John Navazio, Senior Scientist for Organic Seed Alliance and a Plant Breeding and Seed Specialist for Washington State University Extension, talks about breeding healthy and robust organic spinach varieties at Nash’s Organic Farm, Sequim WA. In this video, John explains why organic seed is important and why you can’t just sow any seed for a healthy crop!
John trains farmers, university students and others in organic seed production and the fundamentals of participatory, on-farm plant breeding for organic systems. His breeding work includes increasing genetic breadth in a number of vegetable crops for their nutritional quality, flavor, texture, ability to scavenge nutrients, compete with weeds, and resist heat and drought. John develops participatory breeding projects with farmers across North America to improve crop germplasm for regional seed independence.