Horticulture students working to safeguard survival of UK seed varieties

Ensuring the long-term survival of the country’s original bean varieties is part of a key project involving Nottingham Trent University.

Horticulture students at the university’s Brackenhurst Campus are preparing to sow a new batch of seeds as part of a scheme which aims to safeguard the original genetic make-up of a variety of species.

Programmes of in-breeding and hybridisation amongst certain species have meant that over time their genetic diversity has decreased and the original genetic make-up of some varieties is lost.

The loss of these varieties is of concern, not only because it means we are gradually losing elements of our cultural heritage, but also because the new genetic make-up may make them more susceptible to disease.