers; scientists and practitioners; professional farmers and hobby gardeners/animal keepers in order to:
- foster organic animal and plant breeding
- assess organic animal and plant breeding standards
- build and strengthen breeding networks
- assess legal/legislative frameworks surrounding breeding
- exchange the latest results of breeding research and trials
Click here to see key note speakers Vandana Shiva and Pat Mooney addressing the participants in Sante Fe.
In beautiful Santa Fe, an epicentre of art and culture and traditional farming systems, participants were also reminded of the importance of capturing cultural values in organic breeding. Santa Fe, in the Southwest of the US, has a very active Slow Food, Farmer Market, Gardening, Organic breeding and farming and Culinary movement. There is also a very strong traditional agriculture movement amongst the northern Native American tribes of New Mexico, who have an active traditional agriculture movement and seed sovereignty plan. More information: http://www.santafe.org/
The conference's Sponsored Participants Program enabled IFOAM to bring together voices of the North and the South to generate a broad overview of all the endeavors for a more democratic, innovative, and ecologically sustainable breeding industry. Through the fusion of traditional breeding knowledge and newly developed organic breeding methods, there was a vast opportunity for intercultural learning. Over 15% of participants were sponsored (21 in total), and among these individuals a strong regional and gender balance was achieved.
Three tours were offered during the conference:
Tour 1: Visit to the small Pueblo of Picuris
Tour 2: Visit to the Plant Demonstration Plot at Seeds of Change Farm
Tour 3: Visit to the Farmers' Market and surrounding organic farms
 IFOAM is very grateful our co-organizers at Seeds of Change, especially Marc Cool and Laura Sheppart, who provided invaluable help with on-site logistics, as well as generous financial support.
The conference tour to the Seeds of Change Organic Research Farm and Gardens just North of Santa Fe was also a profound inspiration to many Breeding Conference participants.
The conference was an important milestone toward developing alternatives to mainstream breeding and reproductive technologies. The expression of many years of hard work and determination, it was also a springboard to continue working to achieve an integrated, sustainable organic breeding of plants and animals. Through the conservation and promotion of Agro-Biodiversity of both animal and plant genetic resources, organic agriculture will again prove to be a viable alternative to genetically modified organisms.
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