The question of where our seeds come from, how they were cultivated and what they do in our vegetable and flower beds is a concern to more and more amateur gardeners. Quite rightly so, in our opinion, because if you follow the relevant discussions for a while, you will quickly come across terms such as non-GMO seeds, old varieties, hybrid seeds and the Monsanto company, which has made a lot of negative headlines.

Genetically modified seeds are hotly debated for a reason

Just a quick reminder of what we mean by hybrid seed varieties, also known as crossbreeds: The different types are produced with great effort and methods similar to genetic engineering, so that the desired properties such as size, resistance, color and shape are achieved through inbreeding are and are reinforced over several generations. Finally, two inbred lines have to be crossed with each other in order to end up with the first branch generation - called F1. What comes out of it?

Hybrid versus open-pollinated species

The plants that grow in this way are particularly vigorous, look uniform, but stand out with their high yield and manageable losses. However, the "hybrid effect" has a decisive disadvantage: it fizzles out in the next generation, so that seed harvested from one's own harvest is practically no longer usable because the seed strength is lacking. It is different with reusable seed, which can be propagated by conventional methods such as insect pollination while retaining its variety-specific properties. The young plants grown with it are therefore one hundred percent similar to their parent plants, not only in appearance and properties, but also in taste.

What is the trend in seed production?

Since the beginning of the 20th century it has clearly been in the direction of industrialization. Large companies have almost completely bought up the smaller plant breeders, so that today 75 percent of the world's seed is produced and marketed by ten multinational corporations, five of them from the chemical industry (!). The range of open-pollinated varieties is decreasing more and more. Many types of vegetables are now only available as hybrids, and this even applies to the much more expensive organic vegetables. Varieties for amateur gardeners are no longer developed at all, and are therefore completely identical to those for industrial agriculture - only in smaller bags.

Official prohibition of the use of open-pollinated varieties

As if all that weren't enough, the corporations have secured exclusive rights of use that prohibit replication, even if farmers want to sell or trade seeds from their own crops. The trade in seeds is controlled by the state, so that only industry-friendly and officially approved varieties may be placed on the market. With genetic engineering and terminator technologies, the industry has achieved that plants can no longer produce germinable seeds (unfortunately the UN only banned this temporarily).

Seed is common property!

Says flail e. V as one of the largest organic seed companies in Germany and motivates us to only use non-GMO seeds. However, the very wide range of products in the in-house online shop cannot hide the fact that the so-called "old" varieties, which have been successfully bred in our home gardens for decades, are no longer permitted, far from any meaningfulness, and therefore may not be officially traded. Of course, this does not affect the fact that garden owners still have the sovereignty to decide on the cultivation of the “forbidden plants” on their soil. Therefore, in conclusion, we have a few recommendations for the GMO-free purchase of clean organic seeds on this topic:

  • Noah's Ark
  • Bingenheim seed
  • Vern
  • green tiger
  • Irina's shop and
  • Manfred Hans

Category:

Garden design