Commercial hybrids: Why do farmers still dare to save seed?

Seeds are the essential vehicles for the continuity of plant species. Human survival also depends on them; our food—whether grains, oils, vegetables, or fruits—all begin as a tiny seed. Different seeds produce food with different flavours. In today’s maize, watermelons, and tomatoes, we can no longer taste those “vanished flavours of childhood”, perhaps a result of seed replacement. Traditional local varieties, rooted in their land and shaped by long-term natural or human selection, often taste far better.

So why have these traditional varieties gradually disappeared? We may not understand as much as we think about the seeds upon which human existence depends.

In the second half of the 20th century, as populations grew and food pressure intensified, an agricultural revolution focused on “high yield” unfolded globally. New varieties, represented by hybrid rice and hybrid maize, were rapidly promoted. They far surpassed traditional local varieties in yield per unit area, uniformity, and disease resistance. In China, the widespread adoption of hybrid rice nearly doubled yields and was seen as a key technological breakthrough in solving hunger. For farmers, choosing high-yielding, stable, and easy-to-manage varieties meant increased income in the short term; for the state, it was a vital guarantee of food security.

But the logic of high yield quietly reshaped the fate of seeds. Hybrid seeds often need to be repurchased every year, making it difficult for farmers to save their own; adaptability was standardised, and local terroir gradually faded into the background. In a system where yield became the primary metric, those traditional varieties—slower to grow and lower in yield, yet unique in flavour and adapted to the local environment—began to be seen as “uneconomical” or “outdated”, disappearing from fields and dinner tables within a few short decades. We are fuller, yet without realising it, our food has become increasingly identical.

As critical agricultural means of production, seeds touch upon multiple levels, including food security, legal systems, biodiversity, farmers’ livelihoods, and food safety. From a single grain of rice to complex genetic engineering, seeds are far more complicated than we imagine.

This episode is a podcast recorded remotely with friends from all corners of the globe. We hope to use sound to take you on a journey with seeds from Thailand to Southeast Guizhou, and from Baoding in Hebei to the Philippines. Whoever decides what we plant decides what we eat. Experience the stories of seeds—they are the history of agriculture and the choice for our future.

When it comes to seeds, we actually have many questions:

• Why did traditional varieties disappear so rapidly over a few decades?

• How have commercial hybrids changed farmers’ choices regarding grain, and how has this affected our daily diets?

• Why did Filipino farmers take the new “Golden Rice” variety to court?

• Why do some say, “protecting traditional varieties is protecting the human race”?

• In today’s food system, is there still a possibility for the revival of traditional seeds?

If you are also interested, we welcome you to listen to this authentic conversation about land, food, diversity, and “who owns the means of production”. May every seed be seen, and may the freedom to choose what to plant and what to eat be preserved.

GUESTS

Chen Xi

From Zhaoxishe, Southeast Guizhou. Engaged in ecological agriculture and rural development in Yangdong Village, saving over 20 varieties of local rice and grains, and operating the Yangdong Children’s Public Library.

 

 

 

 

Li Guanqi

Head of the Eastern Office of the Farmer Seed Network, long involved in the in-situ conservation and advocacy of farmhouse seeds across the country.

Chen Ziyu

From Wocuiyuan Family Farm, Baoding, Hebei. Manages a 147-mu farm with his family, preserving 63 heirloom varieties passed down from his father, and conserving 183 varieties for the Baoding Seed Station.