Perfect pumpkins
By Anne Pawsey
Pumpkins are probably more frequently used for lanterns than actually eaten, especially around this time of year; however, breeding them especially for carving does seem a little excessive. Still, over the top or not, that’s exactly what biotech company Monsanto has done.
The pumpkins have been created specifically to be carved into lanterns and they have a deep orange colour and importantly a good strong stalk all a result of an intensive program of selection. Pumpkins of years gone by were much less suitable for carving but they may have been better at turning into carriages for princesses.
The Halloween industry is big business in the United States. With pumpkin lanterns a key tradition the crop is worth $106 million a year with most sales taking place around Halloween.
Monsanto is better known for genetically modified seeds but these pumpkins have been bred by more conventional means and despite seasonal connotations they are not “Frankenfoods”.
The pumpkins have been created specifically to be carved into lanterns and they have a deep orange colour and importantly a good strong stalk all a result of an intensive program of selection. Pumpkins of years gone by were much less suitable for carving but they may have been better at turning into carriages for princesses.
The Halloween industry is big business in the United States. With pumpkin lanterns a key tradition the crop is worth $106 million a year with most sales taking place around Halloween.
Monsanto is better known for genetically modified seeds but these pumpkins have been bred by more conventional means and despite seasonal connotations they are not “Frankenfoods”.
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