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The Fundamentals of Seeds, Varieties, and Cultivation — A Vitality Transcending Time and Space.
The Fundamentals of Seeds, Varieties, and Cultivation — A Vitality Transcending Time and Space.
Open-Pollinated, Hybrid, and Genetically Modified Varieties(GMO)
Open-Pollinated, Hybrid, and Genetically Modified Varieties(GMO)
Crop seeds are primarily categorized into two types: open-pollinated (OP) and hybrid. Open-pollinated varieties are developed through natural pollination; their genetic traits remain close to their natural state, granting them superior adaptability to the environment. Since ancient times, many seeds have been passed down through generations in this manner. Hybrid varieties are created by crossing different strains to selectively enhance specific genetic strengths—such as disease resistance or high yield—to meet human objectives. Furthermore, contemporary genetically modified (GM) crops are produced by directly editing the genetic code itself.
So, why does choosing open-pollinated varieties become a distinct advantage for us?
Harnessing the "Plant Power" to Survive an Era of Climate Change: Open-Pollinated Varieties and Seed Saving
Harnessing the "Plant Power" to Survive an Era of Climate Change: Open-Pollinated Varieties and Seed Saving
At a certain point in antiquity, humanity transitioned from a life dependent on foraging and hunting to one centered on cultivation. Since then, we have continued to nurture plant varieties through a continuous cycle: growing, harvesting, saving seeds, and sowing them once more. The practice of selecting individuals with exceptional traits—such as those yielding the most flavorful fruit, showing robust growth, or surviving pest and disease outbreaks—is known as "Mother Plant Selection."
By using seeds from these selected plants and continuing to choose those that are superior or best suited to specific needs, we stabilize the variety—a process called "Breeding." The varieties established through this process are "Open-Pollinated (OP) varieties," and the act of preserving and passing them down is "Seed Saving."
Even once a variety is stabilized as a seed, it retains a "memory" of its ancestral past within. When triggered by environmental shifts such as climate change, these latent traits can manifest, preventing total crop failure, helping the plants acclimate to new lands, and unlocking their inherent power to adapt. This is the genetic resilience unique to open-pollinated (OP) varieties.
In cultivating vegetables essential for Indian cuisine here in Japan, we employ breeding practices that draw out these ancient genetic strengths, allowing the plants to continue their journey of adaptation to the climate and environment in Japan.
In cultivating vegetables essential for Indian cuisine here in Japan, we employ breeding practices that draw out these ancient genetic strengths, allowing the plants to continue their journey of adaptation to the Japanese fudo (climate and environment).
The Timeline of Plants and the Journey of Humanity
The Timeline of Plants and the Journey of Humanity
We exist within the "present" of an eternal, unfolding timeline. By consuming the vegetables that coexist with us in this moment, we nourish our bodies and carry forward both our seeds and our descendants into the future. In this vast continuum, a single human life is but a fleeting moment. Choosing to cultivate and preserve open-pollinated varieties is more than a farming method; it is a choice to surrender oneself to this eternal timeline, rather than being swayed by the short-term gains prioritized by modern technology.
Column : A Story of a Man, a Seed, and the Journey of a Thousand Years
Once, there lived a man in a small village. A quiet longing always stirred within his heart: "Someday, I will leave this place to carve out my own path in a new land." One day, following the passing of his father and the bitter discord that arose among his brothers, he finally found the resolve to depart.
The journey into the unknown was daunting. He worried he would need weapons to fend off wild beasts, or heavy tools to build a home from the forest trees. As his anxieties grew, so did the weight of his burdens. Meanwhile, the pressure from his elder brothers intensified, making it impossible for him even to gather the tools he thought he needed. Finally, the man realized: "I can stay here no longer. I shall leave with nothing but a single knife at my waist, enough food for the journey, and the seeds to sow in a new land. The rest, I will figure out when I arrive." And so, he stepped out into the world to find his new life.
After days of wandering through the wilderness, he discovered a clearing where a river flowed gently and a forest stood nearby. "Yes, this is the place," he thought. "Here, I shall dwell." He tilled the earth, sowed his seeds, and eventually held the harvest in his hands. He welcomed travelers who drifted in from unknown places, built a community, and shared his seeds and food with them. Slowly, the village began to grow.
A hundred years passed. Another man, born in that same village, felt the very same stirring in his heart: "Someday, I will leave this village to carve out my own life." One day, triggered by a quarrel among brothers after their father's death, he too resolved to leave. Just like the man a century before him, he tilled a new earth, sowed his seeds, and reaped the harvest. He welcomed strangers, built a village, and shared his food. Over the next few hundred years, that village endured floods and droughts, yet the seeds were always passed down, and the people continued to live through the generations.
A thousand years passed. Once again, a man born in that village felt the ancient longing: "Someday, I will leave this village to carve out my own life." Like those before him, he chose his moment and departed.
Tied to his waist was a small pouch. Inside were seeds that had survived a thousand years—seeds that had endured the biting cold and the scorching heat, the floods and the droughts, living alongside the people through the ages. Will he be able to thrive in a new land?
He will. Just as we are living, here and now.
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An original vision from the dream of the Hamara Khet founder.
Yad eva biijaM tad eva rasaH
Sa ya eSho'NimaitadātmyamidaM sarvaM tatsatyaM sa ātmā
--Chandogya Upanishad 6.12.3
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