Ecology and Farming 47 builds on the aims of IFOAM's First International Conference on Organic Animal and Plant Breeding – Breeding Diversity, held in Santa Fe, USA in August 2009: to raise awareness of the importance of the sustainable development of new, successful seed varieties and animal breeds for organic production. This collection of scientific articles addresses a range of topics from a diversity of angles, from debates around definition, to GMOs, biodiversity and to small-scale seed production.