by Percy Thrower
There was a time not too long ago when consumers had access to a greater variety of produce than they do today. Many people grew their own fruits and vegetables in home gardens until about around 1950. Family farms were individually owned and operated and many different types of crops were raised. For the most part, the seeds used were heirloom seeds. The seed source was an open pollinated plant and it could be expected to develop into a plant that was identical to the parent. After World War II, hybrid seeds and the consolidation of farmland revolutionized the American agriculture industry. Now there are even bioengineered seeds being used to grow various crops.
To understand why there are advantages to heirloom seeds and why they are so important, it is necessary to understand exactly what a hybrid seed is. Hybrid seeds are produced by the artificial pollination of two varieties of plants. In other words, the pollen from one kind of tomato is put onto the stigma of another; the seed from this crossing will produce a tomato different from both the parents. Hybridization is used to combine useful traits, but most of those traits pertain to such qualities as long shelf life in stores, the ability to be harvested mechanically, and the ability to withstand long journeys without spoilage. Taste and resistance to disease are often sacrificed.
Hybrid seeds do present one big challenge to the farmer who plants them. Seeds from a hybrid fruit may not produce the same identical fruit. There is no guarantee that the genetic results will be what you expect to get. Many hybrid seeds will simply not thrive. This is just one reason to avoid planting hybrid seeds. Since saving the seeds is not possible, the farmer is forced to purchase new seeds whenever a new crop is planted. Many of these seeds also require extra care to produce a bountiful harvest. They typically require more water than heirloom seeds and the farmer must often purchase and use special pesticides and fertilizers.
One advantage to planting hybrid seeds is the increased yield they will often produce. This makes it more profitable to concentrate on a single crop and the variety in supply suffers. Many American farmers have been unable to keep their small farms in business because the larger monoculture farms can produce higher volumes and have taken all their business.
This is a relatively new field whereby scientists splice genes from one plant (or even an animal) onto the DNA of a crop plant. The idea is to make the resultant seeds better in some way. Some seeds are genetically modified so that they will be more resistant to insect attack, or perhaps need less water, or less fertilizer. Some seeds are altered so that only certain pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides can be used effectively. This practice, once again, benefits agribusiness rather than the family farmer.
There are also debates raging over the safety of these hybrid seeds. Since the field is still new, studies have yet to be conducted that tell us whether pollen from hybrid plants has the ability to pollute the heirloom plants. Some fear that hybrids will choke out the heirloom crops and possibly even the wild plant population. At one time, there was one corporation that wanted to introduce a sterility gene. This was stopped because many feared that it could contaminate all plants and cease the production of any seeds.
With the increase in use of bioengineered and hybrid seeds, there is less and less diversity in the food supply these days. Corporations must make money and there is a high cost associated with producing hybrid plants. With the cost so high, the corporations are less likely to produce many different kinds of seeds. With less diversity in the crops there is a big problem if some catastrophe hits that particular crop. There will be nothing to take its place. This has happened in the past and could happen again in the future. Crop failure can be caused by climate changes, extreme weather conditions and various diseases. Famine can result if just one crop is grown and there is nothing to back it up. The Irish became familiar with this situation when the potato crop was devastated by blight during the 19th century.
The ability to actually grow recognizable plants from heirloom seeds is another advantage. While hybrid seeds may or may not grow, and will produce unpredictable results, the carrot that grows from a heirloom seed will be just the carrot you want.
And, probably one of the biggest advantages of heirloom seeds is their taste. When beauty and toughness was bred into plants, taste was often left behind. Everyone complains about the 'cardboard tomatoes' from the store that look lovely and symmetrical, but taste like nothing. A plant grown from an heirloom seed tastes much better than something that was produced in a laboratory.
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New Unique Article!
Title: Heirloom Seeds And Their Benefits Versus Yesterday
Author: Percy Thrower
Email: ifutureenterprises@gmail.com
Keywords: heirloom seeds,heirloom seeds definition,heirloom tomato seeds,heirloom vegetable seeds,organic heirloom seeds,seeds,farming,fruit,vegetables,food,beverages,gardening
Word Count: 820
Category: Hobbies
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