Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
I jut watched Lord of War with my husband. Yes, I rarely see movies in a timely manner – that’s what I get for being involved in probably too many things. Anyway, I don’t know much of anything about the arms trade besides that it exists and that I don’t like it. The movie itself…
Following up on my last post on the lack of evidence that rice shortages are caused by biofuels, I’d like to call your attention to Food Crisis Depicted as ‘Silent Tsunami’ by Kevin Sullivan of the Washington Post. Beginning with some sobering statistics, such as “25,000 people a day are dying of conditions linked to…
Many people have been fast to blame food shortages around the world on government acceptance of biofuels. There do seem to be some connections, but it’s not as simple as it sounds. Rice, wheat, and corn/soy need completely different soils and climates. That’s why we see a lot of corn and soy grown in Iowa…
University of Calgary archaeologists found corn starch residues in ancient pottery shards. “Their discovery shows the spread of maize out of Mexico more than 9,000 years ago occurred much faster than previously believed and provides evidence that corn was likely a vital food crop for villages in tropical Ecuador at least 5,000 years ago (U…
A mid-January press release tells of rice from China rejected by Europe because it was “contaminated” with rice modified to express a version of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin: Bt63. The offending rice had been made into such products as noodles and distributed across Europe before the Bt63 was noticed. To me, there is one important…
Opponents of biofuels say that using corn as ethanol is causing grain prices to rise. That’s true, but there is another side to this issue that is completely ignored. Meat consumption has been rising in developed and developing countries, increasing demand for corn and soy animal feed. Now that ethanol and biodiesel claim more and…
As discussed in “Farming in Utopia“, one of the benefits of modern farming is that it requires fewer people to produce more food. This benefit is ignored by those who wish to eschew technology in farming. People who have the luxury of choice shouldn’t force their choices on those with no choices at all. A…
As explained in the press release “Gene guards grain-producing grasses so people and animals can eat“, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researchers at Purdue (pictured at left) have isolated the gene that confers fungus resistance to grasses. The gene produces an “enzyme that disarmed the fungus’ disease-causing toxin. The detoxification isolated the infection at the…
What farming is today, what it should be, and what people think it should be are very different things. Pro-organic, pro-biointensive mini- and maxi-activists have a distinct idea of what they think farming should be, but don’t quite understand all of the ramifications. For the most part, I heartily agree with them, but I do…
Arcadia Biosciences has developed rice that uses nitrogen more efficiently, so the plants need less fertilizer. As described in the Guardian article Biotech firm plans to fund GM rice crops with carbon credits yesterday, Arcadia “is working with the Chinese government to reward farmers in China that grow the firm’s genetically modified (GM) rice, with…