“The cooperation works smoothly”

Monika Baumann has been working at Getreidezüchtung Peter Kunz (GZPK) in Feldbach in the canton of Zurich since 2015, and since the beginning of 2019 she has been its manager together with Herbert Völkle. GZPK is a pioneering organisation in biodynamic plant breeding and has worked closely with FiBL for many years.

Starting 40 years ago with wheat breeding, GZPK has held its own and continued to develop in a difficult market environment. What has kept you going for so long?

That's what I always asked founder Peter Kunz, how he has lasted for so long (laughs). I think it takes a great deal of idealism to do something like this. The people who work here want to work for organic breeding, for a more sustainable food system in Switzerland, and towards agriculture that allows us to have a desirable future as a society. It gives us a lot of freedom that we do not have to make profits or satisfy shareholders. That is what distinguishes us from the corporate world. The other side of the coin is that we often lack funds and basic financing.

To what extent is FiBL a real partner for GZPK in these efforts?

Even when I started here in 2015, I always perceived FiBL as an organisation that is building a bridge between science and practice. The joint project work with FiBL over the last ten years has been important for the organisation and funding. This created a cooperation, where both partners see eye to eye. The GZPK now also independently manages large projects in which FiBL partners, rather than the other way around.

What does such a cooperation look like?

A current joint project, for example, is ZESELE with Thomas Oberhänsli from FiBL, which my colleague Christine Scheiner is supporting. ZESELE stands for "Breeding to establish Swiss peas in agriculture and nutrition". FiBL is researching which pea genotypes are susceptible to stinging disease or to nanoviruses transmitted by aphids. It's fascinating how FiBL keeps an entire aphid colony under isolated environmental conditions for this purpose. We couldn't do that at our site. The project collaboration is very profitable for us because FiBL has better equipment and infrastructure to work out experiments scientifically and to develop the methodology, for example, to test how susceptible plants are via so-called artificial inoculation. However, the most important thing about the cooperation is that we look together at how we can put FiBL’s scientific basis into practice. We provide the breeding garden for this in the projects.

What do you consider the greatest joint successes?

During my time at the GZPK, the awareness of organic breeding has increased – at least in Switzerland. Of course, we would all like to see even more awareness. I believe that one factor for this was the cooperation and cohesion of the various partners from the network, from organic breeding to Bio Suisse and farmers. In everything we do, we can be sure that FiBL and especially Monika Messmer, head of the Plant Breeding Group, are considering us even when we are not on-site or less involved in a project. And so, we do it the other way around too.

What do the latest developments surrounding new breeding methods and new genetic engineering mean for the future of biodynamic breeding in general and the GZPK in particular?

It is a huge challenge for us; not necessarily the technology as such, but how to deal with it. The gene pool as the basis of our work must remain traceable. At the moment, however, it is still unclear whether varieties processed by means of new genetic techniques have to be declared. Plants grow in interaction with a complex environment, which is why we cannot foresee the effects of the technology.

What is your vision for future cooperation with FiBL?

That it continues as it does today. Especially in the collaboration with Monika Messmer and the FiBL team. The way we are set up today, the way we can pass the ball to each other, we are exploiting our potential to the fullest. Even today, the cooperation works smoothly. Quickly picking up the phone is all that is needed to initiate new ideas. That's how it should continue.

What are your wishes for FiBL?

I wish that FiBL – as it grows, which inevitably leads to change – can continue to rely on as many passionate people as we have here. It is precisely at that size when people with vision, foresight and the will to persevere are needed. And I wish that the blazing fire for organic farming does not go out. I am convinced that we have solutions for the common challenges. By the way, next year will be the 40th anniversary of the GZPK, which we will celebrate on 22 June 2024 with an open day for breeding gardens. I'm also looking forward to FiBL's congratulations!

Interview: Sabine Reinecke

This is a shortened version of an interview that appeared in issue 7/23 of the Bioaktuell magazine. It is available as a PDF in German, French and Italian.

Further information

Links

• orgprints.org: Interview in the Bioaktuell magazine (in German)
• orgprints.org: Interview in the Bioaktuell magazine (in French)
• orgprints.org: Interview in the Bioaktuell magazine (in Italian)