LOCAL SEED SAVING AND

PLANT BREEDING PRACTICE

IDA AYU ASTARINI

Why save local seeds?

• Guarantee well adapted to local environment

• Preserve our tropical genetic diversity

– Balinese rituals, traditional medicine, traditional

food - demand a wide range of plant varieties

• Motivate you to do your own breeding goal

and breeding program – create your own

variety.

• Save money

– Hybrid seeds are expensive

Which seed can be save?

• Make sure the variety is NOT

Hybrid variety. Why ???

– It is a results of a cross between

two pure line parent

AA x BB = AB (F1 Hybrid)

• If you planted F1 Hybrid seed, F2

generation maybe sterile, or will

show a wide variation in characters,

uniformity and maturity.

AB x AB = AA, AB, BB

Which seed can be save?

• local varieties that have been

grown in one region for a very

long time.

– Neglected/underutilized plants are

particularly important!

• self-pollinating crops (for

example, beans and peas).

• open-pollinated varieties of

some cross-pollinating crops

(for example, pepper, cucumber

and carrot).

Step involve in seed saving

1) Selecting suitable plants from which to save seeds.

- may involve isolation, bagging, caging

2) Harvesting seeds at the right time

3) storing them properly

Isolation in nylon net

What is the best way to store seeds?

• Humidity

– High humidity will increase

seed respiration rate and use

their stored energy.

– moisture content 7–8% before

storage

• Ideal temperature: < 15 °C

• Darkness

– Exposure to sunlight will

shorten the life of seeds.

• Containers:

– air-tight: sealed glass jar,

metal can, foil envelope

Seed storage

Svalbard Global Seed Vault

A collection of Herbs &

Wildflowers Native to British

Columbia. SOLD $249.00

Seed saving practice in Bali

• Local vegetable farmers in Bedugul areas:

– Save part of their harvest for next planting season

– Basic selection practices: choose vigorous plants,

bagged the flowers and seeds, collect bigger seeds,

healthy seeds, store them until next season

planting.

• Local community

– Collect seeds from plants of interest – dried them,

sow the seeds.

Seeds saving – some organizations

• IDEP foundation –

produced local seeds

• Benih Bali Foundation

• Kebun Raya Eka Karya,

Bali – germplams

collections

• Udayana University:

research on exploration of

indigenous plants, grow

seed via tissue rescue

technique.

Sistem Informasi Plasma Nutfah Hortikultura

– Pusat Penelitian dan Pengembangan Hortikultura

• Tanaman sayuran

• Tanaman Buah Tropik

• Tanaman Hias

• Jeruk dan Buah Subtropik

Balai Penelitian dan Kebun Raya di

Indonesia : germplasms collections - Balitkabi - Balitsa

- Balitas - Balithi

- Balitjestro - dll

PLANT BREEDING PRACTICE

What is Plant Breeding ?

• The art and science of changing the traits of

plants in order to produce desired

characteristics.

• Breeding aims for 21st century:

– Increase productivity

– Improve quality (nutrition, vitamin, protein)

– Adaptation to extreme environment (drought,

disease, salinity, heat/cold tolerance)

– New food

Plant Breeding Principles

• Selection of germplasms for parental line

• Employ appropriate breeding technique (traditional and modern)

• Selection on tested genotype

• Trials of cultivars to be released (multi location, multi years, multi seasons)

NEW VARIETY

Lesson learned from other countries

• Potato Breeding at Texas A&M University

• Prof. Miller – breeding potato for 40 yr

• Breeding purpose: – French fries, chips:

low water & sugar content

– Bake, boil, mash

– Nutrition, shape

– Disease tolerance,

– Adaptation to specific env

– High productivity

Step 1: Crossing

• Crossing usually be

done during winter in

the glass house.

• Harvested seeds store

in paper bag in 40C

dark room

Step 2: Sowing seeds on tray - indoor

(2 weeks)

Step 3: Move to glass house

Step 4: Harvest at 90 days

Step 5: Field trial: multi locations, years

Field day: involving scientist, farmers, industries,

market, promoting agencies to decide best varieties

for market

Step 6: Evaluation. Eg. Chips quality

Step 7: Chosen genotypes - introduced into culture

for germplasm collection and virus elimination

Chillies Breeding in the US: sweet to

superhot.

Tomato breeding at Cornell Univ

What we do….?

Seed saving - my frangipani collections

Introducing early generation seed potatoes –

increased productivity in Bedugul region

Introduction of heat tolerance Broccoli var –

Collab with Cornell Univ.

• Well adapted to Bedugul:

Castle Dome, Ironman,

Imperial

• Tabanan: Bay Meadows,

Imperial

012345

Bedugul

Orchid seed culture collections

Take home message…

• Start saving local seeds

• Research on every aspect of

seed saving (passport data,

seed storage, seed viability

test, seed dormancy, seed

preservation).

• Research on breeding local

crop, vegetable, ornamental,

endanger plants

Thank you! idaastarini@yahoo.com