Changes in regulations for national listing of common wheat varieties intended for Organic Agriculture
At its meeting on 23 July, the CTPS cereals group validated changes in the VCUS testing procedure for new varieties of common wheat intended for organic agriculture (OA). The procedure will apply to new applications as of August 2020, and has been reviewed in consultation with OA stakeholders. Varieties requesting OA evaluation will be tested in the French OA network, and no longer in the conventional network. The OA network is based mainly on agricultural development. The varieties’ behaviour with regard to major pests and diseases will be observed in specific trials (as for conventional varieties). A new bunt test, recently developed in a research project led by GEVES and supported by CASDAR*, will be mandatory.
The testing procedure for the national listing of durum wheat variety for organic farming was also approved at this meeting.
In addition, the new technical regulation for national listing is in the process of being approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and is now available online (French version only).
*CASDAR = Research projects funded by the French Ministry of Agriculture
