tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post968583476823710000..comments2024-03-28T23:22:41.774-05:00Comments on TYWKIWDBI ("Tai-Wiki-Widbee"): The sad decline of "open-pollinated" cropsMinnesotastanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-31165558999300732872017-07-18T13:17:02.447-05:002017-07-18T13:17:02.447-05:00Selecting and developing traits is hard enough wit...Selecting and developing traits is hard enough with any technique, but then to also ensure the traits are intergenerationally stable and will survive cross-polination in the wild has to be much more difficult. Hybrids have no such expectation, so hybridization is likely just a much easier and less expensive technique to use. Recent developments in GMO techniques might change the situation.<br /><br />It seems the decline in open pollinators is due to hybridization enabling development of more extreme (fragile?) traits easily. This provides opportunities for higher profit for both farmers and seed companies, which to me explains their market dominance over open-pollinators better than the lock-in effect does.<br /><br />FWIW, farmers rely on seed companies for open pollinators too. Seed companies can control for unwanted crossing in open pollinators. They offer seed coatings that can improve yields. Buying from a seed company avoids the costs associated with storing seeds over the winter.<br /><br />Monopolies are a problem, but I think the desire for agricultural independence from industry is a romantic notion, not a practical one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-56698345305717182552017-07-13T12:54:07.787-05:002017-07-13T12:54:07.787-05:00I was at the other end - in the canning factory at...I was at the other end - in the canning factory at LeSueur, greasing the cooker machines and watching for dented cans on the conveyor belt. When it didn't rain. (On rainy days when the trucks couldn't get into the fields you stayed home and didn't get paid).Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-13553517503326122732017-07-13T11:44:51.863-05:002017-07-13T11:44:51.863-05:00Of course this practice produced childhood work fo...Of course this practice produced childhood work for those of us who grew up in the Midwest and learned to detassel corn in the summer months. nolanddahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708768497461983779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-76570380585642329682017-07-12T15:27:57.146-05:002017-07-12T15:27:57.146-05:00Same fight here in France where a few try to prote...Same fight here in France where a few try to protect old self reproducting varieties of corn. I try to use only those in my patch for tomatoes, corn, beans and peperronis. Every year I plant the seeds produced from the previous year and it seems to work like a charm!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10972090601051739023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-27797629456552537262017-07-11T13:26:41.947-05:002017-07-11T13:26:41.947-05:00I never would have guessed that Who Gets Kissed wa...I never would have guessed that Who Gets Kissed was the name of a strain of sweet corn. Tx, anon.Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-20836288261958106132017-07-11T13:20:20.858-05:002017-07-11T13:20:20.858-05:00some links for more info about the four corns on t...some links for more info about the four corns on the slate:<br /><br />http://agronomy.wisc.edu/2014/12/08/who-gets-kissed/ <br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_corn choclo<br /><br />https://ojibwegardenprogram.wordpress.com/tag/lindsay-meyer-blue-corn/ <br /><br />https://thehistoricfoodie.wordpress.com/tag/howling-mob-corn/<br /><br />I-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-83470595725025233192017-07-10T21:09:58.776-05:002017-07-10T21:09:58.776-05:00Thank you so much for posting this! This is a move...Thank you so much for posting this! This is a movement I intend to fully support!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com