Hi all,
As Shanti had mentioned, a union of seed producers, seed sellers, resellers etc. is a necessary step in acquiring, as Ive said before, a voice loud enough to be heard.
One of many of my concerns, is the prominence of the Feminized Seed industry. Chiefly, the spreading of inter-sexed plants far and wide, which is posing a great threat to the genetic pool at large. For the last five to six years, the popularity of the Feminized Seed trend has grown tremendously. Imagine on any given day, how many orders for feminized seed have went through the mailboxes of Gypsy Nirvana? Dr. Chronic? These lines destined for the grow rooms of growers just like ourselves, all over the world. Lines which are well known to show intersexed traits, pollinate their siblings, and ultimately make its way to other growers who find the seed, perhaps even cherish it, and further perpetuate the cycle. Which is what I refer to as the bouncing effect, of how just once purchase of feminized seed could potentially enter the hands on many based off simple marijuana economics alone. Mulitply that by the thousands, tens of thousands of orders filled a year. From multiple companies? For over a decade? With the last few years, having the propaganda campaign really step up in marketing? I think the saturation of the worlds cannabis gene pool as already begun, with varieties which show inter-sexual proneness, and are exactly the opposite of what should be used in anything remotely resembling a responsible breeding program. Even on the most minute of scales, the use of intersexed/hermaphroditic varieties should not be something any of us condone.
Unfortunately, many of those who would be essential in accepting this fundamental ideology, are very happy to continue riding the economic wave the feminized seed trend has created. Some varieties, long available in common form, are no longer available in anything but the feminized form now. There are companies who cater only to the feminized crowd, and the prices are almost always more than that of the commonly bred counter part(s). An interestingly phenomena, when one considers there are many of us out there who would not allow a feminized variety into their grow rooms period. Yet others, are more than willing to pay extra-ordinary prices for seed which could very well ruin their sensi -dreams. People are so willing to pay the extra money, because they believe they are acquiring an all female product. With no male plants to weed through. On the surface, a wonderful marketing concept. But when one knows the prone ness of these lines to show intersexual/hermaphroditic tendencies, they start to appear anything but the best candidates for the job at hand. Going back to the "old school days" of selecting a fine mother plant, from great breeding stock, and propagating her a-sexually ad infinity starts to seem like a much better idea...
Only if the current trend continues, few will be offering a non feminized product. And all that will be available are plants which may or may not herm on you the first season, but their resulting off spring may later down the line. Thus, you will be reliant on those small handful of seed companies to acquire your seed year after year. Because you're dealing with plants that not only suffer from poor "breeding" techniques, that are inter-sexually prone, but which are also opening the door for inbreeding depression and genetic bottle necking down the line.
Many of the plants today that all of the consumers are after, are in fact Skunk #1, Northern Lights, Haze, White Widow, Hindu Kush etc. hybrids. That is, there are a very small handful of foundational building blocks in the cannabis industry that nearly all varieties are based off of in one form or another. If these varieties are only found in feminized form, as the trend we see today has already moved towards, growers will be forced to return to a small handful to acquire their needs season after season.
Irresponsible breeding practices should not be something anyone condones, and I would like to see a shift in the industry away from this practice and start to move towards a more responsible role in assuring the genetic fields of tomorrow. But the damage has already been done, and it will only continue to grow as the popularity of feminized seed moves forward and more and more of these varieties are perpetuated in clone form in mass to the medical dispensaries of the world, which in turn make their way to many growers, both medicinal and recreational users, and the problem only perpetuates further.