Safeguarding and Valorising European Vegetable Biodiversity Through the Registration of Amateur Varieties: A Critical Analysis

The demand for uniform and high-yielding vegetable varieties has contributed to the erosion of vegetable biodiversity and the marginalisation of locally adapted plant genetic resources (PGR) and landraces that do not meet conventional registration standards. This review critically examines the European Amateur Varieties (AVs) regime as a regulatory pathway for the formal marketing and potential circulation of locally adapted PGR, including landraces. Based on the European Common Catalogue (CC), 1284 AVs were identified, representing 5.5% of all vegetable varieties listed in the CC. Registrations were unevenly distributed across countries and maintainer codes (MCDs); France accounted for 23.1% of European AVs, followed by Germany (20.2%) and the Netherlands (13.6%). Private entities accounted for 78.1% of AV registrations, while public institutions and third-sector organisations accounted for the remainder, indicating that the regime serves multiple functions, including the formal marketing of niche-oriented varieties and the circulation of locally adapted material. A detailed analysis of Italian AVs further clarifies this pattern: of the 85 AVs registered in Italy or by Italian maintainers abroad, 78.8% were commercial varieties or F1 hybrids, while 21.2% were local landraces. In addition, 38.9% of the 72 AVs registered in the Italian national register were associated with maintainers based abroad, mainly in Israel, Spain, and Japan. Overall, the AV regime provides a flexible but quantitatively limited pathway for the formal marketing of diverse vegetable material. Its contribution to landrace conservation remains selective and should be considered complementary to, rather than a substitute for, the Conservation Varieties (CV) regime and wider measures supporting seed multiplication, on-farm cultivation and local value-chain development.