Two UK universities are calling on growers of traditional vegetable varieties to get in touch to help with valuable research as part of a new DEFRA-funded project.

Birmingham University and Warwick University will be working on the ground-breaking study.

A spokesperson from Warwick HRI said: “Traditional crop varieties may contain the genes needed to improve our crops of the future - particularly in the light of global warming and our changing environment. Therefore, many of the diverse traditional varieties still grown in the UK could have unrealised value as trait donors to the more uniform modern cultivars.

“Through preliminary studies, we believe that traditional varieties are still grown by some producers, but we do not yet have a comprehensive list, nor do we know who grows them and where. These varieties are dwindling fast as they are being increasingly replaced by modern cultivars and not being passed on to the next generation. If this continues, and unless seed is stored for long-term security, they will be lost forever. We want to preserve these varieties for the benefit of future generations and the first step is to find out what is still out there and who is growing them.

“Like all crop plants, or indeed wild species, seeds of traditional vegetable varieties can be securely stored in one or more of the UK’s plant gene banks in special coldstorage facilities and maintained for many years,” he continued.

“This way, if for whatever reason they are no longer maintained in their local environment, there will at least be a sample of the crop’s diversity available for future use, either as a new planting in its own right, or to contribute the vital traits needed to improve and adapt our crops to the changing climate and needs of the future.”

Researchers at the two universities hope that growers will contact them with information so that they can build a list of the varieties and ultimately find ways of preserving them, both in their local environment and in the Vegetable Gene Bank at Warwick HRI.

The spokesperson added: “We are starting with vegetables because we believe there is significant traditional variety diversity still maintained by UK growers; then, if successful, we will cover traditional fruit and other crop varieties.”

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