As climate change reshapes agriculture across Europe, resilient and regionally adapted seeds are more essential than ever. At SeedLinked , we’re proud to contribute to this future through our collaborative work in Portugal as part of the EU-funded LiveSeeding project, a multi-country effort to boost organic seed sovereignty and participatory breeding.
In Portugal, we are working alongside:
- Living Seeds- Sementes Vivas , a certified organic seed company leading breeding efforts for drought-tolerant open-pollinated tomato varieties. Their focus is on selecting lines that thrive under low-input, low-irrigation systems while delivering high yield and flavor. Micha Groenewegen
- @ESAC (Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra) and INIAV (Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária), who coordinate citizen science and farmer trials, engaging a broad network of growers across diverse microclimates.
Trial Design & Protocol:
In 2024, over 30 farmers and gardeners in Portugal participated in trials evaluating tomato populations and breeding lines for:
- Flavor (rated 1-5 on sweetness, acidity, complexity, and texture)
- Vigor and yield under drought stress
- Days to maturity and fruit size
- Resistance to blossom end rot and cracking
Participants used the SeedLinked platform and mobile app to:
- Log planting and harvest dates
- Enter trait ratings during and post-harvest
- Upload photos of fruits and plants for collective analysis
Early Insights (2024 Season):
- Varieties bred by Living Seeds- Sementes Vivas under dryland conditions outperformed several commercial checks in terms of fruit set under heat stress, with up to 20% higher yield in low-irrigation plots.
- Participatory flavor evaluations revealed strong consumer preference for two heirloom-derived lines, with over 80% of participants ranking them 4 or 5 on a 5-point flavor scale.
- One standout line showed early maturity (65 DTM) combined with good drought performance, making it a top candidate for further selection and potential release.
LIVeseeding has enabled the deployment of the SeedLinked platform across the EU, now translated into eight languages, making collaborative, climate-smart breeding more accessible than ever before.
This vision—and the use of SeedLinked—is now taking root across Europe. From soybean and cereal breeding in Poland, to tomato selection in Austria, wheat development in the Netherlands, germplasm characterization in Germany and Switzerland, and carrot and radish trials in France, the LiveSeeding project is fueling a decentralized, farmer- and citizen-led seed movement that is reshaping the future of organic seed systems in European agriculture.
Flavor. Drought tolerance. Co-creation.