Seed Conference
Nov. 15th-16th, 2003
Saturday and Sunday
Brattleboro, Vermont

 

Seed Production and Crop Improvement in Whole Farm Systems
with Frank Morton and NE Master Seed Growers

Registration

The Seed Conference will provide seed growers with basic knowledge and skills for:
* organic seed production, and
* selection and breeding to adapt crops for sustainable farming in New England.

A key aspect of a sustainable, bioregional agriculture is to improve crop varieties through farmer selection of seed stocks. These farmer-bred varieties can excel under the local environmental conditions and cultural techniques. This is in sharp contrast to the current reliance on crop varieties bred under chemically intensive, monoculture farms. Discussions will involve farmers in deciding which traits are important to improve and which diseases and pests to select against- to build farmer-based breeding partnerships in New England.

Schedule

Day One

Ecological Seed Crop Production
8:00 Registration and Hot Cider
8:30 Introduction- CR Lawn - Why Grow Our Own Seed?
9:00 New England Team Introductions

9:30 Plant Life Cycles and Reproductive Biology
10:30 Break
10:45 Whole Farm Seed Cropping Systems
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Self-Pollinated vs. Cross-pollinated Crops
2:15 Selecting from the Self-pollinated Crops
3:30 Break
3:50 Farmer-to-Farmer Discussion
5:00 Selecting for Resistance to Diseases and Insects
6:00 Dinner
7:30 Slide Show: Wild Garden and Selecting for Horizontal Resistance

Day Two

Crop Improvement for Organic Farming Systems
8:00 Review and Questions
8:30 Group Discussion:
Traits Worth Considering Improving in Vegetables
10:30 Break
11:00 Revitalizing Established Varieties
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Northeast Vegetable Diseases; Seedlings to Seed-bearing Crops
2:30 Lettuce: a Case Study in Crop Improvement
3:30 Discussion and Future Planning

Workshop Concepts and Field Outcomes

The program will cover :

- selection and maintenance to increase the genetic diversity and elasticity of open-pollinated vegetables,

- breeding to improve the plant's ability to withstand disease and insect attack, heat, drought, and cold stress,

- selection and roguing techniques for self-pollinated and cross-pollinated crops, and annual versus biennial crop plants.

- selection to improve crops for reproductive health, fecundity and seed yield.

Frank Morton

Seed in a Whole Farm System

will present an overview of farm landscape ecology, with an emphasis on enhancement of beneficial insect populations through the use of "seed guilds". These are collections of non-crossing seed crop species that function as beneficial insect habitats (rearing sites) and refuges for insect allies in the midst of vegetable or other farm crop systems. Integration of "flowering crops" among vegetable or grain production plots provides the agroecosystem with greater biodiversity, economic diversification, and ecological resilience. Strategies for crop integration and seed guild design will be discussed with deference to the practicalities of farming. Karen Morton's photographs will illustrate the principles, species, and landscapes under discussion.

Links

Return to Resistance - Excerpt: Plant Breeding, By Raoul A. Robinson

Breeding a Better Bean: The Horizontal Resistance Approach

Participatory Plant Breeding on the Hillside Farms of Nepal, by Marty Logan

Farmers as Researchers: The Rise of Participatory Plant Breeding, By G. Toomey

A New Direction for Farmers: Growing Seed as a Crop, by Dr. J. Navazio

Participatory Plant Breeding Resources