b'the feeling that we are going to miss a lot of potential to turn our agriculture and food system more sustainable, he adds.Plant breeding these days widely regarded as a key tech-nology, or at least as one important element to reduce pesticides and make our varieties fit for climate change. This awareness mounted in society since it had to decide about the two initiatives aimed to practically abandon the use of pesticides. The need of more robust varieties was widely discussed in Switzerland, explains Ochsenbein.Furthermore, we became aware that there is missing a broadly supported organization within the agricultural and food sector who promote proactively the discussion of a differentiated approach of regulation. There were the scientists, but this was not enough. If the sector wants to end up with a differentiated, credible and feasible regulation, it has to become proactive. Thats why we created this association, he adds.THE IMPORTANCE OF JOINING THE ASSOCIATIONFenaco is currently owned by 23,000 Swiss farmers. It is our responsibility as a cooperative to support them in the economic development of their businesses. Swiss agri-culture wants to play a pioneering role in terms of sustainable production methods. And this is also what the Swiss population expects, says Feitknecht. DSP is a small breeding organization states Ochsenbein. For us, it is not a goal to work with classic GMOs. On the other hand, we think that there is a lot of potential in genome editing and we should make this possibility available for at least some applications. Feitknecht notes that at the same time, the farmers must be able to produce the food as demanded by the market in the desired quality, quantity and consistency. And according to him, current plant breeding methods play a central role in this con-text. These methods can help us reduce the use of chemical pesticides or to better deal with the consequences of climateChristian Ochsenbeinchange. That is why we have been supporting the Professorship for Molecular Plant Breeding at ETH Zurich since 2015. And that is why we are a member of the newly founded association Sorten fr morgen, he adds. Swiss farmers. Because here too is a need for information and Ochsenbein states they see a lot of problems in the feasi- discussion with regard to the new breeding methods, he adds.bility of the current regulation. We currently make hundreds of crossings with germplasm all over the world each year. HowCRISPR IN THE TOOLBOXshould we guarantee that they are free of new breeding tech- According to Feitknecht, conventional plant breeding will con-nologies? Finally, we definitively became active after we hadtinue to play a central role. But notes that by adding the more to stop a research project evaluating a new mutation breedingprecise plant breeding methods using the CRISPR/Cas method, method. Our authorities decided to regulate the method as genespecific challenges relating to environmental protection can be technology, what was completely surprising us since there is noaddressed. In addition, harvest losses due to illness or weather transfer of DNA, he notes. can be reduced through more targeted and efficient breeding methods. Access to these new methods also means strengthen-DISTRIBUTING THE MESSAGE ing domestic breeding and promoting Switzerland as a location We would like to work with media, with public informationof agricultural research in general, he explains.events and in supporting politicians and stakeholders. We wouldOur challenges are great, says Ochsenbein. He notes that like to communicate good examples of the new breeding tech- agriculture of the future needs more robust varieties. The nologies and the results of 30 years of biosafety research in thismore breeding tools we have available, the more progress we area, says Ochsenbein.can expect. We think that we are not in a situation where we Feitknecht explains that the association will contribute tocan afford to generally prohibit new technologies. We think the dialogue in a fact-based and constructive manner, whichthat CRISPR has a potential to increase disease resistance or could be through position papers for the political opinion-form- to introduce resistance genes from wild relatives into breeding ing process, or interview or background discussion opportunitiesmaterial, he adds. He says that this would especially be inter-with experts. At Fenaco we focus on the fact-based communica- esting for species with long breeding cycles such as apples and tion of these positions for our employees and our members, thegrapevines or with complex genomes such as wheat.38IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'