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The North Louisiana Seed Preservation Program began in earnest in 2020 when the ‘Red-N-Sweet’ watermelon was reintroduced after being presumed extinct for many years. ‘Red-N-Sweet’ was the last of five watermelons developed by LSU at the now closed Calhoun Research Station, formerly the North Louisiana Experiment Station, which was established in 1888.That same summer, another watermelon from Winn Parish emerged, as did a field pea from Union Parish. The previous year, a request for the ‘Calhoun Purplehull’ Pea led us to finding that the Calhoun Research Station housed LSU’s field pea breeding program for many years.
All of this prompted the questions:
It turns out, the answer is quite a lot. It is important to locate, grow out, and get back into circulation as many of these heirloom varieties as possible for several reasons. First, most of these varieties are adapted specifically for production in the Gulf South, which is to say they are acclimated to the warm, humid conditions of Louisiana and provide home gardeners and possibly commercial growers with viable alternatives to varieties found in most seed catalogs. Second, seeds of these varieties can be saved from year to year ensuring successive seed supplies as well as food security for families. Finally, each variety represents a unique combination of genes. As much as possible, intra- and interspecific genetic diversity in food crops should be preserved to ensure an abundant genetic reservoir should it be needed in the future.
‘Red-N-Sweet’ watermelon
'Calhoun Purplehull' Pea
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture
