
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992                   TAG: 9203240423
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TO HELP TRADE? WIPING OUT MANY FRUITS IN EUROPE

IN ORDER to achieve economic union, the European Community is about to reduce drastically the genetic pool of fruits grown in its member countries. The move could contain the seeds of crop disasters.

The EC has drawn up various rules to ease trade among its nations. This has meant, among other things, seeking uniformity on regulations concerning import and sale of plants. Obviously, the fewer varieties you have, the simpler it is to check on plant health and integrity of label.

Virginia orchardists would agree that Romes should not masquerade as Yorks. But while the EC has managed to draw up flexible rules for blooming plants, its draft regulations for fruits would allow cross-border trade in only a fraction of the varieties now grown.

For example, Britain, where some 2,300 kinds of apples are cultivated, likely will be cut to 20 or 30. The workings of the market could reduce even that number. Throughout the EC, those who grow fruit for market will forget about the obscure varieties and concentrate on those with commercial appeal.

The problem is that orchards growing all the same variety of fruit can be much more vulnerable to pests and diseases. This is not a catastrophe if seeds for less-susceptible varieties are also available. But once a species is gone, that's it. Nature knows the importance of having a multiplicity, indeed a redundance, of species. Humans don't always appreciate that.

by CNB