Adriana Murguia completed a senior internship documenting forms of seed saving as her senior exit for the Environmental Studies Major and Agroecology Concentration. To support her work, Adriana applied to a series of campus grants, did community outreach, and fundraised her way to Nicaragua. Preparing for her fieldwork, she worked alongside CAN Associate Director Heather Putnam, and UC Santa Cruz Environmental Studies professor Stacy Philpott, collecting background information on household seed storage and collective seed banks and the most common causes of seed loss.
In July and August 2015, Adriana spent five weeks living in one rural coffee cooperative and traveling to seven others to collect information directly from farmers about their seed saving habits and challenges.
- Her research questions were:
- In what ways are farmers experiencing seed loss?
- What is being done?
- What are ways to improve or maintain seed quality?
What Adriana learned was the trouble began even before the seeds were stored. The main cause of seed loss was grain weevils.
Learn more about her research.
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