How can we integrate variety evaluation methods, crop management and genetic improvement processes?

The joint and consistent development, over recent decades, of plant breeding programmes focused on improving productivity and of technical innovations designed to overcome factors limiting production has led to a significant and steady improvement in agricultural output. In the face of global changes, challenges relating to sustainable development and the diversification of market and societal expectations, an evolution of production systems is necessary. Given the coherence of production systems and the link between plant breeding and crop management, not only must variety evaluation take into account the increased diversity of production environments and the resulting assessment criteria, but the design of varieties must itself incorporate this diversity and the dynamics of socio-technical systems. We are being called upon to embrace a genuine paradigm shift. Whilst the practical arrangements for implementation still largely need to be put in place, numerous tools, in particular modelling, are already available and should enable current variety selection and evaluation networks to be efficiently supplemented.