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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> March
> March 19, 1999:
Hour Two: Plant Biodiversity in Crops and Gardens
| Starting this weekend, it's officially spring (at least as far as the calendar goes.) So perhaps you're thinking about doing some planting - be it in a windowbox on your ledge or in a few hundred acres out back. So is there anything that you can plant that's a little ... different?
There are thousands of edible plants on the planet, but we rely on about 150 for most of our nutrition - and varieties of rice, corn, and wheat make up half of the human diet. As more and more growers use fewer and fewer varieties of hybrid crops, however, the plants become inbred - and more at risk from new diseases, pests, or other environmental conditions. And so agricultural researchers around the world are collecting and storing plant matter, looking for new crops -- or just new genetic material . |
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image courtesy Scott Bauer, USDA ARS | The National Seed Storage Laboratory, part of the US Department of Agriculture, is one such storage facility. It stores over 270,000 samples of crops from around the world. An international consortium, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, maintains a network of facilities storing 600,000 samples of over 3,000 different crop species. The seeds and cuttings, form a library of genetic material that researchers looking to develop new crops (or resurrect forgotten ones) can make use of in their genetic mix. Samples from arid areas might be crossbred with samples resistant to a certain kind of bug, for example, to try to produce offspring having qualities of both. Using samples from the library helps introduce new genetic material into the mix, restoring needed genetic diversity to the plant species. Other private concerns maintain their own libraries of forgotten plant varieties - and the growing of "heirloom" plants is becoming more popular among home gardeners.
On this hour of Science Friday, grab your shovel and overalls and join guest host Joanne Silberner for a look at preserving plant diversity in agriculture - and at what gardeners, both big and small, can do to help. Plus - is there important scientific research material at the back of your freezer?
Listeners respond
Guests:
Steve Eberhart
Laboratory Director, National Seed Storage Laboratory
Agricultural Research Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Fort Collins, Colorado
Alan Kapuler
Director, Research
Founder
Seeds of Change
Corvallis, Oregon
Susan McCouch
Assistant Professor, Plant Breeding
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Carol Stepien
Assistant Professor, Biology
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
National Seed Storage Laboratory
Seeds of Change
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
U.S. Agricultural Research Service
This segment produced by:
Karin Vergoth
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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