Open Pollinated Seeds vs F1 Hybrid / GM Seeds — why it matters.
Amma said, in one of her recent webcasts, that we should grow ‘ancient’ seeds rather than modern ones. What does she mean by this?
There are three types of seed available on the market; open pollinated, F1 hybrid and genetically modified (GM). Open pollinated seeds are from plants that can pollinate naturally either through wind, animals, bees and insects, or are cultivated by growers who singled out their best most robust plants from the same species and allowed them to pollinate in order to preserve the particular traits that are best suited to their needs. F1 hybrid and GM seeds are the modern, commercially developed seeds.
The beauty of open pollinated seeds is that they carry their parents’ genetic material and therefore have an ability to adapt to soil types, changes in weather, climate and disease of their local growing region as their parents did. Their parents may have survived changes in climate such as droughts, heavy frosts, excessively dry weather or too much rain for example. They may have survived certain diseases or pests and will pass these traits onto their ‘children’. Each year these inherited traits get added to their gene pool so that they become better adapted to the local growing conditions. In times gone past, it was very common for local backyard gardeners and small-scale growers to swap and share their most treasured seeds that they had cultivated for particular characteristics that were important to them. If someone had a variety of kale, for example, that had survived a particular disease that had been prevalent in the area, they would donate some of these seeds to a neighbour whose kale did not survive. Over time, the kale grown in this area of the world would become fully adapted to that particular growing region and have an ability to survive future changes in its environment due to its inherited genes.
Heritage variety seeds are a particular type of open pollinated seeds (generally grown for over fifty years in a specific region) adapted to their local growing environment. It is important to grow heritage variety seeds to preserve this strain of seeds for future generations. With the industrialisation of agriculture the gene pool of seeds is getting smaller and smaller. Just think about the varieties of apples and potatoes commercially grown today compared with what was available in the past. There is much less choice available today. People now favour commercially grown vegetables found in supermarkets over heritage produce and therefore many of our heritage seeds are becoming extinct.
But why do we need heritage variety seeds, you may ask. Isn’t the era of cultivating our own vegetables long gone and impractical in this fast-paced modern age?
Cultivating our own heritage variety seeds may be more important now than ever before. Our weather patterns are now highly unpredictable due to climate change and this year we have seen larger extremes in heat and cold in the UK than ever before.
Last year, due to an unprecedented warm autumn, many of the UKs supermarket destined winter vegetables came to fruition too early and farmers feared there would be a shortage when the days became colder when people become more inclined towards stews and roasts.
Supermarket destined vegetables are usually grown from F1 hybrid or, in some countries, GM seeds. F1 hybrids are created by deliberately crossing two different varieties that have the particular characteristics that commercial growers are looking for, such as high fruit yield, the ability to all ripen at the same time, a uniform size for example. However, these seeds will not breed ‘true to type’ — which means that if you save the seeds from that butternut squash you bought from Tescos, you won’t be able grow anything remotely similar, or the seeds may not even germinate at all. This means that F1 varieties need to be re-created artificially each season. This uses a lot of energy in the way of oil, electricity and gas — which is getting more and more expensive as time goes by.
So why not become part of the solution?
GreenFriends encourage beginners to start growing their own organic vegetables with whatever space they have at hand. Come along and meet us in person at our seed swap on the 18th of March from 11am to 3pm. Find more about who GreenFriends are and what we do! Find out about heritage seeds, bee keeping and other innovative green initiatives. Entrance is free and everyone welcome.
Our last blog explores some of the stories heritage seeds have to tell. Read it here.
Sources:
Get Growing — Published by MAM Trust
Lets Grow Seeds — Published by MAM Trust
BBC article — Heirloom plants: Saving the nation’s seeds from extinction. Published 28 March 2020.
108 Quotes on Nature by Amma — Published by MAM Trust
Embracing the World
Embracing the World (ETW) is a global network of humanitarian organisations inspired by the Indian-based humanitarian initiatives of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math. Embracing the World exists to help alleviate the suffering the burden of the world’s poor through helping to meet each of their five basic needs — food, shelter, healthcare, education and livelihood — wherever and whenever possible.
GreenFriends
GreenFriends, the environmental branch of ETW, began in India in 2001 as a movement to inspire harmony and unity between nature and humanity. It is a rapidly growing, global grassroots movement promoting environmental awareness and local participation in conservation efforts in over 23 countries. GreenFriends’ unique approach integrates ecology with the core values of selfless service and awareness of the unity of all life.
