Envoy at 07:58, 16 September 2007

2007-09-16T07:58:12Z

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In [[agriculture]] and [[gardening]], '''seed saving''' is the practice of saving seeds from [[open-pollination|open-pollinated]] [[vegetable]]s and [[flower]]s for use from year to year. This is the [[tradition|traditional]] way [[farm]]s and [[garden]]s were maintained. In recent decades, there has been a major shift to purchasing seed annually from commercial seed suppliers, and to [[hybrid]]ized plants that do not produce seed that can be reliably saved. Much of the [[grassroots]] seed-saving activity today is the work of [[amateur]] gardeners, [[organic farming|organic farmers]], and enthusiasts with [[environmentalism|environmentalist]] interests.

Open pollination is the key to seed saving. Plants that reproduce through natural means tend to adapt to local conditions, and evolve as reliable performers, particularly in their localities. The modern trend to hybridized plants interrupts this process. Hybrid plants are [[artificial]]ly [[cross-pollination|cross-pollinated]], and bred to favor desirable characteristics, like higher yield and more uniform size. However, the seed produced by the first generation of the hybrid does not reliably produce a true copy of that hybrid (it 'segregates') and often loses much of its yield potential.

While comprehensive figures are hard to come by, one popular view today holds that thousands of varieties of vegetables and flowers are being lost, due to reliance on commercial hybrid seed. Widespread use of a relatively few mass-marketed hybrid seed varieties, in both home gardening and commercial farming, is said to be eliminating many open-pollinated varieties, especially the local variations that were naturally developed, when local seed-saving was the common practice. The concern is that this weakens the [[gene pool]], resulting at some point in less hardy, more vulnerable plants. Countering this trend (an environmental and [[sustainability]] issue), and an affinity for [[variety (biology)|variety]] and tradition, are the principal motivations for many large seed-saving groups.

==External links==
*[http://www.cjly.net/deconstructingdinner/020906.htm One-hour radio broadcast on Terminator seed technology; a threat to seed saving - Kootenay Co-op Radio's Deconstructing Dinner]
* [http://www.seedsavers.net/ Australian National - Seed Savers Network]
* [http://saseedsavers.tripod.com/ South Australian Seed Savers Network]
* [http://www.seedsave.org/ International Seed Saving Institute]
* [http://homepage.eircom.net/~merlyn/seedsaving.html Seed Saving and Seed Saver Resources]

==See also==
*[[biodiversity]]
*[[heirloom vegetable]]
*[[plant breeding]]
*[[sustainable agriculture]]

[[Category:agriculture]]
[[Category:Pollination]]

Seed saving - Revision history

Envoy at 07:58, 16 September 2007