Improving the Identification, Handling, Storage and Use of 'Difficult' Seeds

 

Focussing on Africa, the project is working with crop genebanks to improve the identification, handling, storage and use of ‘difficult’ seeds - so-called because they cannot be readily conserved and/or easily used.

Some non-orthodox species cannot be conserved in seed banks. Other species may be easy to conserve but difficult to use.

The utility of seed bank collections as an immediate source of material for utilisation in breeding programmes and other activities depends, in the first instance, on how easy it is to turn the conserved seeds back into plants.

Seeds of some species, particularly crop wild relatives and so-called under-utilised species, may be difficult to use because they require very specific germination conditions or dormancy-breaking treatments.

Other seed collections are of limited use simply because many of the seeds are dead - early harvesting, inappropriate handling, or storage under less than adequate conditions may all cause seed viability to fall.

 

Funded by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and delivered by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the ‘difficult’ seeds project addresses the need to build capacity to conserve plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The project also hopes to benefit farmers and others aiming to maintain seed quality during storage at the community level.

Stakeholder workshops held in 2006 identified a list of around 200 ‘difficult’ species, and produced guidelines for future project activities, including:

1. providing training in techniques and methods for handling ‘difficult’ seeds.
2. compiling and facilitating access to scientific and technical information.
3. facilitating the acquisition of basic technical equipment.
4. supporting and facilitating gene banks to engage with farmers.

We held four training workshops in 2007-8, in Kenya, Burkina Faso, Botswana, and Morocco, benefitting 60 participants from 48 institutes in 38 countries. 80 farmers from the four host countries attended associated farmers workshops. The training workshops were highly successful and received positive feedback from participants.

A ‘difficult’ seeds website, which will make available the training resources developed by the project and draw together key information on the seed biology of ‘difficult’ species, is currently under development.

For further information please contact

diffseed-english@kew.org or diffseed-french@kew.org