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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Heirloom fruit

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  • From: Anton Callaway <marillen@earthlink.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Heirloom fruit
  • Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:32:09 -0400 (GMT-04:00)

Actually, all apples in commercial production today rely on the same basic
mechanism of breeding as ever- genetic recombination. Namely when sexual
reproduction occurs, a new and unique genetic mix is formed for each meiotic
event. This is no different than what happens in the wild.

However, heirloom fruit are an important part of maintaining useful alleles
as well as useful allelic combinations. The richest source of allelic
diversity is the original wild population. However, using conventional
breeding techniques, it takes more time to reassemble the favorable
combinations of alleles that one finds in a marketable apple. The heirloom
cultivars then provide a different source of desirable alleles for the
breeder.

"Modern" breeding does a few things differently, namely better
record-keeping, partly because humans are the bees- they choose the parents
and record which parents were used to make seed and different selection
criteria. By selection criteria, I mean the criteria used to decide which
seedling is named and distributed and which ones are eliminated.

Those are the two main factors that have changed apples as they are today.
Breeders have tended to select parents from a narrow panel of already
established cultivars (although that has been changing in the last 20 years
or so). And the selection criteria that are applied to modern apples is
quite different than before. That is because there is a much narrower
acceptable specification for centrally-produced commercial apples vs.
backyard trees. In previous generations, diversity in apples was valuable-
we needed a long harvest season, apples that would keep without refrigeration
(that didn't exist) for months, apples for beverages, apples for drying,
sauces, etc. And these apples needed to resist pests and diseases pretty
much on their own. Many of those qualities seemed of lesser importance in
the era of powerful insecticides, cheap petrol for transportation across
thousands of miles and a mainly urban society that began to treat food as
fuel- something to be microwaved and wolfed down between meetings.

Although I'm not in favor of keeping heirloom just because they are old (I'd
rather preserve the wild apple forests where the diversity is richer), I do
think keeping heirlooms that have valuable characteristics or potentially
valuable characteristics is worthwhile and important.

Anton
Zone 8

-----Original Message-----
>From: John S <swim_at_svc@yahoo.com>
>Sent: Sep 23, 2009 6:24 AM
>To: "Dr. Chiranjit Parmar" <parmarch_mnd@dataone.in>, North American Fruit
>Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
>Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Heirloom fruit
>
>An important part of this concept is that the varieties have been grown in
>earlier times and "remain" unmodified by modern breeding technologies. 
>Heirloom seeds help to establish and define a preserved genetic heritage.
>
>
>
>--- On Wed, 9/23/09, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar <parmarch_mnd@dataone.in> wrote:
>
>From: Dr. Chiranjit Parmar <parmarch_mnd@dataone.in>
>Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Heirloom fruit
>To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
>Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 2:12 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Thanks Spidra.
> 
>I did not know it all.
> 
>Well I also keep some heirloom seeds for
>distribution.
> 
>Dr. Chiranjit Parmar
>Mandi  HP  India
>www.fruitipedia.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> Spidra
> Webster
> To: Dr. Chiranjit Parmar ; North
> American Fruit Explorers
> Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 11:24
> AM
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Heirloom fruit
>
>It's an imprecise term. It refers to
> fruits/vegetables/roses/seeds that are not easily available from
> commercial
> seed companies/nurseries. They were kept alive and in circulation by
> individuals.
>
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_plant
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 22, 2009, at 10:49 PM, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar wrote:
>
>
>
> Dear all,
>  
> Will some of you tell me the meaning of the term Heirloom
> fruit or heirloom seed?
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Dr. Chiranjit Parmar
>Mandi  HP  India
>www.fruitipedia.com\
>
>
>
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