Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
The emergence of hybrid crops, characterized by their fleeting genetic combinations stable for only one generation, revolutionized plant breeding by enabling rapid improvements in yield, protein, and oil quality. However, this innovation also led to the monopolization of the seed industry by a few chemical and pharmaceutical companies, locking farmers into a cycle of dependency on purchased seeds and associated farm chemicals, and significantly diminishing the role of public-interest classical plant breeders.
Oregon farmer Frank Morton, an organic seed breeder in the Willamette Valley, briefly discusses the emergence of hybrid seed technologies and the advantages they bring largely to the agri-chemical companies that sell the seeds. As Morton explains, with classical plant breeding, plants evolve over time within their native environments and remain fairly stable generation to generation. Hybrid technology is entirely different. The plants contain a certain set of desirable traits for a single generation, but in order to continue those traits in future harvests, farmers can’t reuse their seed they must purchase new supplies.
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The emergence of hybrid crops, characterized by their fleeting genetic combinations stable for only one generation, revolutionized plant breeding by enabling rapid improvements in yield, protein, and oil quality. However, this innovation also led to the monopolization of the seed industry by a few chemical and pharmaceutical companies, locking farmers into a cycle of dependency on purchased seeds and associated farm chemicals, and significantly diminishing the role of public-interest classical plant breeders.
Oregon farmer Frank Morton, an organic seed breeder in the Willamette Valley, briefly discusses the emergence of hybrid seed technologies and the advantages they bring largely to the agri-chemical companies that sell the seeds. As Morton explains, with classical plant breeding, plants evolve over time within their native environments and remain fairly stable generation to generation. Hybrid technology is entirely different. The plants contain a certain set of desirable traits for a single generation, but in order to continue those traits in future harvests, farmers can’t reuse their seed they must purchase new supplies.
Follow us:
Cooking Up a Story website: https:cookingupastory.com
facebook.com/cookingupastory
pinterest.com/foodfarmerearth
Cooking Up a Story channel on YouTube
youtube.com/cookingupastory
