b'Today, only about 70 of the originalRe-breeding Relationships300 taro varieties remain in regular use.For Lincoln, the implications for modern Losing one, Winter argues, is not justplant breeding are profound. The ques-genetic erosionits the disappearancetion isnt just how to engineer better of a library, a ritual, a song. cropsbut how to reimagine the systems they grow in.Agronomy on Lava What are we really selecting for in Dr. Noa Lincoln, agroecologist andour breeding programs? he asks. Is it cultural historian, is determined to makejust yield? Or is it resilience, cultural sure those songs arent lost. On the lava- meaning, nutritional value?strewn slopes of Kohala, Lincoln andHis research on heirloom Hawaiian his team excavate more than soiltheyHale Tufan of Cornell Universitys Equitablesugarcane found varieties that captured unearth time. Agricultural Research Lab highlights the majormist, fixed nitrogen, and held ceremonial In one 15-foot soil pit, they uncoveredgender gap in global agriculture. importance. In field trials, many out-the entire arc of land use: forest, farming,performed commercial hybridswhen fire, erosionand then, astonishingly,grown within the traditional systems recovery. they were designed for.We saw evidence that HawaiiansTheres this myth that heirlooms are didnt just recognize their mistakes,inferior, Lincoln says. But its not the Lincoln explains. They adjusted. Theycrops that are failingits the system diversified. They restored forest belts. theyre forced into.This wasnt marginal survival.In this view, plant breeding becomes Lincolns findings suggest pre-contactnot just technicalbut relational. Its Hawaii sustained a population of overabout designing crops, yesbut also one millioncomparable to today societies.without synthetic inputs or fossil fuels.In a time of climate disruption, eco-The secret? A patchwork of diversifiedSamuel Ipinyomi is a 2025 NAPB Borlauglogical grief, and growing food insecu-agroecological systems shaped by culture,Scholar. He remembers the aroma of Sundayrity, Hawaii offers more than tropical climate, and collaboration. stew as the spark that ignited his path in plantlandscapes. It offers a modelof breeding.STRENGTH POWERED BY THE SEA. Improved germination, seedling emergence, and early root growth? Your seed treatment just got more muscle. Tidal Grow GENBOOST pumps up seed performance and plant defense.22 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA JULY 2025'