WIMMERA residents had a rare chance to hear international seed hunter Ken Street during a special presentation at Grains Innovation Park in Horsham.
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Dr Street, who was famously dubbed the ‘Seed Hunter’ in a documentary several years ago, spends his life searching for the seeds that could play a role in helping crop breeders and producers around the world.
He spoke to a Wimmera audience about strategies for the focused identification of germplasm.
Dr Street was in Horsham to work with scientists from the Australian Grains Genebank which stores about 150 million seeds from all over the world in its -20 degree freezers.
Some of the seeds were collected by Dr Street for the Genebank during his journeys from Australia to the heart of the Middle East and the mountains of Tajikistan.
Dr Street spent more than a decade based in Syria working for the International Centre For Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).
Described as fearless and charismatic, Dr Street devoted his time in the Middle East to scouring ancient villages and valleys in Central Asia and the Caucasus looking for rare and wild crop seeds.
He was accompanied on the journey to Tajikistan by a team of gene hunters from Australia, USA, Armenia and Russia.
A documentary of Ken’s experiences in the Middle East focused on his team’s hunt for plant genes that would help the world’s food withstand the impact of 21st century global warming.
Dr Street’s work was largely funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
He now calls Western Australia home.
Australian Grains Genebank (ACG) leader Sally Norton said she and her staff had enjoyed hosting Dr Street.
“Dr Street’s work not only helps to collect more valuable seed but also highlight the importance of biodiversity for the future success of global food production and economic security,” she said.
“ICARDA, where Dr Street worked, and AGG are among some of the largest genebanks in the world and it was great to meet him and learn from his experiences.”
The Australian Seed Bank Partnership is an alliance of 12 organisations, bringing together expertise from Australia’s leading botanic gardens, state environment agencies and non government organisations.
