Facts about Hybrid Seed and Heirloom Seed

The majority of edible vegetables in Turkey (tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, melon, watermelon, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) are hybrid varieties. At the same time, standard seeds of all these vegetables are grown in our country, especially in spring and summer. Especially from pepper, melon and watermelon plants, much more standard varieties than hybrid varieties are produced in spring and summer in Turkey. Although they are not hybrids, green vegetables such as lettuce, arugula, parsley and radish are grown in our country at all times.

Standard seeds are the so-called inherited seeds that popular people talk about. These seeds are sown, planted in the field, and the plants grow. A few of the plants that grow best in the field are left to get seeds, for example peppers, their seeds are removed when they mature. It is dried in a slightly sunny place and replanted and used the next year. These are the seeds called local seeds, standard seeds, and inherited seeds. Standard seeds are seeds and plants grown between April and October in many regions. Because during this period, every region of our country has ideal climatic conditions for growing vegetables.

Standard seeds generally give less yield than hybrid seeds. Although they are resistant to some diseases and pests, they are not resistant to many diseases and pests. Their shelf life is short. They cannot be stored for long periods of time or transported to distant markets.

Hybrid varieties are different from standard varieties or seeds. Hybrid varieties are varieties developed by breeding companies. The time it takes to develop a hybrid variety and meet the consumer in the market is approximately 8-10 years. Hybrid varieties, unlike standard varieties, are seeds that need to be purchased again every year. Because it is reproduced using parental lines. Seeds can be taken from hybrid seeds at harvest time, and plants can be developed successfully when planted. However, when hybrid seeds are reused, they do not yield as much as the original hybrids, and different plants develop from each seed.

This situation in hybrid seeds can be explained as follows. Two plant lines developed as a result of long breeding studies are used to obtain hybrid seeds. In other words, hybrid seeds are obtained as a result of the crossbreeding of two parent plants used as mother and father. Therefore, plants obtained and developed from hybrid seeds do not produce the same hybrids and produce different plants.

In simpler terms, hybrid varieties can be thought of as seeds obtained by crossing two standard varieties. As a matter of fact, in the breeding studies carried out in Turkey, while hybrid varieties are being developed, hybrid varieties are obtained by crossing another line or plant with local standard seeds. By crossing the standard pepper, which is grown locally in some regions in our country and called three-nose pepper, with another disease-resistant pepper line, hybrid three-nose pepper is obtained. has been made.

Thus, hybrid varieties that yield more productive and higher quality products have been developed by combining the hybrid tripe's suitability for country conditions and conditions with resistance to diseases.

The most important features of hybrid varieties are that they produce high-quality and homogeneous products, that they yield high yields as a result of the hybridization of two standard seeds, that they have increased tolerance to cold and heat, and that they can remain on the shelf for a long time without spoiling.

Most importantly, hybrid varieties and seeds are seeds that can be grown in relatively cold and harsh winter conditions as long as the temperature does not fall below 2-3 degrees and can produce products in all four seasons of the year.

As popular people say, hybrid varieties do not destroy local varieties, they use the potential of local varieties to obtain new varieties. If there were only standard seeds, more people would not be able to consume enough of the necessary products.

A note about hybrid seeds: Because hybrid seeds have maternal and paternal parents, they need to be propagated every year. Seeds of the mother and father plants are sown, and the developing seedlings are planted in the greenhouse. During the flowering period, pollination is carried out by applying pollen taken from the father plant to the mother plant flowers by human hands, as bees and wind do in nature, and when fruits such as tomatoes and peppers ripen, their seeds are removed, dried, packaged and offered to the market as hybrid seeds.

Quotation:

Yuksel Seed

Dr. Ercan ÖZKAYNAK