section of particular interest here:

The USP farm is a living laboratory for agricultural diversity. Through its crop research and other efforts, the nonprofit seeks to promote “a resilient, delicious, and equitable food and farming system” across the South.

The most recent experiment to emerge from the farm is Ultracross Okra. In 2021, Smith planted 100 different types of the mucilaginous vegetable in the same plot, everything from Clemson Spineless, the most popular okra in the United States, to rare heirloom cultivars such as Mr. Bill’s Big. As those plants grew out their showy, hibiscus-like flowers, swarms of pollinators darted between them to cross everything with everything else, an okra supercollider at work.

[…]

Smith is now developing similar plans for other crops with cultural importance to the South, such as sorghum and cowpeas. The idea of these ultracrosses, Smith explains, is to shuffle the genetic deck of existing varieties, creating combinations of traits that haven’t been seen before. Working from those new foundations, farmers and gardeners might develop plants that are better adapted, both to their geographic regions and to the changing climate.