At the National Plant Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon, plant
pathologist Joseph Postman examines a dwarf blueberry mutantjust one
example of clonal germplasm that is available to members of the Farmer
Cooperative Genome Project for evaluation or further development.
There's nothing more basic to agriculture than collecting seeds from a crop
and replanting them the next season. Documenting how well the seeds grow brings
science to the venture. Share the results, and you have education; sell the
seeds, and you add business to the equation.
A unique informal alliance between the Agricultural Research Service and a group of
organic farmers pulls these components together in a manner that may benefit
scientists, growers, and consumers.
The Farmer Cooperative Genome Project (FCGP) based in Junction City, Oregon,
seeks to increase the diversity of crop seeds offered for sale to small farmers
and gardeners, teach organic farmers how to regenerate seed, and eventually
provide the ARS National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) with additional seed and
"The purpose of the NPGS is to retain as much of the natural diversity
of crop plants as possible," says ARS horticulturist Richard M. Hannan.
"Plant breeders use these plants to develop new crop varieties that offer
better disease resistance or improved nutrition or that grow in different
environments from existing varieties."
Hannan leads the Western Regional Plant Introduction Station in Pullman,
Washington, and serves informally as liaison between ARS and the FCGP.
The germplasm system is a network of 26 repositories nationwide that
preserve and regenerate seed and other reproductive tissuesknown as
germplasmof crop plants and their wild relatives. The system houses more
than 400,000 accessions comprising more than 10,000 species. An accession is a
genetically distinct group of plants, such as a crop variety or wild subspecies
that has been added to a collection.
Elephant's Head amaranth has been commercialized by a garden seed company and
is now available to individuals for home gardens.
But providing breeders with these genetic resources is a mammoth task. After
a number of yearswhich can range from just a few, for crops like onions,
to several decades for hearty seeds like lentils and peasthe accessions
must be grown and new seeds collected and stored again in a repository.
Backup supplies of these collections are also sent to a long-term storage
facility ARS operates in Fort Collins, Colorado. Ideally, each accession is
grown out and characterized so breeders have information about the
plantsbut there is not always enough staff to collect these details.
An Idea Germinates
J.J. Haapala, an Oregon organic seed grower, realized that small farmers and
the germplasm system could help each other. "It struck me that there was a
huge opportunity for individuals to participate in safeguarding our plant
resources," he says.
Farmers would benefit by taking advantage of a greater diversity of seeds
than they might otherwise have access to, while the germplasm system could have
many more hands to carry out its mission. "Four of every five traditional
crop seed varieties available just 10 years ago are no longer sold,"
The project began in 1998 with a grant awarded by the U. S. Department of
Agriculture's Fund for Rural America. Haapala also works as director of
research and education for Oregon Tilth, a nonprofit organization advocating
So far, more than 300 farmers, seed producers, home gardeners, and
scientists have joined the FCGP.
"After someone indicates interest, we send a survey to find out that
person's land capacity, experience with seeds, and desired crops," Haapala
says. About 80 people have returned the surveys.
Haapala serves as a distribution point and interface between the various
repositories and growers. Working with several of the ARS germplasm management
sites, he has requested about 570 accessions covering about 50 species.
But, Haapala cautions, the project is not a free seed program for gardeners.
Participants must follow rigorous guidelines established by ARS scientists to
provide pertinent information on plant growth and development. The farmers are
free to use plants they like to develop into new varieties. They can keep
excess seed and fruit.
A Source of the Unusual
J.J. Haapala, an organic seed grower and director of research and education for
Oregon Tilth, pours harvested Red Russian kale into a device that separates the
seed from debris.
An eventual goal of the project is to develop an economically viable
cooperative of organic growers producing a wide diversity of seeds for anyone
interested in growing unique crops.
Hannan and Haapala believe everyone could benefit. "Many of these
farmers are interested in heirloom varieties and traditional crops that might
not be getting much attention from customary germplasm users, such as breeders
and botanists," Hannan says.
Interest in unusual crops could be wide-ranging, agrees Joseph Postman, an
ARS plant pathologist at the National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis,
Oregon. The Corvallis site stores, for example, 250 ancient pear varieties.
"We have pears that ripen earlier than the normal harvest season, old
English pears that provide a fermented beverage of interest to some
microbreweries, and pears with Siberian or Manchurian ancestry that could
extend production into cold climates where there is no commercial pear
production," says Postman.
"A pear tree can live more than 100 years, so each heirloom pear tree
planted by a farmer essentially becomes a mini-repositorya future source
for that cultivar."
NPGS staff will benefit from the project by receiving information they
wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to collect. An example would be data on
how a specific variety grows without pesticides in a cool climate such as
Oregon's Willamette Valley. "This might be the first information gathered
on a particular accession," says Hannan.
"The key is developing trust between the curators and farmers,"
Hannan notes. He says curators are like parents in their protectiveness over
their accessions. They are eager to teach farmers about the specific protocols
necessary to maintain genetic integrity. And the arrangement could be a real
money-saver, since it costs up to $350 each time an accession is grown out for
Haapala also sees the relationship between organic growers and ARS as a
primary benefit. "Some growers have seeds produced and saved for
generations that they could contribute to the germplasm system," he says.
"Everyone will benefit from this combined effort to preserve our
Barry Stelljes, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
This project is part of Plant, Microbial, and Insect Genetic Resources,
Genomics, and Genetic Improvement, an ARS National Program (#301) described on
the World Wide Web at http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov/programs/cppvs.htm.
Richard M. Hannan is at the
Regional Plant Introduction Station, 59 Johnson Hall, Washington State
University, Pullman, WA 99164-6402; phone (509) 335-1502, fax (509) 335-6654.
Joseph D. Postman is at the
Clonal Germplasm Repository, 33447 Peoria Rd., Corvallis, OR 97333; phone
(541) 750-8712, fax (541) 750-8717.
"SEED-SAVERS UNITE" was published in the
October 1999 issue of
Agricultural Research magazine.