Content
- Going to sustainability or which seed I take only?
- Hybrid versus semen-resistant species
- Where is the trend in seed production going?
- Official prevention of the use of semen-resistant varieties
- Seed is common property!
Genetically modified seeds are not discussed violently without reason
Going to sustainability or which seed I take only?
The question of where our seed comes from, how it was bred and what it does in our vegetable and flower beds, is moving more and more recreational gardeners. Quite rightly, as we think, because who follows the discussions for a while, comes pretty quickly to terms such as GM-free seed, old varieties, hybrid seed and the badly hit in the negative headlines Monsanto company.
Just a reminder of what we have to call hybrid seed varieties, also called hybrids: The different species are produced with a great effort and genetic engineering methods, so that in the end by inbreeding reaches the desired properties such as size, resistance, color and shape are strengthened and over several generations. Finally, two inbred lines have to be crossed into one another in order to obtain the first branch generation - called F1 - at the end. What comes out of it?
Hybrid versus semen-resistant species
The plants that wake up in this way are particularly vigorous, look uniform, but with their high yield strength and manageable losses. However, the "hybrid effect" brings with it a decisive disadvantage: it already evaporates in the next generation, so that from own harvest won seed is practically no longer usable, since the seed strength is missing. It is different with reusable seed, which can be multiplied by conventional methods such as insect pollination while retaining its variety-specific characteristics. The pulled young plants thus are one hundred percent similar to their parent plants, not only in appearance and properties, but also in taste.
Where is the trend in seed production going?
Since the beginning of the 20th century very clearly towards industrialization. Large companies have almost completely bought up the smaller plant breeders, so that today around the world, 75 percent of the seeds are produced and marketed by ten multinational companies, five of which are from the chemical industry (!). The offer of seed-resistant varieties is more and more. Many vegetables are now available only as a hybrid and that is even true for the expensive organic vegetables. Hobby gardeners are no longer developed at all, are therefore completely identical to those for industrial agriculture - just bottled in smaller bags.
Official prevention of the use of semen-resistant varieties
As if all this were not enough, the corporations have secured exclusive exploitation rights that prohibit replication, even if farmers want to sell or exchange seed from their own harvest. The trade in seeds is controlled by the state, so that only industrially friendly and officially approved varieties may be placed on the market. With genetic engineering and terminator technologies, the industry is achieving that plants can no longer germinate seeds (the UN had unfortunately only temporarily banned).
Seed is common property!
Says flail e. V as one of the largest organic seed companies in Germany and motivated to use only GMO-free seed. However, even the very wide range of the in-house online shop can not hide the fact that the so-called "old" varieties, which were successfully bred in our home gardens for decades, are no longer approved for any purpose and therefore should not be officially traded. Of course, the fact remains that garden owners on their plaice still have the sovereignty over the cultivation of the "forbidden plants" to decide for themselves. Therefore, to conclude on this topic from us some recommendations for the GM-free purchase of clean organic seed: