12/29/08 Small grains seed bank

The National Small Grains Collection is an international seed resource located here in Idaho. BONMAN "I think last year we sent out more than 40 thousand different samples worldwide." Mike Bonman is the research leader for the ARS seed bank at Aberdeen, a facility that holds 130 thousand accessions of wheat, barley, triticale, rye, oats and rice. BONMAN "Some of these seeds were collected more than a hundred years ago by USDA plant explorers and these folks there was actually an organized project within the US Department of Agriculture to go overseas to the centers of origins of many crops and collect as many different varieties as possible." That collecting continues today and seeds are sent to Aberdeen where they are stored at 40 degrees and 25 percent humidity in what Bonman calls the working collection. BONMAN "We do grow outs here to rejuvenate seed. We send samples out to scientist elsewhere. We have a backup at Fort Collins, Colorado where they have a huge germplasm storage facility where they are kept at even lower temperatures." More to the seed bank story tomorrow. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott