There is a critical need in organic agriculture to breed crop varieties adapted to organic production systems

Equally critical is the need to adapt to changing climatic conditions, through more decentralized testing and regional selection of varieties. We will build capacity among farmers, plant breeders and seed companies, to ensure that farmers' evolving needs and unique body of knowledge drive the development of the crop varieties made available to them. Advancements in real-time information sharing, decentralized participatory methodology, analysis tools for large datasets from heterogeneous environments, and techniques for facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration are necessary to equip organic plant breeders to succeed in serving organic farmers. In pursuit of these goals, the research and outreach objectives of this project are to: 1) build collaborative plant breeding and trialing capacity among midwest organic farmers, independent plant-breeders, organic seed companies, and organic inspectors via advanced training and an integrated community of practice; 2) release a suite of plant breeding tools in the new online platform seedlinked that facilitate collaboration among farmers, independent plant-breeders, organic seed companies, and organic inspectors; 3) develop and release varieties of sweet peppers and tomatoes exhibiting priority traits for upper midwest organic production using participatory methods and seedlinked to engage organic fresh-market vegetable farmers in the breeding process; 4) train a graduate student in participatory methods and breeding for organic systems; 5) promote regional breeding network development, and improved organic seed use across the country via online training opportunities and tools. The long-term success of organic farms in a changing climate and unpredictable agricultural market depends on a resilient seed system. Dynamic participation and frequent feedback should drive evolution and adaptation. In a robust seedsystem, short term goals (e.g. specific breeding objectives) are pursued in tandem with the long-term work of strengthening the relationships that nurture and enable collaboration. Effective decentralization requires capacity building for farmers and other actors who have not traditionally done variety trialing, plant breeding or seed saving. This project facilitates the development of improved plant breeding methods for organic agriculture. The project will strengthen relationships between farmers, public and private sector breeders, non-profit seed organizations, regional seed companies and organic certification agencies, to facilitate future collaborative breeding projects for organic agriculture.