{"id":2398,"date":"2018-05-03T15:48:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T15:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westarseeds.com\/?p=2398"},"modified":"2018-05-03T15:48:12","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T15:48:12","slug":"history-of-the-vegetable-seed-industry-domestic-vs-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westarseeds.com\/es\/articles\/history-of-the-vegetable-seed-industry-domestic-vs-international\/","title":{"rendered":"History of the Vegetable Seed Industry Domestic vs. International"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tA HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE SEED INDUSTRY: THEN VS. NOW | DOMESTIC VS. INTERNATIONAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can find yourself anywhere in the United States, and still grow almost any vegetable you could possibly think of. The same goes for most of the remaining world.<\/p>\n

Today, the US\u2014as well as many other parts of the globe\u2014has a thriving vegetable seed industry, made up of numerous seed companies. Up until about 300 years ago, however, no such industries existed.<\/p>\n

Against all odds, we\u2019ve found a way to bring all our favorite crops together and make them available to everyone\u2014farmers, gardeners, and hobbyists alike\u2014even though they originate from regions scattered all over the planet.<\/p>\n

But what was it like before all this was possible?<\/em><\/p>\n

With globalization changing the economic tides a few centuries ago, a desperate need for better food security around the planet emerged, with our smaller food systems unable to meet certain global needs. Fruits, vegetables, and grains needed to be grown fast enough\u2014and in vast enough quantities\u2014before world hunger outpaced what the world could currently grow at the time.<\/p>\n

But most importantly of all: the world needed seeds. <\/em><\/p>\n

Global food production simply couldn\u2019t be possible without a world supply of the very best vegetable seeds. Thus, the vegetable seed industry was born.<\/p>\n

HUNGER IN THE WORLD: HOW SEEDS PLAYED A PART<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before global and international production of food began\u2014and before the international seed trade was established\u2014food systems were much smaller. So was the seed trade itself, with local stockpiles and catalogues providing the means of food production for different localized parts of the world.<\/p>\n

Most farmers and growers also got their own seed their crops from the previous year, saving them for the next season. Seed-sharing and exchanges also helped keep seed available. At the time, that was all that was needed.<\/p>\n

The first beginnings of vegetable seed business as we recognize it today began in Europe in the early 1700\u2019s. Seed catalogues were kept only by small farmers and growers, but eventually turned into bigger enterprises to meet the demands for agriculture in the New World\u2014America.<\/p>\n

Across the Atlantic in the west, American colonies were only familiar with vegetables from their own native soil. They needed seeds to grow these foods for surviving and sustaining themselves\u2014either those, or newly discovered American seed varieties bred to be more efficiently transported, grown, harvested, and eaten.<\/p>\n

Of course, not all these seeds could be found in the New World. To meet this demand, vegetable seed businesses in Europe were established to send the colonies food\u2014but none were established locally in America for some time.<\/p>\n

SOWING THE SEEDS OF THE U.S. SEED INDUSTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eventually, homegrown local seed catalogues in Europe transformed into flourishing seed businesses. Seed trade grew even more from that continent, with much of Europe\u2019s most successful and favorite crops spreading to other developing countries like America\u2014but not America alone.<\/p>\n

Later in the 1700\u2019s, vegetable crop seeds were also introduced to other colonized countries, such as India. As developing countries\u2014including the US\u2014increased food production during this time, small seed businesses germinated overseas, pitching in to help with local and growing demands for food and agriculture to support growing populations.<\/p>\n

This was how the international seed industry was established. Still, these businesses remained small, and companies were also yet to breed any standard commercial seed for a standard commercial crop, much like our modern monocrops and other varieties today.<\/p>\n

Back then, most farmers still saved their own unique seeds and heirlooms for next year\u2019s growing season, relying little on these small businesses. For this reason, demand back in the day remained low.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Europe\u2019s temperate crops like cabbage, broccoli, carrots, and asparagus began to spread east and west, cultivated in parts of the world they would have otherwise never known. Vegetable seed varieties these European businesses gathered from other continents like Asia and Africa\u2014such as garlic, eggplants, beans, yams, and melons\u2014spread with them.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, vegetable varieties indigenous to the New World entered the international industry. These included tomatoes, peppers, corn, potatoes, pumpkins, and many others, the seeds of which also made their way to other parts of the world through international trade.<\/p>\n

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SEED VARIETY: BRED IN THE US<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to some records, the very first commercial seed for widespread vegetable production\u2014a variety of cabbage\u2014wasn\u2019t bred until the late 1800\u2019s. The business that bred the seed was established in the United States, making the US the homeland and very first inventor of commercial seed.<\/p>\n

But even though this cabbage variety was somewhat successful, the appeal and need for globally-recognized and widely commercially available seed varieties hadn\u2019t quite caught on. Needless to say, these early seed companies were yet to experience a real boom\u2014especially since growers could buy the seed, grow it, and then save that patented seed from their own crops.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the US government in the early 19th<\/sup> century gave free seed to the people as part of public government programs. This was vital to ensuring the survival of colonists in the 1800\u2019s depended on growing food for themselves, but it dampened the need for a highly lucrative commercial seed industry\u2014both domestic and international\u2014for a time.<\/p>\n

It was sometime in the early 20th<\/sup> Century that these seed companies began breeding hybrid vegetables. These more pest- and disease-resistant varieties, with strikingly unique traits compared to their purebred kin, could not be replicated from saved seed.<\/p>\n

This gave the seed industry a profitable edge for a time, with ownership over specific hybrids that had very desirable cultivation advantages compared to non-hybrid seeds. It also made their seeds more desirable and competitive with free seed, despite it being free\u2014and thus, hybrids created an industry.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t until the start of World War II that the vegetable seed industry catalyzed and changed forever\u2014and especially in the US, where the seed industry really boomed successfully for the first time.<\/p>\n

MEETING FOOD DEMANDS HERE AT HOME<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the advent of World War II, there came a problem: Europe, the globe\u2019s central source for the international seed trade, became cut off from the rest of the world during wartime.<\/p>\n

Though international trade wasn\u2019t quite as robust then as it was today, the world\u2019s main global seed supplier and center of the seed trade suddenly vanished\u2014with food security suddenly a great concern.<\/p>\n

In response to this shortage and crisis, already established seed companies stepped up to fill the demand. Thus, the domestic vegetable seed industry was created in the US.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometime before the war in 1924, the American Seed Trade Association\u2014a banded group of non-government seed companies\u2014also finally convinced the US to do away with free seed allotments. This would allow private seed companies to grow, diversify, and fill in the supply gap caused by Europe pulling out of the international market, and not have to deal with needless competition.<\/p>\n

This lobby before the war, followed by the dried-up international seed supply, created a boom in seed demand and innovation\u2014all started in the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n

New seed varieties and hybrids were rapidly developed to stock the seeds for supply at home in the United States. And, logically, the United States seed companies moved beyond borders to then fill some worldwide demand.<\/p>\n

Around the 1960\u2019s, an enormous sea of competing seed companies saw many of the less successful ones disappearing, or getting bought out by larger, rapidly expanding successful seed-growing operations.<\/p>\n

Though very successful with their size, some other seed companies resisted the advantages of expansive growth, instead putting an emphasis and favor on quality.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since the 1980\u2019s as well, the last remaining seed companies were able to thrive when finally allowed to patent the genetics of their own seeds. This helped ensure that the breeds contained within each seed were of the highest quality, health, and ultimate ability to survive until harvest.<\/p>\n

Since then, seed companies can successfully refine and develop their breeds\u2014as well as new ones\u2014for years to come.<\/em><\/p>\n

A SPROUTING INDUSTRY TO MEET GLOBAL FOOD DEMAND<\/strong><\/p>\n

What started as small but robust seed companies grew rapidly into lucrative and successful businesses, both large and small, each working hard to fill a now practically universal demand for seed.<\/p>\n

After all, the need for healthy, nutritious foods will never go away. For that reason, neither will healthy and successful seed varieties.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, what was once hundreds\u2014if not thousands\u2014of US seed companies are now made up of the last strong population of thriving seed companies. These have developed, bred, cultivated, and perfected some of the world\u2019s most cherished and favorite plant varieties: from watermelons, radishes, and bell peppers to corn, soybeans, grains, flowers, and even grasses.<\/p>\n

What were once companies solely responsible for feeding the US with seed varieties are now able to help feed the world, as well as provide plants for decoration, enjoyment, and hobby.<\/em><\/p>\n

Most importantly of all, these companies\u2014some of them still in business today, with traditions and legacies reaching back to some of the oldest seed saving business in the US\u2014are leaders in working hard to maintain successful food security and horticultural diversity.<\/p>\n

Without the rich history of the seed industry behind them all and making their successes possible, we wouldn\u2019t have the amazing varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers, grasses, and ornamentals that populate and make the world a better place today.<\/em><\/p>\n

WESTAR\u2019S ROLE IN THE INTERNATIONAL SEED INDUSTRY <\/strong><\/p>\n

Here at Westar Seeds International, we\u2019ve been inspired by the hard work, ingenuity, and innovation of those old seed companies.<\/p>\n

Like those smaller businesses back in the day, we have a passion and an eye toward ultimately enhancing the grower\u2019s experience. We\u2019re not about size or rapid growth, or even about being the biggest in the business. <\/em><\/p>\n

Instead, we take pride in emulating those small US businesses dedicated to growing seed for food and other crop production back in the day: whether for populations within our borders and beyond them, or for countries and nations all over the globe.<\/p>\n

Though our ethic is that of a small business with a customer-centric focus, we are nevertheless a rapidly growing and successful international company, with customers all around the world\u201450 countries and counting.<\/em><\/p>\n

We started our business in 1992. But when working with us, you\u2019ll feel like you\u2019re working with a company with the hundreds of years of experience behind the entire international seed industry today.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all due to our appreciation of the in-depth history, hard work, and engineering that went into all the most successful crops of today\u2019s world\u2014varieties which we work endlessly to improve for the benefit of our customers and growers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reference<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dillon, Matthew (2005). A Brief History of the Development of the Seed Industry \u2013 The Shift from Public to Private Seed Systems. Seedstory.Wordpress.com. Retrieved from https:\/\/seedstory.wordpress.com\/a-brief-history-of-the-seed-industry\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE SEED INDUSTRY: THEN VS. NOW | DOMESTIC VS. INTERNATIONAL You can find yourself anywhere in the United States, and still grow almost any vegetable you could possibly think of. The same goes for most of the remaining world. Today, the US\u2014as well as many other parts of the globe\u2014has a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[54,87,88],"class_list":["post-2398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-farming","tag-vegetable-industry","tag-vegetable-seed"],"yoast_head":"\nHistory of the Vegetable Seed Industry Domestic vs. International - Westar Seeds International, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE SEED INDUSTRY: THEN VS. NOW | DOMESTIC VS. 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