Showing posts with label seed banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seed banks. Show all posts
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Government Has a Seed Bank Savings Account -- Why Shouldn't You?
Michael Edwards and Jeffrey Green
On the CSU Campus, there is a storage facility for seeds that is described as "insurance against global change." It houses billions of seeds under the auspices of a Fort Collins division called The National Center For Genetic Resource Preservation.
William Engdahl has even written about a Doomsday Seed Vault in the Artic where, "Bill Gates is investing tens of his millions along with the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto Corporation, Syngenta Foundation and the Government of Norway."
If the governments and Elites of the world are taking seed protection so seriously, then it behooves the individual to develop a similar seed bank savings account that can offer real value in a world where traditional currency continues to show weakness and pressure. By saving your own seeds, you can take part in evolution, as well as increase your self-sufficiency.
Before the rise of commercial seed giants like Monsanto, local gardeners were adept at selecting seeds from the healthiest plants, saving them, and introducing them to the harvest for the following year, thus strengthening the species. Through local adaptation to pests, genetic diversity was further ensured; it was long-term thinking at its finest.
Farmers are the pillars of rural living, even though their endeavors have been corrupted in tandem with America's short-attention-span consumer who has been encouraged to forget their own history. However, there has been a recent revolution among farmers across the globe . . . and abject poverty does not seem to influence their mission. Even Haiti, despite their natural disaster and the worst general poverty imaginable, has rejected Monsanto's "gift." They know it is a Trojan Horse of the worst kind.
Seed prices still seem low enough for most people to buy packages at their local nursery, but the consumer must be aware that the quality of mass-produced and genetically modified seeds is akin to mass produced food these days: you had better know its provenance. Many of these genetically modified seeds are deliberately engineered by Monsanto not to germinate when the seeds of the mature fruit are re-planted. Seed cultivation and storage is not an area that is tailor-made for fast and cheap. However, with some basic knowledge, patience, and dedication, food independence is attainable.
In nature, the strongest harvests will come from the land where the species has proven its worth against the elements specific to that area. The resulting harvest will generally be much more bountiful and enduring than what a standardized package of seeds can provide. That said, there are some basics to know in order to insure that personal seed production and storage result in a growing savings account. The guide below provides a very general overview -- seed production and storage contain many variables based on climate, plant or flower type, number of crops, and area biodiversity.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Mimicking Nature to Feed the Masses
10 Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient and 10 Ways to Get There
GET YOUR OWN HEIRLOOM SEED BANK
RECOMMENDED BOOK FOR OVERALL PREPARATION:
Dare to Prepare, by Holly Deyo
Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)
Live Superfoods
It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!
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| Government Seed Bank |
On the CSU Campus, there is a storage facility for seeds that is described as "insurance against global change." It houses billions of seeds under the auspices of a Fort Collins division called The National Center For Genetic Resource Preservation.
William Engdahl has even written about a Doomsday Seed Vault in the Artic where, "Bill Gates is investing tens of his millions along with the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto Corporation, Syngenta Foundation and the Government of Norway."
If the governments and Elites of the world are taking seed protection so seriously, then it behooves the individual to develop a similar seed bank savings account that can offer real value in a world where traditional currency continues to show weakness and pressure. By saving your own seeds, you can take part in evolution, as well as increase your self-sufficiency.
Before the rise of commercial seed giants like Monsanto, local gardeners were adept at selecting seeds from the healthiest plants, saving them, and introducing them to the harvest for the following year, thus strengthening the species. Through local adaptation to pests, genetic diversity was further ensured; it was long-term thinking at its finest.
Farmers are the pillars of rural living, even though their endeavors have been corrupted in tandem with America's short-attention-span consumer who has been encouraged to forget their own history. However, there has been a recent revolution among farmers across the globe . . . and abject poverty does not seem to influence their mission. Even Haiti, despite their natural disaster and the worst general poverty imaginable, has rejected Monsanto's "gift." They know it is a Trojan Horse of the worst kind.
Seed prices still seem low enough for most people to buy packages at their local nursery, but the consumer must be aware that the quality of mass-produced and genetically modified seeds is akin to mass produced food these days: you had better know its provenance. Many of these genetically modified seeds are deliberately engineered by Monsanto not to germinate when the seeds of the mature fruit are re-planted. Seed cultivation and storage is not an area that is tailor-made for fast and cheap. However, with some basic knowledge, patience, and dedication, food independence is attainable.
- Pollination methods -- There are three methods to take into consideration: air-borne, insect, and self. Of these, self-pollinated crops offer the best opportunity for seed saving; to avoid cross pollination, it is necessary to separate varieties by a few rows of another crop.
- Root crops -- Not all garden plants produce their seed at the end of the growing season. It may be necessary to dig the roots in Fall to obtain seed, then store and re-plant when weather permits.
- Hybrids -- Hybrids result from a deliberate cross between inbred lines. Although popular for vegetables, due to being more vigorous and uniform, hybrids can be a disappointment for a gardener who has unknowingly planted a hybrid. Only the person who controls the original parents can produce the hybrid seed.
- Harvesting -- Seed is extracted from fruit after it ripens, but before it rots. Separate the seed from its pulp and dry at room temperature. Leave pod crops on the vine until the pod dries. Harvest before the seed is dispersed.
- Storage -- Once the seed is dried, gently hand rub to rid it of any chaff, then store it in an envelope in a cool, dry, rodent-free location. The seed will germinate best the following year. It is best to re-plant every year and select the best plants for seed.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Mimicking Nature to Feed the Masses
10 Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient and 10 Ways to Get There
GET YOUR OWN HEIRLOOM SEED BANK
RECOMMENDED BOOK FOR OVERALL PREPARATION:
Dare to Prepare, by Holly Deyo
Live Superfoods
It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!Print this page
Friday, October 15, 2010
Why patents on seeds and animals result in monopolistic control over the entire food chain
Natural News
When mankind is permitted to steal from nature and claim it as their own, only disaster awaits. And that is exactly what is happening around the world with crop seeds and animals, as biotechnology companies slice and dice genetic characteristics from natural sources and create new, patented plants and animals. The end result is total control of the entire food supply by a few wealthy companies.
A recent report in The Ecologist highlights a visual graphic created by Philip Howard, an assistant professor at Michigan State University, that illustrates how five biotechnology giants -- Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow, and DuPont -- have purchased hundreds of smaller seed companies over the years and essentially taken over the seed industry. The graphic can be accessed here: https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/seedindustry.pdf
Farmers who wish to purchase seeds that have not been genetically-modified (GM) are having an increasingly difficult time finding alternatives because most of the seed companies are now either partially or fully owned by one of the big five, which means such companies now carry mostly GM varieties. Unlike natural seeds, GM seeds are patented and can only be planted once, which means farmers have to purchase them every year or buy a license to plant them.
When mankind is permitted to steal from nature and claim it as their own, only disaster awaits. And that is exactly what is happening around the world with crop seeds and animals, as biotechnology companies slice and dice genetic characteristics from natural sources and create new, patented plants and animals. The end result is total control of the entire food supply by a few wealthy companies.
A recent report in The Ecologist highlights a visual graphic created by Philip Howard, an assistant professor at Michigan State University, that illustrates how five biotechnology giants -- Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow, and DuPont -- have purchased hundreds of smaller seed companies over the years and essentially taken over the seed industry. The graphic can be accessed here: https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/seedindustry.pdf
Farmers who wish to purchase seeds that have not been genetically-modified (GM) are having an increasingly difficult time finding alternatives because most of the seed companies are now either partially or fully owned by one of the big five, which means such companies now carry mostly GM varieties. Unlike natural seeds, GM seeds are patented and can only be planted once, which means farmers have to purchase them every year or buy a license to plant them.
Such a system is "incompatible" with renewable agricultural practices, explained Howard in a report, and it is leading to total control of the food supply by a few multinational corporations. Patents also eliminate diversity in seed variety, end experimentation by farmers in seed crossbreeding (which is different from genetically modifying them), and raise seed prices for everyone by creating a seed monopoly.
Howard believes the only answer to the problem is to ban the practice of allowing patents in agriculture. In fact, a consortium of 400 scientists from around the world agree that patents are destroying agriculture and must be stopped if any sort of sustainable agriculture is to continue.
Sources for this story include:
RELATED ARTICLES:
Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)
Live Superfoods
It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!Print this page
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