b'pulses, reduces the problems of weeds. Some heterogeneity does not necessarily mean increased difficulties in the management, harvesting or processing of the crops, Prohens says.ES: IS IT FAIR TO STATE THAT ALL BREEDING METHODS THAT DO NOT LEAD TO GMOS, CAN BE APPLIED IN ORGANIC BREEDING?Yes, why not? says Cardi. It should be clarified, however, that GMO is a legal term, that includes different things. In my opinion, all not transgenic GMOs should be applied in organic breeding. Both conventional and new approaches of mutagenesis are very close and undistinguishable, in terms of processes and results, to natural mutagenesis, he adds.Prohens acknowledges there is some debate about this, in particular with methods that are not known to occur in nature, like the development of doubled haploids from anther or micro-spore culture. However, the methods that are allowed will depend on the regulations applied on what is allowed or not in organic breeding and organic agriculture, he says.According to Gonzalez, organic growers and farmers cur-rently have access to and benefit from high quality seed devel-oped from a wide range of different breeding methods. He emphasizes that only few breeding programs are dedicated solely to the organic sector. Given the rather small size of some specific organic markets specifically, such exclusive dedication is not economically sustainable. Varieties for organic production therefore commonly derive from the same breeding programmes as their non-organic counterparts, Gonzalez says. Teodoro CardiExclusively organic breeding programmes are, based on the size of the sector, much smaller, thus more expensive, riskier (exposure of bred lines to diseases, pests, etc.) and consequently lengthier. Such an approach is contrary to the urgent needs of growersespecially organic growersto meet current and future agricultural challenges, such as climate change, Gonzalez adds.Euroseeds acknowledges that next to legislative rules and regulations, private definitions and standards may be developed and used as marketing tools by individual groups of economic operators in the organic market. Euroseeds underlines that a restriction of breeding methods for organic variety development would have significant consequences for all organic farmers and growers, says Gonzalez. For many crops, there will be less diversity and choice. For some species, even no organic seed will be available anymore. It should be said that varieties developed for or specifi-cally suitable for organic production generally are tested under respective organic growing conditions to verify that their per-formance meets the expectations of farmers and growers in practical production.ES: WILL ORGANIC VARIETIES BE ABLE TO REACH THE YIELD LEVELS OF CONVENTIONAL (NON-ORGANIC) VARIETIES? Despite the growing acreage of organic farming, yield on most organic farms is smaller than its conventional counterparts (ranging between 40% to 85% of yields in conventional farming1 , says Gonzalez. But for him this does not mean that on specific farms and under specific conditions, organic yields could not be the same or even higher. But certainly, not the vast majority. If the focus to develop organic farming is on increasing dedicated land instead of increasing yields, I fear this will slow down theJaime Prohensincrease of yields in organics, he adds.EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 25'