hybrid vs. open polinted

[Guest guest]

Can someone help me with the definitions of " hybrid " and " open polinated " ?

I'm not clear on what defines a hybrid in terms of a plant that has the

nutrient content altered to the point where it's not worth eating. I spoke

to a couple of local farmers this morning. One said that basically all the

seeds they have available are from hybrids, in the sense that crops have

been altered throughout the centuries via selective breeding. For example, I

can get heirloom Maine potatoes, but who's to say they weren't hybridized

from an Irish variety a hundred or so years ago? And that the alterations

haven't made it less nutritious? He also said that basically everything's a

hybrid except *wild* plants. He said if he brought a wild tomato to market,

no one would want to eat it. The reason he gave, I believe is that they

taste nothing like tomatoes that we're used to. So, how can one know an open

polinated plant wasn't a hybrid somewhere in its history?

I thought the corn study that posted was referring to hybrid corn

that had recently been deliberatly altered for maximum yield, not

necessarily corn that's been selectively bred over several centuries. Did I

misunderstand that?

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

>

[Guest guest]

> Can someone help me with the definitions of " hybrid " and

> " open polinated " ?

Hi Suze:

Open pollinated plants are those from which you can save the seeds

and grow the same plant again. Today's hybrids are the result of

genetic engineering within the species (so they don't fit the

definition of GMO, but they are gentically altered) by crossing

varieties to create a new variety with the desired trait

(unfortunately yield for agronomic benefit). The seeds obtained from

hybrids are either not fertile or, if they will germinate, they

won't produce offspring with the same desired trait of the parent,

forcing users to purchase seeds for every crop they grow.

Chi

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/10/04 10:56:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

s.fisher22@... writes:

>

> Can someone help me with the definitions of " hybrid " and " open polinated " ?

With respect to this discussion, hybrid means a *first-generation* cross

between two inbred strains of corn. The corn is prevented from wind pollinating

in the previous generation with a paper bag, and is pollinated with its own

pollen. " Open-pollinated " refers to corn whose seed came from a corn plant that

was wind-pollinated.

Chris

[Guest guest]

> >-----Original Message-----

> Thanks for clearing that up! Now I'm not sure that ANY of the

> foods I've tested fit into the " hybrid " category. I'll have to

> go talk to that farmer I had this conversation with again next

> weekend. In any case, I wonder how common hybrids are in the

> organic movement? And I still wonder if *selective breeding* can

> alter the nutritional balance of nutrients so as to make it

> hard todetermine the nutritional quality with a brix meter?

> Any thoughts?

Hi Suze:

When there are no regulations against growing hybrids, and hybrids

allow the organic farmer to grow a crop in low soil fertility

instead of restoring the soil fertility, just as it allows the

conventional farmer to do the same, you can bet hybrids are common

in the organic industry.

I know a consultant who grew super-sweet hybrid corn in his garden

in two test plots with brix readings of 18 and 28. The next year he

grew open pollinated corn in the very same two plots and got brix

readings of 11 and 16.5. Yes hybrid plants make a brix meter useless

in judging if hybrids are more nutritious that an open pollinated

variety of the same species. The refractometer is still useful for

hybrids only in comparing the same hybrid variety grown on different

soils. But who would bother?

Chi