78 / SEEDWORLD.COM JANUARY 2018 SINCE1915 ThefirstissueofSeedWorldwaspublishedin1915.Heretheeditorswilltakeyoubackintimeto explorethenumbers,newsandissuesthatimpactedtheseedindustry—allcoveredbySeedWorld. 1915 1920 1922 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1952 1955 1960 1965 1970 1971 1975 1980 1983 1985 1990 1991 1995 2000 2005 2006 2010 2015 A MOMENT IN TIME The cover of our July 1983 issue showed a scene from the Mont La Salle Vineyards in Napa, Calif. The Pacific Seedsmen’s Association held their annual convention in the region that year. This issue included a sidebar looking at exciting new corn research — an attempt to create a variety resistant to the European corn borer while the plants were flowering. Prior to that time, breeding of corn designed to hold the pest in check was focused on resistance during the whorl stage. The new resistant germplasm was made available to breeders in 1983 through the Missouri Foundation Seed Project. Researchers in Missouri said progress demonstrated in developing resistance to second-generation borers could encourage further breeding efforts in the realm of corn borer resistance. FACTS AND FIGURES FROM THIS 1983 ISSUE: 100 years is the length of time the American Seed Trade Association had been around as of July 1983. 60 is the age of the Canadian Seed Trade Association as of the summer of 1983. 50% is the proportion of commercial breeding lines predicted to be produced in the future by biotechnology. 600,000 is the number of plants cata- logued in the new Germplasm Resources Information Network, a revolutionary new database designed to keep track of the nation’s plant resources. 300,000 hectares is the planned increase in Morocco’s irrigated land. Discovery of first-ever homeobox—region of a gene that enables it to control other genes—in plants Honeybee Act prohibits the importation of adult honeybees Male-sterile plants of Day sorghum discovered Discovery of first fertility restorer for sunflower; lines RHA265 and RHA 266; first hybrid sunflowers planted by farmers in the U.S. A newly released pear variety— Sunrise—fills the need for an early-season pear with resistance to the devastating disease fire blight