b'Crowdsourcing Lowers CostsSeedLinked, launched in 2019, connects farmers, breed-ers, and gardeners in collaborative trials. The platform uses mobile and web technology to gather phenotypic data and feedback from growers around the world.Participants range from backyard gardeners to small-scale farmers to school groups. They can search for seeds, join research projects, and provide performance data. Growers and breeders access this data to inform decisions, develop more locally adapted varieties, and better under-stand trait behavior in different environments.By integrating distributed grower knowledge with mobile tools, it becomes possible to characterize traits under authentic growing conditionswhether in hot, dry climates or organic systems, Enjalbert says.Crowdsourcing decreases the cost of evaluation sig-nificantly. Traditional field trials often cost $300$500 per variety per location. Thousands of accessions, including those with small markets or niche uses, are left uncharacter-ized. SeedLinkeds model brings this cost down to less than $150 per accession, with results coming from 1520 loca-tions.Weve examined the robustness of data collected with Nicolas Enjalbert, CEO of SeedLinked, says digital crowdsourcingSeedLinked, Warburton says. The correlation between can transform how genetic resources are evaluated.PHOTO: SEEDLINKED results from 1,000 backyard growers and five rather expen-sive field trials is very high. We can confidently feed these findings into the system, knowing they are accurate.From Backyard Growers to Global DataVolunteer growers are enthusiastic. In total, the Initiative has 1,500 participants characterizing 250 accessions including beans, vegetables, and ornamentals from both Seed Savers and NPGS.Melissa Rose Lawrence, a backyard grower in New Jersey, is currently par-ticipating in five trials: eggplant, red okra, beefsteak tomato with Seed Savers Exchange, and tomato and common beans with the NPGS.Im just one data point, but this data point can make a differencemaybe to the growers or the future breeders who filter through all the information, Lawrence says.The collected data is available through SeedLinked and will also be integrated into the NPGS Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) database, making it publicly accessible to global researchers and growers.We are excited to start entering the first years data into Volunteer grower Melissa Rose Lawrence, one of 1,500 participantsGRIN, Warburton says.contributing to the Community-Supported Germplasm Initiative, uses bucket trials in her home garden to evaluate different seed varieties.PHOTO: MELISSA ROSE LAWRENCE14/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2025'