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Valuing Traditional Seed Systems: Farmer seed saving provides critical “evosystem services”
Chen, Yolanda Mastretta-Yanes, Alicia Tobin, Daniel Bellon, Mauricio von Wettberg, Eric Cibrian Jaramillo, Angelica Monroy-Salis, Sofia Wegier, Ana
Chen, Yolanda
Mastretta-Yanes, Alicia
Tobin, Daniel
Bellon, Mauricio
von Wettberg, Eric
Cibrian Jaramillo, Angelica
Monroy-Salis, Sofia
Wegier, Ana
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Abstract
Professionally-bred crops are dependent upon external inputs of fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation, but less resistant to drought, pests, and nutrient deficiencies. Although breeders depend upon landraces to introduce the genetic diversity needed to increase stress tolerance in commercial crop varieties, the traditional seed systems that produce landraces urgently need support. Our future food supply depends upon a diversity of crop varieties that can grow under a wide range of environmental conditions with minimal inputs. Farmer-led traditional seed systems provide evosystem services that are essential for the security and diversity of the globe’s current and future seed supply. Agricultural evosystem services are the societal benefits derived from small-scale farmer seed saving. Small-scale farmers who save seeds and engage in farmer-to-farmer exchange provide critical evosystem services necessary to adapt food production to a rapidly changing climate. Currently, seed saving is declining at an alarming rate due to inadequate policy support for traditional seed systems. Effective access, investment, and benefit-sharing mechanisms are essential to ensure that farmers can continue managing crops to adapt to environmental changes as well as provide sources for future formal seed systems.
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Date
2025-05-01