Sebastian Kussmann

Research interest

In my PhD project I investigate how transdisciplinary approaches in plant breeding and seed production affect agrobiodiversity, linked to the concept of seed sovereignty. The experiments and analyses deal with breeding processes in organic plant breeding and the impact of the legal framework on breeding methods and the use of agrobiodiversity in agricultural practice in Switzerland and parts of the EU. Model crops of the experiments are field pea and winter wheat.
In a first part, the effects of cooperation between plant breeding, farmers and processors on the setting and prioritisation of breeding targets will be investigated in a three-year on-farm trial network. In a second trial with wheat, factors influencing the acceptance of wheat variety mixtures in cultivation and processing will be analysed. In a third part, the effects of the legalisation of heterogeneous plant genetic material on breeding methods in organic plant breeding are analysed.
I work at external pageGetreidezüchtung Peter Kunzcall_made / Legume Breeding Department, Prof. Johanna Jacobi supervises my PhD thesis at ETH Zurich. The project is co-financed by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland.

 

Work experience

2020/today Grain legume breeder, Getreidezuchtung Peter Kunz, Switzerland
2019 Intern forage crop breeding, Agroscope, Switzerland
2017/18 Visiting researcher, Mountain Society Research Institute, UCA, Tajikistan
2016/17 Work in horticulture, Manas Social Village, Kyrgyzstan
2015/16 Intern wheat and maize breeding, Forschung & Züchtung Dottenfelderhof, Germany
2011/12 Civil service, Social institution, Georgia

Education

2016 - 2019 MSc Plant Breeding (part time), Wageningen University, The Netherlands
2014 - 2015 Exchange student (one semester), University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
2012 - 2016 BSc Agronomy, University of Kassel, Germany