Connecting Community to Strengthen Organic Seed Breeding and Research

Project Director

Cara Loriz


Year Funded

2020


Award Number

2020-51300-32187


Funded Institution

Organic Seed Alliance


Grant Program

OREI (Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative)


USDA NIFA Report

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Project Overview

Since 2012, university graduate students have held an annual Student Organic Seed Symposium (SOSS) to provide networking, training, and career development opportunities for the next generation of organic seed scientists and professionals. The Organic Seed Alliance utilized this OREI conference grant to expand the scope of SOSS to engage a greater diversity of participants, reach a wider audience, and build a lasting network of students, academics, farmers, and seed professionals committed to strengthening the organic seed system.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the conference for a year, in July 2022, a SOSS conference was held at West Virginia University (WVU). The 62 participants included 24 students, seven WVU professors, and 31 others including breeders, researchers, industry professionals, and farmers. The event included presentations on the latest organic plant breeding and seed production research and discussions to identify plant breeding priorities.

Farmer Takeaways

(1) Events like the Student Organic Seed Symposium (SOSS) and the biennial Organic Seed Growers Conferences help train the next generation of plant breeders and seed professionals for organic systems.
(2) Organic farmers can play a key role in training students to better understand and address producer needs and priorities in their plant breeding endeavors.
(3) The Organic Seed Alliance seeks farmers to take part in collaboration with university scientists and students, OSA and other NGOs, and seed industry professionals in several ongoing organic plant breeding endeavors.

Project Outputs

2022 Student Organic Seed Symposium (SOSS) Presentation Abstracts and Summaries | Organic Seed Alliance

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