美国原生种子搜索 NS/S – 亚利桑那州图森干旱作物种子库

历史沿革

美国原生种子搜索 Native Seeds/SEARCH（NS/S）是一家位于美国亚利桑那州图森市的非营利种子保护组织，1983 年由生态文学作家 Gary Paul Nabhan、园艺师 Karen Reichhardt、人类学家 Barney Burns 与农学家 Mahina Drees 共同发起，最初脱胎于Meals for Millions 基金会与托赫诺奥哈姆（Tohono O’odham）部落合作开展的菜园项目，旨在搜集、整理并分发美国西南地区传统种植的作物种子。组织全称为 Native Seeds/Southwestern Endangered Aridland Resource Clearinghouse Inc.，缩写中的 SEARCH 即”西南干旱地区濒危资源交换所”之意。1991 年，共同创办人 Gary Paul Nabhan 因其在沙漠食用植物方面的长期研究获得麦克阿瑟基金（MacArthur Foundation）资助；1997 年组织在图森郊外开辟保护农场（Conservation Farm）用于种子活体栽培与扩繁；2001 年又启动西南多年生植物登记保护计划（Southwest Regis-Tree），专门保存西南地区原生多年生作物。

宗旨与使命

组织使命按其官方表述是”保护、传播并记录适应干旱环境的农业种子及其野生亲缘，以及这些种子在美国西南与墨西哥西北文化中所扮演的角色”。日常工作围绕三大方向展开：第一是种子搜集与气候控制冷库内的长期保存，第二是把种子通过邮购、零售店与社区项目分发回原住民与农户手中，第三则是把每份种子背后的文化故事与农耕知识记录下来。NS/S 把那些在干旱景观中经过世代选育的品种重新送回到曾经选育它们的社区；其下游的合作农户与园丁可优先以减免费用获得种子，确保传统作物知识与种植实践继续存活。

种子库与保护项目

种子库中保存着超过 1800 个适合美国西南与墨西哥西北干旱景观的地方品种，覆盖范围从科罗拉多州南部一直延伸到墨西哥中部，其中相当一部分属于稀有或濒危品系。收藏既包括玉米、小麦、辣椒、豆类、棉花等大宗作物的古老地方种，也涵盖约 50 个原住民社区的传统作物与文化用途品种；其中像 Glass Gem 彩虹玉米、Sonoran Chiltepin 野生辣椒、Tohono O’odham 白花 tepary 豆、Hopi 红染料苋菜与 Hopi 短绒棉花等已成为公众熟知的代表性品种。组织在亚利桑那州图森同时运营一座气候控制种子冷库与一座保护农场，前者负责干燥、低温、密封保存以延长种子寿命，后者用于活体植株扩繁、田间再植与适应性观察；所提供种子均为有机种植、非转基因、未申请专利的开放来源。

社区合作与本土支持

NS/S 通过社区种子资助计划（Community Seed Grant）向部落农户、社区花园与教育机构免费或以减免费用发放种子，重点支持美国西南地区的原住民社区与小型生产者。组织每年另辟种子图书馆资助（Seed Library Grants）项目，把少量包装的种子分发到州内及周边各州的公共图书馆、学校与社区中心，方便本地园丁就地借取与归还。种子数据库 ADAPTS（Aridlands Dryland Adapted Plants Trait Search）在线公开每一份种子的来源、采集地点、农艺特性与文化背景，方便研究人员、农户与园丁按品种或地理区域检索。组织还开展 Apprentice 学徒计划与志愿者项目，让学员与社区成员亲身参与保护农场的种子采收、清选、记录与分发工作。

年度活动与公众参与

NS/S 每年春天在图森召开会员聚会（Annual Membership Meeting），并举办 Día de San Juan 种植节、Sonoran 丰收活动、Seedlisting 年度种子清单发布会与种子保存研讨会等公众活动，地点多在保护农场与图森零售店之间轮换。组织在亚利桑那州帕罗迪（Parry）农场设有种子分发物流中心，并参加西南地区多个农场主市场（Farmers Market）；其图森零售店除售卖种子外，亦展售合作原住民艺术家的首饰、陶艺、纺织与传统食品，所得收益用于支持种子保护与社区项目。NS/S 通过会员费、遗产捐赠、企业对等捐赠（Workplace Giving）、物资捐赠与种子认养（Crop Adoption）等渠道筹款，会员可享受种子订购折扣、目录与活动优先权；任何访客都可以在 NS/S 网站提交志愿者申请。

官网：https://www.nativeseeds.org/

Historical Evolution

Native Seeds/SEARCH (NS/S) is a nonprofit seed conservation organization based in Tucson, Arizona, founded in 1983 by Gary Paul Nabhan, Karen Reichhardt, Barney Burns, and Mahina Drees, growing out of a Meals for Millions gardening project with the Tohono O’odham Nation. The full legal name is Native Seeds/Southwestern Endangered Aridland Resource Clearinghouse Inc., with SEARCH standing for Southwestern Endangered Aridland Resource Clearing House. Co-founder Gary Paul Nabhan received a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1991 for his work on desert food plants; the organization opened a Conservation Farm outside Tucson in 1997 and launched the Southwest Regis-Tree program in 2001 for perennial native crops.

Mission and Purpose

In its own words, NS/S works “to conserve, distribute and document the adapted and diverse varieties of agricultural seed, their wild relatives and the role these seeds play in cultures of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico.” The three operating pillars are long-term cold storage of seeds in a climate-controlled bank, distribution back to the Indigenous farmers and gardeners of the desert Southwest and northwest Mexico, and documentation of the cultural stories and agronomic knowledge carried with each variety. Partner growers and community gardeners receive free or reduced-cost seeds, and the priority is always to return seeds to the communities that originally stewarded them.

Seed Bank and Collection

The seed bank holds more than 1,800 arid-adapted regional varieties gathered from southern Colorado to central Mexico, including many rare and endangered lines. The collection covers traditional staples such as corn, wheat, peppers, beans, and cotton, together with culturally significant crops from roughly 50 Indigenous communities, including Glass Gem corn, Sonoran Chiltepin, Tohono O’odham white tepary bean, Hopi red-dye amaranth, and Hopi short-staple cotton. In Tucson the organization operates both a climate-controlled cold storage facility for long-term preservation and a Conservation Farm for living multiplication and field observation; all distributed seeds are organic, non-GMO, and unrestricted by patent.

Community Partnerships and Indigenous Support

NS/S runs a Community Seed Grant program that supplies free or reduced-cost seeds to tribal growers, community gardens, and educational projects across the desert Southwest, alongside a Seed Library Grants scheme that distributes small packets to public libraries, schools, and community centers. Its online ADAPTS database (Aridlands Dryland Adapted Plants Trait Search) publishes the source, collection location, agronomic traits, and cultural background of every accession for researchers, growers, and gardeners. Apprenticeship and volunteer programs at the Conservation Farm let trainees and community members take part in seed harvest, cleaning, documentation, and distribution throughout the season.

Annual Activities and Public Engagement

Each spring NS/S hosts an Annual Membership Meeting in Tucson and runs a calendar of public events including the Día de San Juan planting party, the Sonoran harvest gathering, the annual Seedlisting release, and a series of seed-saving workshops, rotating between the Conservation Farm and the Tucson retail store. The organization’s Tucson retail shop sells seeds together with jewelry, pottery, textiles, and traditional foods made by collaborating Indigenous artists, with proceeds supporting seed conservation and community programs. Funding comes from memberships, legacy gifts, workplace giving, in-kind donations, and the Conserve-a-Crop adoption program; members receive seed discounts, the annual catalog, and priority access to events, and volunteer applications are open on the website.

Official Site: https://www.nativeseeds.org/