In 2011, an Organic Growers’ Alliance survey found that organic growers were dissatisfied with the quality and range of seed available to them. The Open Pollinated Seeds workshop aimed to re-empower growers to take a more active role in the seed supply chain. It introduced growers to the differences between commercially dominant hybrid breeding approaches and the open-pollinated breeding approach, exploring the issues associated with each and introducing the methods by which growers and farmers can breed and harvest their own seed.
The workshop, held at Tolhurst Organics, Whitchurch-on-Thames, was led by Peter Brinch, a strong advocate of open-pollinated seed breeding on the grounds of biodiversity, locally adapted cultivars and sovereignty over genetic resources. Peter strongly encourages growers to reconnect with and get to know the reproductive phase of their plants’ life cycles.
See Organic Seeds for Organic Growers (PDF 283 KB) for a full report.
