Gloucestershire Allotment Landrace Conservation Project

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Stefan Quarry

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Jan 6, 2014, 10:39:50 AM1/6/14

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Hello,

Do you have an allotment?

Do you select, collect, save and resow your seeds?

Have you done this 10 or more times with any of your crops?

If the answer to these 3 questions is yes, your crop varieties contain unique genetic diversity which is very important for the future of agriculture.

By saving the seed the plant becomes uniquely adapted to the local environment, creating new characteristics which may include certain resistances or traits which would prove advantageous in the future. These varieties are named landraces.

Plant breeders use landraces to breed the high yielding crops that we enjoy today, however, due to the increasing cultivation of modern high yielding varieties, landraces are being grown less and less and are dying out. Considering the increasing human population and changing climate it is imperative that we conserve these plant genetic resources (landraces), so that we can produce reliably productive crops and adapt to our changing environment.

Stefan Quarry, a local young man, now studying at the University of Birmingham, is gathering information about Gloucestershire landraces, grown on allotments. If you, or anyone you know, have any landraces then please get in contact as soon as possible via the details below.

Email: stefan...@gmail.com

Telephone: 07804254164

If you would like any more information about landraces please visit this webpage: