update - Getreidezüchtung Peter Kunz

Biodynamic
Plant Breeding
update
December 2010
Dear Friends,
As the year draws to its close, we are pleased to offer you an
overview of the current state of our breeding and research
projects. The report is brief; our website provides supplementary
information on many of the topics. Please feel free to call
us with whatever questions you may have!
The vegetation cycle of 2010 was rather peculiar. An extremely
warm and dry spring led to fast crop development. Some
cold and wet months followed, with strong growth mainly of
stalks and leaves. Next, there was another period of heat and
drought, but the first lots were barely ripe when rains set in so
heavily that in many areas the harvest was sprouting on the
ear.
Thanks to three non-stop marathons by two simultaneously
operating threshing teams we just managed to bring in our
experimental plots and bunches of ears before the next rain.
In the end, nearly 100 lots remained in the field and had to be
mulched after the third rainy period.
Discovering and unriddling the secrets of wheat breeding: visitors at Feldbach
on Lake Zurich on our open breeding nursery day, 3 July 2010.
HIGHLIGHTS 2010 – OUTLOOK 2011
1. In spite of very difficult harvesting conditions the Wiwa,
Scaro and Ataro wheat varieties yielded above-average harvest
results. Plant health, quality characteristics and resistance
to sprouting on the ear are stable at a very high level.
2. Our candidate varieties under official trial — Our wheat
AISC.3 and spelt EP1H.22 have shown very good results, as
expected.
3. The new maize project and the sunflower projects for the
breeding of varieties that produce their own seeds have had a
successful start and are now due to be intensified.
4. The cultivation of domestic grain legumes is shrinking dramatically
while the amount of imported soy for protein input
to poultry and pork production keeps expanding. We have
initiated a new project in response to questions regarding
breeding and cultivation.
5. The Zukunftstiftung Landwirtschaft (Foundation for an
Agricultural Future) of GLS Treuhand Bochum celebrated its
10th anniversary. Its Saatgutfonds (Seeds Fund) has been a
long-time financial supporter of GZPK. Best wishes and a great
thank you!
6. Sowing the Future! About 7,500 sowers took part in 77
events in nine countries: Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg,
Austria, France, Norway, England, the US and South Korea.
Sweden and Italy will join next year.
7. Important dates in 2011:
• Visit us on 24-27 February 2011 at the "Tier und Technik"
(Animals and Technology) exhibition in St Gallen: Special
show Sow Organic Cereals and Harvest the Future. We
are looking forward to your visit, together with BioSuisse,
Sativa Rheinau AG and further partners.
• Seeds Day at Gut Rheinau ZH on Saturday 25 June 2011,
topic: Conversion to Organic Farming.
• Open Breeding Nursery Day on Sunday 26 June 2011 at
Feldbach ZH. Take a look at our seed nurseries, experimental
fields with wheat, spelt, triticale, maize, sunflowers
and grain legumes.
Getreidezüchtung Peter Kunz Telefon +41 55 264 17 89
Verein für Kulturpflanzenentwicklung
Hof Breitlen 5, CH-8634 Hombrechtikon
E-Mail: getreidezuechtung@peter-kunz.ch
www.peter-kunz.ch

A LOOK AT CURRENT PROJECTS
Wheat: Peter Kunz, Anjana Pregitzer, Agnes Schätzl
We continue with our focus on the selection of high-quality
stable-yield varieties, in accordance with the processors' generally
high requirements and due to the fact that the Wiwa
variety has set new standards in this regard. Candidate AISC.3
has demonstrated the expected high yields during variety
trials with top grain formation and maximum Zeleny values.
This makes it a solid top variety. However, the strong emphasis
on quality characteristics is clearly at the expense of yield
volume. There is an increasing demand for yield-oriented
wheat varieties, particularly from farms in process of conversion.
Feldbach on Lake Zurich has proved to be a suitable site
for the testing of advanced lines. We have therefore re-sited
our breeding nurseries there, allowing
us to be "where the action is" at all
times. Procedures in the emerging
project of Varieties for extensive and
dry habitats have been simplified, to
allow for the assessment of a larger
number of particularly vigorous longstem
"XXL-lines". These are intended to
be equal to the Aszita and Tengri varieties
in yield and quality while outperforming
them in drought resistance.
Increasing attention will be paid to the
selection of red, purple and yellow
grain wheats (see illustration). Several
particular quality traits, like high anthocyanin or vitamin content,
are linked to these extraordinary grain colors. Such particularities
offer attractive features for processing and marketing.
Spelt: Catherine Cuendet, Franca dell‘Avo
During the Biodiversity Year, our focus was on diversity. It was
necessary again and again to point out that this is extremely
limited in the case of spelt. Widening its diversity range thus
remains one of the most prominent breeding goals.
Weather and soil conditions were very difficult, even for
rugged spelt. The crops at Grüningen were weakened by nematode
infestation, a serious handicap for selection. Rheinau,
in contrast, grew a top crop, which confirmed our conviction
that we have very good stock to work from.
There are numerous questions regarding the connection between
wheat and spelt, and the evolutionary history of spelt.
Much new insight has been gained in recent research, and
(European) spelt has been demonstrated to be a very young
cultural achievement, with its origin in Europe! The pertinent
literature has been compiled by Almuth Müllner; a corresponding
report is available on the GZPK website.
The official trial of candidates EP1H.22 and LBA.18 has been
completed; we are now expecting the notification of approval.
Triticale: Peter Kunz, Agnes Schätzl
Long and vigorous candidate varieties have always shown
convincing results in yield and resistance to sprouting on the
ear. Sativa Rheinau has planted a first small multiplication
plot. If things run according to plan, there will be sufficient
experimental seed available for extensive field tests by fall
2011.
BUNT-RESISTANCE BREEDING: Peter Kunz
Infestation by common bunt or stinking smut is a frequent
problem in wheat as well as in spelt. This project is being continued
in the same range as before. We aim for domestic varieties
that integrate the effective resistance to bunt which is
generally restricted to exotic varieties. For this purpose, 4327
lines resulting from 87 crossings were cultivated and exposed
to powerful infection pressure by artificial inoculation, with a
selection of 2160 healthy plants.
GRAIN LEGUMES: Peter Kunz, Franca dell‘Avo
This is a new set of topics, initiated in order to counteract the
dramatic decline in the domestic cultivation of protein crops
and the increasing imports of feed soy from South America.
11 varieties of field bean were sown in March, in 3 variants:
unmixed, intercropped with triticale and with oats. The variant
with triticale had the fewest weeds but significantly more
diseased leaves. All the varieties tested grew to between 140
and 230 cm in length and succumbed to a foehn gale in early
June.
For the purpose of pea variety screening, 36 different varieties
were planted, intercropped with the Tomba oat variety.
Two habits could be distinguished: a "leaf type" (with stipules,
tendrils and pinnate leaves) and a "semi-leafless type" (with
stipules, tendrils without pinnate leaves). No major differences
were observed in plant length and inception of blossoming,
however the the pinnate-leaved varieties did worse in stability,
as expected. In a semester project at HSL Zollikofen (an
agricultural college), Peter Suter conducted an experiment in
cultivation technology, investigating the question of additional
intercropping partners that might compensate for the pea's
onesidedness. The goal is to improve nitrogen fixation, but the
search is also on for plants that enhance soil fertility. In addition
to the oat, cress and false flax (gold-of-pleasure) were
sown, as well as several types of chicory, ribwort plantain,
carrots and flax. The extremely growth-promoting weather led
to a complete suppression of these smaller plants. The experiment
will be continued in an improved version next year.
Besides the experiments with various varieties, 129 F5-lines of
peas were sown and the best 45 to 50 of these were selected.
HQ-MAIZE FOR POULTRY FEED: Peter Kunz
We are working towards improving the protein quality and
content of maize, in collaboration with Walter Goldstein (Michael
Fields Agricultural Institute East Troy, US). This could
lead to an improvement in the European protein supply for
poultry and thus reduce dependency on overseas soy imports.
The rise in quality we aim for is equally relevant for human
diets. However, the most pressing needs are investments in
breeding (€ 50,000 per year) and analysis (approx. € 100,000).
BIOVERITA VARIETIES FROM ORGANIC BREEDING
Organically bred varieties and products based on these will
carry this logo in the future. It replaces the
emblem of Sativa, as this association has
been dissolved. You will soon be able to
find detailed information regarding the
goals and regulations of Bioverita at bioverita.ch.
GZPK will continue to work on the
basis of biodynamic principles, of course.
Translation: Ueli Hepp - u.hepp@bluewin.ch
Printed on FSC certified paper, produced from responsibly managed forests.

POPULATION VARIETY BREEDING OF SUNFLOWERS AND MAIZE
We consider it extremely important to breed sunflower and
maize population varieties that yield their own seeds for resowing.
On the one hand, it is crucial that farmers can maintain
their independence from the giant seed conglomerates in
a time of increasing market concentration; on the other hand
it is not sufficient to store existing old land varieties in gene
banks for years: in order to represent a realistic alternative to
hybrids and to make their contribution to a variegated, diversified
seed culture, they must be kept alive in a real sense,
developed purposefully or even re-created.
OP – MAIZE BREEDING
OPM 10: Peter Kunz
A limited quantity of experimental seed of the re-sowable
fodder and silage variety will be available under this name
next year, from Sativa Rheinau and from Bioland-
Handelsgesellschaft BW. In its juvenile development OPM 10
is equal to any hybrid variety, even in cool conditions. So far
cob production is lower and will need further improvement.
OP - Mais II: Anjana Pregitzer, Almuth Müllner, Peter Kunz
The "re-edition" of the maize breeding project begun in 2009
aims to intensify current efforts and to make use of recent
progress: We intend to develop two re-sowable types of use
(kernel and silage varieties) and to create a broad-base maize
population that can become a long-term biodiversity pool and
thus serve as the starting point for the development of new
population varieties.
Building on recent years' experience we expect our population
varieties to demonstrate a high performance similar to that of
hybrids. After an intensive preparatory phase — consisting of
screening tests, the determination of genetic relationships
und the assembling of suitable hybrid varieties — the relevant
cross-breeding was done this year, laying the foundations for
new GZPK OP maize varieties.
The project also deals with numerous questions regarding the
development of appropriate methods; it is clear that the
classical procedures of controlled pollination and population
management for open pollination varieties must be further
developed. There is a serious backlog here, research efforts
having concentrated exclusively on advances in hybrid breeding
during the past 50 years.
MULTIPLICATION OF BASIC AND BREEDING SEEDS
The multiplication of breeding seed for Switzerland as well as
all the basic seed multiplication are organized and carried out
by Sativa Rheinau AG www.sative-rheinau.ch. In spite of increasing
demand at home and abroad, the production of basic
seed does not cover its costs. The market for organic seed is
still too small, the multiplication acreage will have to increase
further.
In Germany, seed multiplication is handled by several regional
multiplication organizations and multiplication farms, which
are coordinated by Thomas Leiginger of Bioland Handelsgesellschaft
Baden-Württemberg www.bioland.bw.de. In spite
of the difficult weather conditions during harvest, the germination
capacity of the seed material was very high.
SUNFLOWERS: Robert Ineichen, Florian Burkard, Peter Kunz
Even for organic cultivation the only varieties available are
conventional hybrids from Syngenta or Pioneer. It is the goal
of our sunflower projects to develop practicable alternatives
within 6 to 8 years: re-sowable varieties for three different
purposes. 1. Nutritionally high-grade oil sunflowers for cold
pressing are high in polyunsaturated oleic acids. Their oil has a
correspondingly limited storage life. 2. Oil from "High oleic"
sunflowers contains more than 80% oleic acid; it is stable and
therefore heatable. The use of such oils in frying and in cosmetics
is expanding. Companies like Weleda AG participate in
the project and provide financial and analytical support. 3.
Green manuring is another area where only hybrids are available.—
52 sets of offspring have been evaluated this year, and
300 single-seed descendants were selected for high oleic content
as well as further particular properties.
NO MORE SPONSORING OF SEED MULTI-NATIONALS !
Wherever conventionally bred varieties are deployed or
processed, the giant seed corporations are heavily crossfinanced,
along with their often non-biocompatible goals. For
each hectare of wheat the breeding corporations’ coffers pile
up 10 to 15 Euros, 3 to 4 Euros per ton of processed flour and
about 10 cents for each kg of bread. It would be a big step if
all organic farms and processors asked for organically bred
varieties and participated in their financing. Collaboration
among breeders, cultivators and processors means sharing
the responsibility for the future of our crop plants.
COOP – SUSTAINABILITY FUND
Since 2003 the Swiss COOP bakeries have been processing
organically bred cereals into specialty products and their
Bread of the Month. In addition the COOP Sustainability Fund
has been supporting cereal breeding programs with generous
financial contributions. This has greatly aided the expansion of
GZPK breeding and multiplication programs.
VARIETY PROJECTS IN GERMANY
The 2010 harvest of new varieties has again been warmly
welcomed by millers and bakers; its quality continued to be
above average, while some of the traditional varieties failed
miserably. The tegut-Herzberger bakeries distinguish themselves
with wheat and rye bread that is marked "from biodynamically
bred grain." However, it has not been possible so far
to obtain financial support for the breeding effort that created
the underlying varieties.

SOWING THE FUTURE! — increasingly popular.
There were 77 events in eight countries. About 7,500 sowers
showed the flag for a forward-looking agriculture free of genetic
engineering. Austria, France, Norway and South Korea
had their first sowing events; Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg,
the UK and the US participated again. The German,
Austrian and Luxembourg events were coordinated by local
Demeter and Bioland organizations. The season closed on 31
October at Feldbach on Lake Zurich, with 75 participants.
Swiss National Councilor Marlies Bänziger (chairperson of the
Zurich Green Party) described sustainable agriculture as an
insufficiently noticed and underappreciated cultural accomplishment
for the benefit of our society. Freedom from genetically
modified crops as a part of Swiss quality production
should be written into law beyond the current moratorium.
The newly designed internet site www.avenirsem.ch offers
global information concerning all Sowing the future! events.
Expenditures will again outbalance revenues from donations
by private persons and foundations. Materials cost a great
amount, and the funding gap is covered by the total accounts
of the promoters, Getreidezüchtung Peter Kunz and the Fondation
L'Aubier Montezilleon www.aubier.ch.
Rounding off the season: the year's final Sowing the future! event took place
on our fields at Feldbach ZH.
GZPK IN-HOUSE: HOF BREITLEN, FELDBACH, COLLABORATORS
The problem of tight quarters has been considerably alleviated
thanks to additional rooms rented from our neighbor.
The new space serves as an office, conference room and
lounge. The Feldbach premises are mainly used for storage
and as a machine depot. The constantly growing operation, in
terms of staff and number of projects, requires some serious
infrastructure planning for the coming years, with corresponding
investments; the space available will soon be insufficient.
We were assisted this year by Markus Johann and Röbi Ineichen,
our interns Jani Leinonen, Mechthild Sonneborn, Anette
Haak and Florian Burkard (who will attend to the sunflowers
next year), and by the many volunteers who supported us
during harvest and in the labs. Patrizia Loggia and Michel
Bossart take some of the office load off Peter Kunz.
There are still 2 to 3 vacancies for interns for the summer,
either from July to September or from July to October 2011.
BIOSUISSE SUPPORTS BREEDING EFFORTS .
On 17 November the BioSuisse Assembly of Delegates resolved
to make CHF 150,000 available for the support of independent
breeding efforts, in addition to a supportive donation
of CHF 70,000 to GZPK okayed by the BioSuisse Steering
Committee in spring. This clearly illustrates the growing trust
in biodynamic breeding and the increasing appreciation of the
fact that we need to support specific alternatives if we want
to reduce agriculture's massive dependence on the powerful
seed corporations. This is also the first time that an organic
umbrella organization has made a powerful statement about
our common responsibility for the future of crop plants and
domestic animals! We hope these decisions mark the beginning
of a long-lasting productive cooperation.
FUND FOR CROP PLANT DEVELOPMENT
The Fund is recognized as a non-profit institution and aims to
enable long-term financing of ecological breeding projects by
means of donations and bequests. These may be in the form
of financial support or tangible assets. For more information,
see www.fondskulturpflanze.ch or phone 0041 55 264 17 88.
FINANCING THE GZPK: BUDGET 2011
The major worry in the course of this year was the damatic
plunge of the Euro from CHF 1.56 to below 1.30, as a large
portion of our license income and contributions to the Fund
are in this currency. Add to this the negative answers from
potential sponsors of current and future projects, and the
expected income has melted overnight. Staff costs (65% of
total outlay) are clearly below budget by year's end, even
though salary adjustments would have been truly urgent. On
the basis of current accounting data, we expect a deficit.
Total outlay for 2011 is calculated at CHF 755,000
(EUR 580,000) for operating expenses. In addition to salary
adjustments there is a need for infrastructure investments.
Current commitments amount to just under one fifth. Income
from variety licenses represents about 8% of total expenditure.
All this means that GZPK continues to depend crucially
on a continuous flow of donations as well as large contributions
from foundations and endowments, in spite of its remarkable
success. All our projects pursue long-term goals and
are in no way profit-oriented. The additional need for the new
maize, sunflower and grain legume projects is estimated at
CHF 190,000 (EUR 150,000).
For many years over 250 private donors have supported us
faithfully with regular financial contributions. Many hearfelt
thanks to all of you!
DONATION ACCOUNTS OF GETREIDEZÜCHTUNG PETER KUNZ
The association is recognized as non-profit. Commercial Register
Nr CH-020.6.000.558-4. Donations are tax-deductible. You
will receive a donation receipt at the end of the year.
CHF: PC 84-34345-2 Postfinance CH 3030 Bern (ClrNr 09000)
IBAN: CH59 0900 0000 8403 4345 2 / BIC: POFICHBEXXX
EUR: Kto 4013 396 700 (BLZ 430 609 67) GLS Bank Bochum
IBAN: DE47 4306 0967 4013 3967 00 / BIC: GENODEM1GLS
Many thanks for your support!
Hombrechtikon ZH
For administration and team:
31 December 2010 Peter Kunz