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A critical look at hybrid fruits and vegetables

The positive side of hybrid vegetables are many fold. A gardener or farmer is sure to get what they pay for. Usually a consistent crop of produce. This alone makes the added price of seeds worth their value. Hybrids may also be more disease or insect resistant. Making them ideal for areas of high pestilence. They may resist the cold or be able to grow faster for earlier harvests. In areas with short growing seasons this makes possible crops grown locally that might have to be shipped in otherwise. It also allows for multiple crops during the growing season. Hybrid plants usually have a consistent flavor as well. These features make hybrids very attractive to people both as consumers and producers.

There are a few down sides to hybrids as well. You will not be able to save the seeds and grow the same type of crop the following season. The seeds tend to revert to one of the parent types. While the seeds may grow the plants produced will not be as good. The growers are stuck in a perpetual cycle of buying seeds from a supplier to get the same produce. In poor areas this is not good. Farmers and gardeners like to be able to keep seeds from the previous crop to reduce prices for starting up the following year. Hybrids are not good for this kind of self suffiency. This is where pure strains that are naturally hardy pull ahead. With the proper techniques, consistent crops from season to season are possible.

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A critical look at hybrid fruits and vegetables

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