" I heard it through the AgLine"

February 5, 2010

 

 

·        USDA takes accounting of organic agriculture

·        Bt brinjal is India’s latest political hot potato

·        Top scientists tackle Middle East water woes

·        Bayer adds Israeli biofungicide to its portfolio

·        ‘Speed gene’ identified in thoroughbred horses

 

 

USDA takes accounting of organic agriculture

 

(USDA-ARS) – It seems that organic farming is gaining a nice foothold in America and are doing okay business-wise.

 

The just release 2008 Organic Production Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows the amount of farmland dedicated to organic crops and livestock is still really small but growing fast. 

 

It survey is the first widescale survey so there's not a lot to compare it to. But there are some telling numbers.

 

The survey said there are 14,540 farms that were USDA certified organic or exempt from certification because sales are less than $5,000 -- including 129 in Maryland. The number has doubled at least twice since 1990.

 

They farm 4.1 million acres of land in all 50 states, though California is home to 20 percent of the farms. That's up from about 1 million acres in 1990. (It's still only about a percent of all farmed crop and pasture land.)

 

In 2008, sales of organic products nationwide totaled $3.16 billion. Some $1.94 billion was spent on crops and $1.22 billion on livestock, poultry and their products.

 

Organic farms took in more in sales than conventional farms: An average of $217,675 verses a $134,807 average for all farms. But they also spent more on production: $171,978 on organic farms, compared with an average $109,359 on all farms.

 

Organic farming is largely local with about 44 percent of sales were made within 100 miles from the farm. Though, just 7 percent were direct to consumers at farmers' markets and other means. The rest went to wholesalers and retailers.

 

What about the future? More than 78 percent of the farms say they plan to keep up the organic farming and even increase production in coming years.

 

Return to Top

 

 

Bt brinjal is India’s latest political hot potato

 

(Asia Times) NEW DELHI - The fronts in India's brinjal war are sharply drawn between opponents of the commercial launch of the nation's first genetically modified (GM) vegetable and those who see it as a new avatar for the crop, which is commonly known as eggplant or aubergine.

 

The biotech industry and some government ministers, say Bt Brinjal, as the GM version of the vegetable is known, is "safe for human consumption'', won't hurt the environment and can reduce dependence on pesticides. Critics point to gaps in India's regulatory process, a lack of a labeling regime for consumers, and the imminent toxic effects of the foreign genes in the modified crop.

 

"The case of Bt Brinjal in India has now become symbolic because it will impact the future of several other edible crops which are now in various stages of genetic modification waiting to flood our markets," says Dr Vandana Shiva, an environmental scientist who opposes GM crops in India.

 

The government, which says it will decide this month whether to allow introduction of the crop, has so far stumbled between the lines, only considering the merits of public debate when the controversy threatened to grow into a crisis of confidence for Indian consumers. Half a dozen Indian state governments recently decided to keep the new variety - and possibly all GM crops - out of their fields, due to lack of clarity on the issue.

 

Such are the perceived dangers from Bt Brinjal in India that the Warangal incident is often quoted to support a ban. It was in this district in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh in 2006 where over 2,000 sheep died after grazing in a field of Bt Cotton for seven days.

 

Indian activists aren't the only ones demanding GM products don't make it to dinner. Hungary banned the planting of US-based global seed giant's GM maize in January 2005. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has similarly invoked EU safeguards to suspend the marketing and cultivation of GM crops.

 

Jairam Ramesh, the Minister for Environment, has said a final decision on the commercial introduction of Bt Brinjal will be taken after February 10.

 

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has stood firm in his resolve to go ahead with Bt Brinjal, saying that "initially there maybe constraints but in the long run such crops will only prove to be an advantage for India".

 

Bt Brinjal has the Cry1Ac gene from Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) which is supposed to make the plant resistant to the Shoot and Fruit Borer insect that attacks it throughout its lifecycle. GM activists assert that Bt crops could pose serious health risks and hurt the agricultural industry.

 

Opponents of GM crops also point out that the introduction of Bt Brinjal would adversely affect biodiversity and companies would have a monopoly over the seed varieties, which will have a multiplier effect on increasing their prices. "The traditional brinjal crop - of which we have over 2,000 varieties today - will vanish if the genetically modified variety is allowed," explains Shiva.

 

Monsanto is promoting GM crops in India through Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech, its joint venture with Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco).

 

"We look forward to a positive decision because it will help millions of our brinjal farmers who have been suffering from the havoc caused by the Brinjal Fruit and Shoot Borer (BFSB),'' Raju Barwale, Mahyco's managing director, said in October. "Bt brinjal will help them tackle this pest in an environment-friendly manner and increase yields and farm income."

 

Monsanto has been saying that GM activists are irrationally opposing new technology. Normal farmer sprays pesticide at least 50 to 80 times in the whole lifecycle of a brinjal crop, which does far more damage as GM technology isn't harmful to humans, it argues.

 

However, GM opponents aren't convinced. "The Bt toxin gene produces poison and when it can harm pests, where's the proof that it won't be harmful to humans?" Shiva asked. "The GM agenda is dictated by the profitability for multinational and Indian seed companies and not by concerns relating to food productivity, security or public safety."

 

Concerns about the impact of Bt Brinjal are vital for India as brinjal is used extensively in ayurvedic medicines. Bt brinjal would also have a significant negative economic impact on farmers, observers say. They point to Vidarbha district in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh, where farmer suicides showed a dramatic upward spiral from 2,000 to 4,000 within a span of few years after the introduction of Bt cotton.

 

Due diligence is critical here as other genetically modified food crops are awaiting approval.

 

Ramesh, the environment minister, voiced apprehension about the crop last year and set up an expert panel (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) to regulate research, testing and commercial release of GM crops, foods and organisms. But the outfit was accused of bypassing safety and environmental concerns and working ``to promote the interests of the international biotech industry”.

 

Ramesh even went on record to state that the "expert panel [Genetic Engineering Approval Committee] may well be a statutory body but when critical issues of human safety are involved, the government has every right and in fact, has basic responsibility to take the final decision based on the panel's suggestions."

 

Fingers were also pointed at the composition and functioning of the 16-member expert committee that granted approval to Bt Brinjal. Professor Arjula Reddy, who chairs the Committee, was reportedly under tremendous pressure to clear Bt Brinjal. Another committee member, Dr K K Tripathy, was under investigation by the Central Vigilance Commission for alleged abuse of power to promote interests of certain companies. Dr Mathura Rai of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) was reportedly a Bt Brinjal developer-turned-committee member.

 

Governmental consultations and conclusions ought to have transpired before and not after 2006 when Mahyco got permission to carry out field trials for Bt Brinjal in India.

 

Besides, India, as a signatory to the Convention on Biodiversity - and having ratified the Cartagena Protocol (CP) - is committed to the safe handling of genetically modified organisms. Brinjal is a traditional crop in India, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety has provisions that discourage genetic modification of crops in their land of origin.

 

GM crops in India also have pending PILs (public interest litigation) to contend with. In 2008, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Union government on a PIL seeking annulment of the government's order that exempts GM foods and crops from mandatory laboratory tests. The bench recommended that the state allay "fears of the petitioner that the government might be playing into the hands of multinationals".

 

Shiva asserts that India also lacks a crucial labeling regime which means that once Bt Brinjal inundates local markets, there is no way of distinguishing it from the ordinary variety, thus compromising consumer choice.

 

"Moreover, all research on GM crops is funded by private companies and then presented to the regulators for clearance, casting doubt on its scientific integrity, Shiva said. ``It is vital that research done on edible crops be transparent and publicly-funded."

 

Food scientists add that GM food labeling requires a stronger laboratory and regulatory framework than India currently possesses. Testing of contamination to non-GM crops is neither easy nor cheap. While procedures to guard against it are in place, implementation of these procedures in the farms and fields across swathes of the Indian countryside is a tough proposition.

 

Neeta Lal is a widely published writer/commentator who contributes to many reputed national and international print and Internet publications.

 

Return to Top

 

 

Top scientists tackle Middle East water woes

 

(EurekaAlert) AMMAN, JORDAN – As rapidly increasing water scarcity threatens to aggravate the effects of climate change on agriculture in the dry areas of the Middle East and other developing countries, scientists launched this week an ambitious seven-country project, which offers new hope for farmers in the face of acute and growing water shortages.

 

Gathering in Amman, Jordan, for a global conference on food security and climate change in dry areas, experts reported that improved irrigation techniques in rainfed cropping will allow farmers to more than double their wheat yields using only one-third the water they would use with full irrigation; the new methods have been shown to boost farmers' yields up to five-fold over those crops which relied on rainfall only. Such innovative strategies could provide a much-needed lift to livelihoods in dry areas in the developing world, home to almost 25 percent of the world's population.

 

Regions most affected by drought and water scarcity are also disproportionately challenged by high population growth, climatic unreliability, frequent droughts, and widespread poverty, the experts said, citing figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

 

"In some countries in the region, per capita water availability has dropped to as little as 170 cubic meters per year, well below the internationally recognized water scarcity standard of 1000 cubic meters," said Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General of the Aleppo-based International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). "There is a direct relationship between access to water and access to food and feed security. Unless we form a united front that responds effectively to water scarcity in agriculture and to the impacts of climate change, the future food security, economic development, and social stability of the entire region will be put in jeopardy."

 

Seven Middle Eastern countries—Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen—will work jointly to improve water management in agriculture as part of a 10-year effort called the Water and Livelihoods Initiative (WLI), which is being funded through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by ICARDA, which is supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The WLI will focus on improving rural livelihoods through sustainable land and water management in three agro-systems—irrigated agriculture, rainfed agriculture and rangelands.

 

"Rainfed areas account for 80 percent of the world's farmland," said Dr. Theib Oweis, a researcher with ICARDA. "If dryland countries are to achieve food security in the face of climate change, it's especially urgent that they unlock the potential of rainfed agriculture through efficient practices like supplemental irrigation and water harvesting."

 

Research conducted by ICARDA and its partners has shown that supplemental irrigation—using only a third of the amount of water required for full irrigation—can boost water productivity to as high as 2.5 kilograms of wheat grain per cubic meter of water, compared to 0.5 kilograms under strictly rainfed conditions and 1 kilogram under full irrigation.

 

In Morocco, for example, the early planting with supplemental irrigation has been shown to double wheat yields and water productivity and to help the wheat crop escape late-season drought and heat stress. "In addition to increasing yields, supplemental irrigation provides a buffer against drought during the growing season," added Dr. Oweis. "Combine this with water harvesting, and you have a winning solution."

 

Research on water harvesting in the Jordan steppe, or badia, has demonstrated dramatically how 50 percent of rainfall runoff can be harvested and used to grow useful vegetation cover for rangelands and to reverse desertification. Other ICARDA research in Syria has resulted in the development of a rapid and efficient method for using modern geographical information systems, or GIS, to select appropriate locations for water harvesting from among thousands of possibilities.

 

According to Dr. Oweis, WLI offers a grand opportunity to rethink agricultural water management across the Middle East. A major challenge, he explains, is to shift from the conventional focus on "land productivity," which usually ignores the amount of water used, to a new concern with "water productivity," that is, the "biophysical, economic, social and environmental returns from a unit volume of water used."

 

Starting with US$1 million from USAID, each of the countries taking part in the new initiative will begin implementing its own proposal for improving water and land management linked under the combined initiative. The consortium of countries will receive technical backstopping from ICARDA, together with two other CGIAR Centers—the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI)—as well as from a number of US universities.

 

"Innovations in water management must be broadly based and bring together the various strands of agricultural and natural resource management research, the adoption and adaptation of findings by farmers, and the development of policy," Dr. Solh said.

 

In order for this research to succeed, Dr. Solh said, countries of the Middle East and other dryland regions must discard the inappropriate policies of the past on water and land use and leave behind fragmented research on agriculture and natural resource management. Rather, they must embrace new collaborative approaches that strengthen human capacity and extend across national boundaries.

 

"The Water and Livelihoods Initiative," he said, "is a big step in the right direction."

 

Return to Top

 

 

Bayer adds Israeli biofungicide to its portfolio

 

(Wire Services) – Bayer CropScience is adding the biofungicide Shemer to its portfolio of classic crop protection products.

 

The company has now completed the acquisition of certain assets and technologies relating to biological development products of AgroGreen in Ashdod, Israel. This move follows the acquisition by Bayer CropScience in March last year of AgroGreen products which will be marketed under the brand names BioNem and Votivo (containing the active ingredient Bacillus firmus).

 

Shemer is based on the micro-organism Metschnikowia fructicola, a kind of yeast. It is an antagonist which protects fruit and vegetables against diseases caused by fungal pathogens. Bayer CropScience intends to pursue integrated solutions based on Shemer to develop new and innovative components for sustainable production. This will help farmers to meet the growing need for affordable, high-quality food products. AgroGreen, a business unit of the Minrav Group, is among the leading suppliers of bionematicides and biofungicides.

 

Applied pre- and post-harvest, Shemer helps to protect many different crops. It prevents infection and the development of many fungal pathogens, including Aspergillus, Botrytis, Rhizopus and Sclerotinia. They can cause rot and thus lead to substantially reduced yields and quality. Shemer can be applied flexibly in mixtures with fertilizers and crop protection products. Further advantages are the fact that the product remains effective for a long time under a wide variety of climatic conditions, leaves no residues in crops, and is safe for beneficial insects.

 

Shemer is currently approved in Israel for use in grapes, citrus fruit, pome and stone fruit, and strawberries. The first registrations in Europe are expected in 2013. Shemer was discovered by Dr. Samir Droby, who found a way to isolate a unique strain of yeast. Dr. Droby is a scientist at the Volcani Center, part of the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) of the Ministry of Agriculture in Israel.

 

For more information visit://www.bayercropscience.com

 

Return to Top

 

 

 ‘Speed gene’ identified in thoroughbred horses

 

(ScienceDaily.com) – Groundbreaking research led by Dr Emmeline Hill, a leading horse genomics researcher at University College Dublin's (UCD) School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine has resulted in the identification of the 'speed gene' in thoroughbred horses.

 

The identification of the 'speed gene' is the first known characterisation of a gene contributing to a specific athletic trait in thoroughbred horses and has the potential to transform decision-making processes in the global bloodstock industry. This research was the first academic programme in the world to apply novel genomics technologies to identify genetic contributions to racing performance in thoroughbred horses and was funded by Science Foundation Ireland.

 

Equinome, a new biotech company, was established as a UCD spin-out company in 2009 to commercialise this research by Dr Hill and Mr Jim Bolger, the renowned Irish racehorse trainer and breeder. Equinome is headquartered in NovaUCD, the University's Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre which is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research programmes.

 

The thoroughbred horse racing and breeding industry is an international, multi-billion euro business. Using the Equinome Speed Gene test racehorse owners and trainers around the world will be able to identify if a horse is ideally suited to racing over short, middle or middle-to-long distances. With this information, they can then optimise their purchasing and training decisions and better target suitable races for their horses. Breeders, stallion managers and bloodstock agents will also be able to use the test to make more precise selection and breeding decisions to maximise the genetic potential and commercial value of their horses.

 

The scientific data supporting the Equinome Speed Gene test have been peer-reviewed and were published recently in a scientific paper entitled A sequence polymorphism in MSTN predicts sprinting ability and racing stamina in thoroughbred horses in the open access on-line Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE.

 

According to Dr Emmeline Hill, "Breeding techniques for thoroughbred horses have remained relatively unchanged for centuries. Breeders currently rely on combining successful bloodlines together, hoping that the resulting foal will contain that winning combination of genes. Until now, whether those winning genes have or have not been inherited could only be surmised by observing the racing and breeding success of a horse over an extended period of years after its birth." She concluded, "Using the Equinome Speed Gene test, a world first in equine genetics, it will now be possible to definitively know a horse's genetic type within weeks of a sample being taken, thus reducing much of the uncertainty that has been typically involved in selection, training and breeding decisions."

 

Dr Emmeline Hill formally announced details of the Equinome Speed Gene on January 29th 2010 at the Irish thoroughbred Breeders' Association (ITBA) Expo 2010 in a seminar entitled "Cracking the code: The Speed Gene revealed."

 

Return to Top

 

End Transmission