Sustainability and vegetable varieties today and tomorrow

What is sustainability for vegetable varieties? Is it not simply the contribution of varieties to sustainable production systems? Today, in many vegetable varieties, the genetic resistance to diseases developed over the last 40 years means that vegetables can be marketed in protected volumes and with a quality that meets the expectations of the industry and consumers. All this while anticipating the development of new pests favoured in particular by international trade and climate change. And tomorrow, as climate change is set to increase, the cost of energy will play a greater role in economic models for production and supply chains. A new regulatory framework for inclusion in the Official Catalogue of Varieties published by the European Commission in the summer of 2023 proposes that, within a few years, the contribution of varieties to the sustainability of plant production, including vegetable production, should be studied before varieties are included in the Catalogue. What are the implications? How will this be implemented?