" I heard it through the AgLine"

March 9, 2010

 

 

·        Seed’s failure raises red flag at Monsanto

·        Mexico farm subsidy system running amok

·        Dow AgroSciences plans $340M expansion

·        Eco-friendly carrot wash a big cash saver

·        Can corn be taught to fix its own nitrogen?

 

 

Seed’s failure raises red flag at Monsanto

 

(stltoday.com) – A genetically modified cotton produced by Monsanto is failing to control pests in four Indian states, the company said last week.

 

The survival of the pink bollworm in Monsanto's Bollgard brand cotton was detected in four of the nine Indian states where the cotton is grown.

 

A spokesman for the Creve Coeur-based company said it is taking the matter "very seriously" and will continue to monitor the situation with the help of a team of Indian-based experts. The detection has been reported to the Indian Genetic Engineering Committee, the company said.

 

The cotton is engineered to resist the pink bollworm, a pest that can ruin crops. However, testing was conducted to assess resistance to Cry1Ac, the Bt protein in the crop, and insects were found to be surviving it.

 

The company said Friday that the resistance could be occurring because the required refuge areas were not planted by farmers and some may have used unapproved Bt cotton seed.

 

Recently, India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, said the country should be more cautious in adopting genetically modified crops. Ramesh imposed a freeze on commercial cultivation of Monsanto's Bt brinjal, or eggplant, until further health and environmental safety tests can be conducted. The Bt brinjal is the first genetically modified food crop grown in the country.

 

Both the Bollgard cotton and brinjal were developed in conjunction with Mahyco, an India-based seed company that helped Monsanto introduced Bollgard cotton to the country in 2002.

 

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Mexico farm subsidy system running amok

 

(Los Angeles Times) – When Mexico and the United States were entering a landmark free trade agreement 16 years ago, one thing was clear: Mexican farmers would initially find it difficult to compete with heavily subsidized U.S. agricultural products.

 

The solution: Mexico created a special fund to dole out cash to the poorest and smallest farmers.

 

Somewhere along the way, something went wrong. Today, the fund -- far from helping the neediest -- is providing large financial subsidies to the families of notorious drug traffickers and several senior government officials, including the agriculture minister.

 

Revelations of how and to whom the money is being distributed have led to a spasm of demands from legislators to change the system. But, as with most examples of colossal corruption in Mexico, it is unlikely that the program will be overhauled.

 

Its failure has driven tens of thousands of subsistence farmers to ruin and encouraged the planting of illegal crops, such as marijuana and opium poppy, on vast tracts of farmland, experts and officials say.

 

"It would be a mistake to eliminate the program altogether, but the lists [of beneficiaries] have to be purged," said Mauricio Merino, an investigator with an economics think tank in Mexico City and an expert on the subject. "Once you stop giving money to the poor, it opens the window for everyone to start collecting."

 

Under the program, known as Procampo, an estimated $1.3 billion was given last year to 2.7 million farmers. The allotment is about $74 to $100 per 2.5 acres. But, according to several academic studies, as much as 80% of the money went to just 20% of the registered farmers.

 

Among the most eyebrow-raising recipients were three siblings of billionaire drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, and the brother of Guzman's onetime partner, Arturo Beltran Leyva.

 

Guzman has been a fugitive since escaping from a prison in 2001, more or less the year his family began receiving thousands of dollars in farm subsidies to grow, ostensibly, corn, sorghum and sesame.

 

Beltran Leyva was also a fugitive for many years until he was killed in a shootout with Mexican marines late last year. Younger brother Carlos, despite his own brushes with the law, has been receiving regular subsidies for a decade or more.

 

Many of the details on the recipients were first published in the newspaper El Universal, which obtained some of the information through the Mexican equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act.

 

The Times has learned that another top associate of Guzman, Victor Emilio Cazares, received more than $100,000 from Procampo to subsidize his raising of cattle. Like many suspected big-time traffickers, he maintains legitimate crops and livestock alongside his alleged illegal business.

 

Much of the corruption crept into the Procampo program early on, Merino said. In a misguided, easily abused effort to promote transparency, the money was assigned by property, instead of to individuals. The aim was to prevent people with political connections from moving to the front of the line. In fact, the process meant that big property-holders could apply for each ranch, farm and plot of land they owned. Only last year was a cap placed on how much an individual could receive.

 

In the meantime, others who reaped bountiful benefits were Agriculture Minister Francisco Javier Mayorga Castaneda, along with his father and four siblings, as well as a number of politicians and large transnational food-production companies. Mayorga says he started receiving the subsidies before he was named a Cabinet minister, so he has no reason to return or refuse them.

 

He also says the families of narco-traffickers cannot be denied subsidies unless the registered plot of land is shown to be sown with illicit crops.

 

Mexico in the last 20 years has morphed from a country that fed itself to an importer of food, as thousands of farmers have abandoned the land and sought jobs in cities. The failure of the Procampo program also has helped drive many smaller farmers into the network of drug traffickers.

 

Ricardo Garcia Villalobos, head of a federal court that handles agrarian issues, said 30% of Mexican farmland is planted with such illegal crops as marijuana and poppies instead of, or sometimes alongside, traditional corn and beans.

 

"It is necessary," Garcia said, "that the government now see and treat this problem as a matter of national security."

 

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Dow AgroSciences plans $340M expansion

 

(ourMidland.com) – Dow AgroSciences is planning a multi-year expansion of its global headquarters in northwest Indianapolis, with investment of more than $340 million and the addition of more than 550 scientific and commercial jobs over the next five years.

 

    Company executives were joined by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard to announce the expansion plans at a news conference late last week.

 

    The first phase in the multi-year expansion plan includes the construction of a 175,000 square foot research and development building, as well as a 14,000 square foot greenhouse on the company's corporate campus.

 

    The company said these facilities are part of a global growth plan for Dow AgroSciences' research efforts as it develops and commercializes new product solutions for customers in agricultural and related market segments.

 

    "Indiana's excitement and dedication for the life sciences is impressive and matches our own enthusiasm to deliver innovation for our customers as we make a difference in agriculture," said Antonio Galindez, president and CEO of Dow AgroSciences. "When you combine our infrastructure and capabilities with this positive business environment, it was a winning proposition to expand and grow our global headquarters here in order to accelerate our growth strategy. We especially thank the leaders of the city and state for their support."

 

    Daniels said research and development leadership in the life sciences is a dream of every state.

 

    "Here in Indiana, it's not a dream, but a vibrant reality, and Dow AgroSciences' steady growth is a major reason why," the governor said. "This expansion makes Indiana a true world capital of agricultural science."

 

    Ballard said Dow AgroSciences has once proven its commitment to Indianapolis.

 

    "This important new expansion will further enhance our growing life sciences community and provide quality jobs to our residents," he said.

 

    In 2009, the company announced numerous plans for expanding its research capacity, including the signing of a 15-year lease on an 80,000 square foot research facility adjacent to its corporate headquarters in Indianapolis and the establishment of a significant research program at the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Ind. Numerous collaborations and research milestones have also been announced.

 

    The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Dow AgroSciences up to $12.5 million in performance-based tax credits and $205,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. In addition, pending IEDC board approvals, the IEDC will provide the city of Indianapolis with up to $500,000 from its Industrial Development Grant Fund to assist in road, sewer and water improvements needed for the project. The city of Indianapolis and Indianapolis Economic Development, Inc. will assist the company's expansion by supporting a request for tax increment financing.

 

    The City of Indianapolis has committed, pending final approvals being granted, to provide Dow AgroSciences with $20 million of property tax increment financing assistance to help defer project costs. The property tax increment financing dollars to be provided by the City of Indianapolis will come directly from the new property taxes to be paid by Dow AgroSciences as it invests in facilities and equipment on its Indianapolis campus. The company's capital investment and job creation plans are contingent upon the approval of the local and state incentives.

 

    People interested in career opportunities with Dow AgroSciences should visit www.dowagro.com/careers for job postings in the coming months.

 

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Eco-friendly carrot wash a big cash saver

 

(Wire Services) – At a time when many businesses earmark unnecessary expenditures for cutbacks, market leader and innovator Bolthouse Farms identified a way to curtail spending, enhance environmental sustainability, and save more than 317,000 gallons of fuel.

 

Recently, Bolthouse Farms installed eco-friendly carrot wash stations at their Westmoreland, California farm which sheds unnecessary weight from soil on carrots prior to being transported to the main Bolthouse Farms facility in Bakersfield, Calif. and keeps more than 55,000 tons of soil in its native geography of existing carrot fields.

 

“We continue to build state-of-the-art carrot wash stations at the carrots’ point of origin because we want to further our company’s vision in sustainability and cost-effectiveness,” explained Chuck Seitz, director of grower relations, Bolthouse Farms.  “Certainly there was a cost associated with such an endeavor, but it was a logical change to streamline procedure – one that Bolthouse Farms will reap the benefits of and will sustain its carrot farming operations well into the future.”

 

Prior to the change in procedure, unwashed carrots were pulled from the ground covered with dirt, thus weighing more as a result, and shipped 700 miles from the field to the Bolthouse Farms facility to be washed and processed.  This old operational practice removed nutrient-rich topsoil from the carrots’ native farmland, resulting in an unnecessary heavier load of carrots and requiring extra fuel to ship.  Additionally, the process produced excess soil from washing the carrots, which was collected and hauled to an offsite location.  A washout station offers a positive, cost-effective business solution that can be quickly implemented due to the nimble nature of the company.

 

Carrot washout stations are one example of the broad corporate sustainability efforts underway at Bolthouse Farms. Other ongoing initiatives include using recycled packaging for all product lines and constructing and operating the largest solar panel farming operation in the United States, which reduces emissions and fossil fuel use while maximizing farmland use.

 

To learn more about the sustainability and corporate social responsibility efforts of Bolthouse Farms, visit www.bolthouse.com.

 

About Bolthouse Farms

Established in 1915, Bolthouse Farms is a fourth-generation farm located in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley.  Known for quality and innovation, Bolthouse Farms is a market share leader in carrot growing and processing.  In addition to growing and harvesting premium fresh fruits and vegetables, Bolthouse Farms produces a popular brand of super-premium refrigerated juices and smoothies.  Bolthouse diversified its offerings in recent years by launching a line of all natural, premium refrigerated yogurt dressings and extra virgin olive oil vinaigrettes.   To learn about the entire line of current Bolthouse Farms products, visit www.bolthouse.com.

 

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Can corn be taught to fix its own nitrogen?

 

(PHYSORG.com via University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) – Nitrogen fertilization is essential for profitable corn production. It also is a major cost of production and can contribute to degradation of the environment. Is it possible to "teach" corn to fix its own nitrogen, thus eliminating the need for nitrogen fertilizer applications? University of Illinois agricultural engineer Kaustubh Bhalerao believes it may be, through research in an emerging area of engineering called synthetic biology.

 

"We now understand enough about how genes work and how proteins are produced that we can actually think about reprogramming how living cells work," said Bhalerao, an assistant professor in U of I's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. "On one hand, it sounds intimidating. But on the other hand, there are tremendous benefits that may be possible by doing this."

 

Synthetic biology is a new area of research that combines science and engineering in order to design and build or "synthesize" novel biological functions and systems. Through this new technology, many scientists believe it may be possible to control biological systems to increase food supplies, produce energy, enhance human health, protect the environment, and more.

 

Bhalerao is leading a multidisciplinary research initiative with collaborators from the University of California, San Francisco; Stanford University; University of Cambridge; and New Castle University aimed at building systems that enable bacteria to spatially organize and communicate with and control plant cells. The research is funded through a grant of about $2 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation and United Kingdom's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

 

Bhalerao's research focuses on building systems in which bacteria behave like amplifiers. "We've developed the equivalence of an amplifier inside bacteria. The bacteria sense the presence of an amino acid in their environment and produce a protein in response. A positive feedback mechanism in the gene circuit amplifies the production of that protein," Bhalerao said.

 

By using bacterial amplifiers, the systems become more sensitive. "Because of the amplifier, bacterial biosensors can detect concentrations much lower than would have been possible otherwise. In a system designed to produce a particular molecule or chemical, much larger output levels can be generated," he said.

 

A specific application being investigated is the design of a system that enables nitrogen fixing bacteria to communicate with the root systems of corn plants.

 

According to Bhalerao, soybean fixes its own nitrogen by sending a message to a bacterium that encourages it to colonize in the plant's roots. Once the right environment has developed, the bacteria start fixing nitrogen for that plant. This results in soybeans being naturally high in nitrogen and a protein-rich food source.

 

"Why don't we teach corn how to do this?" Bhalerao said. "This would reduce the need for the application of petroleum-based fertilizers, which has huge implications for sustainable agriculture."

 

Synthetic biology is a fast-growing research area with a wide range of potential applications. Scientists are using this new technology to make biosensors sensitive to light, sensitive to uranium, sensitive to rust, etc. Proven concepts in various stages of development include using bacterial sensors to build bacterial photographic plates, assist with the nuclear mining of uranium, or detect unexploded landmines in the soil.

 

"These are just a few potential uses that capture the mind," Bhalerao said. "This type of technology allows us to think about interesting, novel solutions to major concerns, such as how we can feed more people, or how we can produce more drinking water.

 

"Synthetic biology is an entirely new discipline. To compare it with electronics, where it's drawing a lot of its ideas and terminology from, we are at the stage of developing the transistor. We cannot foresee what the Internet of this technology is going to look like."

 

Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

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