It is always going to see chillies in the news. The BBC is running a story today about a delegation of 7 US Senators that have traveled to the Arctic Archipelago to bury chilli seeds 500 feet under a mountain.
image by Pierre J.
The Global Crop Diversity Trust runs a facility in the Arctic that aims to store a huge library of seed from over half a million of the worlds crops. The idea being that should a huge natural (or man made) disaster strike and decimate the US’s plant population.
The US Department of Agriculture has produced the seeds which will be stored 500 feet under the mountain and preserved at at -18C (-0.4F). You can checkout the the full story here.
I’ve not heard of two of the varieties mentioned in the article (Wenk’s Yellow Hots & San Juan Tsil from New Mexico) but it would be good to know some more about why they chose these varieties. Let us know in the comments below if you have tried either of these varieties.
I was intrested in this article and the varieties of chili’s and why they chose them. From what I gather, they are from America. Read this article from Science Daily and let me know what you think. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100711155913.htm
Mark – I guess they are bound to have an Aemericancentric view when it comes to selecting which varieties to store away. Thanks for the link.