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- From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
- To: Gardenwriters on Gardening <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [gwl-g] FW: Workshops Boost Public Seed Project
- Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 07:36:28 -0700
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From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 09:33:56 -0400
To: ARS News subscriber <lonrom@hevanet.com>
Subject: Workshops Boost Public Seed Project
STORY LEAD:
ARS Workshops Boost Public Seed Project
___________________________________________
ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Luis Pons, (301) 504-1628, lpons@ars.usda.gov
August 13, 2004
___________________________________________
Workshops run by the Agricultural Research Service are a big part of a
collaborative crop-seed breeding and production effort aimed at small-scale
growers in the northeastern United States.
The Public Seed Initiative is an on-farm breeding and seed-production
project involving the ARS Plant Genetic Resources Unit (PGRU) in Geneva,
N.Y.; Cornell University's departments of plant breeding and horticulture;
the Cooperative Genome Project of the nonprofit organization Oregon Tilth;
and the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) of New York.
According to PGRU plant geneticist Larry Robertson, the project connects
small seed producers with seed companies, university researchers, nonprofit
groups and government agencies. It also seeks to improve distribution of new
vegetable varieties, spread knowledge about small-scale commercial seed
production and plant breeding, improve regional growers' capacity to provide
commercial-grade seed and produce vegetable varieties specially adapted to
the needs of organic and regional market farmers.
The project's series of full-day, hands-on workshops cover all aspects of
seed cleaning and processing. The centerpiece of the sessions is a mobile
seed-processing unit equipped with many small-scale, seed-cleaning devices.
This year's first workshop takes place tomorrow in Amherst, Mass., at NOFA's
Massachusetts Summer Conference from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other workshops are
scheduled for Sept. 8 at the Green Thumb in Water Mill, N.Y.; Sept. 14 at
PGRU in Geneva; Sept. 24 and 25 at the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity,
Maine; Oct. 7 at Lockwood Farm in Hamden, Conn.; Oct. 22 at Peacework
Organic Farm in Newark, N.Y.; and Nov. 8 at Gorzynski's Ornery Farm in
Cochecton Center, N.Y.
Preregistration is required for most of these workshops. Information is
available online at http://www.plbr.cornell.edu/psi, by phone at (315)
787-2396 and by e-mail at tferrin@pgru.ars.usda.gov.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
___________________________________________
* This is one of the news reports that ARS Information distributes to
subscribers on weekdays.
* Start, stop or change an e-mail subscription at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/subscribe.htm
* NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/news
* Phone (301) 504-1638 | fax (301) 504-1648
- [gwl-g] FW: Workshops Boost Public Seed Project, Lon J. Rombough, 08/13/2004
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