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October 16, 2009
· Ideology threatens hunger cure – Bill Gates
· Seed experts tackle African drought, famine
· Improved seeds for Africa, blessing or curse?
· Squeezing more crop out of each drop of water
· Kids building a greenhouse with old bottles
Ideology threatens hunger cure – Bill Gates
(Reuters via AlertNet.com) – DES MOINES, Iowa - The fight to end hunger is being hurt by environmentalists who insist that genetically modified crops cannot be used in Africa, Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of software giant Microsoft <MSFT.O>, said on Thursday.
Click here to listen to Bill Gates
Gates said GMO crops, fertilizer and chemicals are important
tools -- although not the only tools -- to help small farms in
"This global effort to help small farmers is endangered by an ideological wedge that threatens to split the movement in two," Gates said in his first address on agriculture made during the annual World Food Prize forum.
"Some people insist on an ideal vision of the
environment," Gates said. "They have tried to restrict the spread of
biotechnology into sub-Saharan
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in recent years has turned its focus to helping poor, small-holder farmers grow and sell more crops as a way to reduce hunger and poverty.
The foundation, which has committed $1.4 billion to agricultural development efforts, announced on Thursday nine new grants worth a total of $120 million aimed at raising yields and farming expertise in the developing world.
Funding will go to legumes that fix nitrogen in the soil, higher-yielding varieties of sorghum and millet, and new varieties of sweet potatoes that resist pests, Gates said.
The
"Externally imposed solutions do not necessarily work," AGRA President Namaga Ngongi told Reuters, noting "people who are likely to live with the consequences of the decisions if they do not work" need to be more involved.
Gates told the World Food Prize forum, which honors people who make major contributions to reducing hunger, that farmers need training and access to markets, not just new seeds.
"People are always telling me not to be too naive about the path from the trials to the breakthrough advance to how that will get out to the small-holder," Gates said.
The World Food Prize was established by Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist known as "the father of the Green Revolution" for his work with rice and wheat.
Gates acknowledged the first Green Revolution had negative impacts on the environment as it dramatically raised yields.
"The next Green Revolution has to be greener than the first," Gates said. "It must be guided by small-holder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and the environment."
The Gates Foundation is working with research partners on drought-tolerant maize using both conventional crop-breeding techniques and biotechnology, Gates said, noting he hopes seeds will be available in two or three years.
The impact of those new varieties could help convince skeptics of the benefits of biotechnology, he said.
"The technologies will be licensed royalty free to seed distributors so that the new seeds can be sold to African farmers without extra charge," Gates said.
"I hope that the debate over productivity will not slow the distribution of these seeds," Gates said.
He also called on research companies to adapt technology to the needs of small farmers, and to make them available without royalties in the poorest counties.
African governments must invest in the work, Gates said, and rich counties that have pledged to increase funding for development must spell out the details of their plans.
"How much is old money, how much is new, how soon can they spend it, and when will they do more?" Gates said.
Seed experts tackle African drought, famine
(allAfrica.com) Nairobi — As famine and food shortages threaten millions of people in the region, key players in African seed sector have met to accelerate efforts for high yield and drought resistant seed varieties for poor farmers.
A regional meeting in
The experts from 20 countries who collectively form the heart of the Programme for Africa's Seed Systems (PASS), a $150 million initiative launched two years ago by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) to develop improved varieties of rice, maize, millet, sorghum and other food staples to millions of Africa's smallholder farmers.
Reports over the past month of a drought-induced famine
potentially affecting 20 million people in
"Without a viable, sustainable system that provides our farmers with improved higher yielding and disease- and drought-resistant varieties of our food crops, Africans will continue to be uniquely vulnerable to food crises," said Dr Namanga Ngongi, president of Agra.
In its short existence, PASS has moved rapidly to spur the development and distribution of improved seeds for African farmers, who have been relying on poor quality seed saved from previous harvests or distributed by aid groups.
Since its inception, PASS's work across the seed value chain has already resulted in the training of over 100 African crop scientists, funding some 40 crop breeding programmes, initiating 65 new, high-yield crop varieties into the field, providing start-up capital for 32 African seed companies.
The companies have collectively produced approximately 6,000 metric tonnes of certified seed.
PASS has also enlisted 5,000 agro dealers who in 2008 alone provided smallholder farmers with $45 million worth of seed and farm inputs.
Yet, enormous challenges remain, with bottlenecks at nearly every link in the seed value chain.
One crucial area addressed repeatedly by conference participants was the need to develop a strong private sector of local companies producing and disseminating high quality, certified seed.
Said Dr Joseph DeVries, PASS director: "A strong, African-based commercial seed sector devoted to serving smallholder farmers has long been a missing link in creating a sustainable seed system. Today, we are forging that link."
A new study released at the conference documents the state
of the seed sector in four West African countries:
"Except for
"We must increase the number of seed companies if smallholder farmers are to be able to access improved seed and grow more food."
The situation in East and
Although there are more private seed companies in existence, significant obstacles have historically inhibited their ability to scale up production of improved seed.
In 2007, the total amount of improved seed produced was only nine per cent greater than a decade ago, despite the presence of many more seed companies.
Obstacles to developing robust seed systems in
Government policies have also created obstacles by slowing the release of proven new varieties; providing weak oversight to seed regulatory systems; and enforcing unnecessary barriers to seed trade barriers.
Despite the many challenges, in the past two years PASS grantees
have demonstrated that they are far from insurmountable and, moreover, that
throughout
An assessment by
Most indicated they could have sold more.
Also, in only two years, investments in 24 small and medium sized seed companies and cooperatives have helped them double production, from 2656 metric tonnes to 5284 metric tonnes.
PASS hopes to see these totals rise to 13,000 tonnes by the end of this year.
Agra is also strengthening the agro- dealer networks in eight countries in Eastern and Southern Africa; Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Rwanda, and three countries in West Africa; Ghana, Nigeria and Mali.
These agro-dealers reach tens of thousands of farmers with
affordable high quality seed, fertilizer and other inputs. In just four
countries--
They have collectively sold nearly US$2,000,000 of inputs to farmers.
PASS grantees attending the
In
PASS also has invested in a Rwandan seed company that is producing and distributing to smallholder farmers improved varieties of maize, beans, sorghum, cassava and soybeans.
In
In June of this year,
In
The study, conducted under the auspices of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project, found that demand for improved maize seed far outweighs supply.
From 1997 to 2007 in
This number, however, masks huge differences within the region.
Improved seeds for Africa ,
blessing or curse?
(Zenit.org)
–
Most products nowadays are "black boxes." People have little understanding of what happens inside (think of cell phones, TV, engines, etc.) and have therefore little or no control to repair or alter them in any way. For older technologies it is easier, think for instance of a bicycle, because you see all the details and understand the function of each part; you can see the pedals and the wheel, see the chain connecting the two, you could disassemble the brake and the tires and remount them back again.
In one word, you have more control and understanding over this technology, although one must admit you could not create it by yourself. Things such as computers and seeds are much more complicated to understand, and as a result we are less able to either create them, or even repair them ourselves. This increased dependency may not be welcome, but it is quite irreversible and pervasive.
It should not be considered bad in itself, as it allows us to benefit from many technologies, even though we have less control over them. It is thus unjust to express concerns about dependency only with regard to seeds, and specifically to seeds produced through the methods of modern biotechnology (usually called genetically modified or GM seeds).
The sterility question
One of the myths circulating for more than a decade on these seeds reappeared recently in ZENIT in an article by Robert Moynihan.[1] The myth is that seeds of crops produced through modern biotechnology are sterile. This is simply not true.
First, all breeding methods create and use genetic variability to obtain crops with improved characteristics (e.g. resistance to pathogens or pests, better yield, resistance to adverse conditions, such as drought or floods, or tolerant to herbicides) and therefore all crop varieties are significantly genetically modified. New varieties improved by modern biotechnology are thus better described as genetically engineered (GE) crops, because the genetic modification is more precise and predictable than the modifications made in the past.
Second and most importantly, no GE crop on sale to date has been made sterile to prevent farmers from reusing the seeds.
Third, most crops, especially in more developed countries, are grown from commercial seeds. Farmers buy seeds for several simple reasons. In some cases the biology itself dictates the choice: many crops (maize, sugar beet, rice, sunflowers, and most vegetables) are typically or often, depending on the species, grown as F1 hybrids. What that means is that the seeds used for planting are the outcome of a cross between two parents that are similar (usually different varieties, but same species), but distinct for several characters (height or yield, for instance).[2]
The outcome of the cross is usually a vigorous plant, often much more vigorous than both parents, and yields are thus greatly increased.
The strongest example is maize, where yield can increase two to threefold compared to the non-hybrid parents. Unfortunately the vigor of the hybrid diminishes rapidly in subsequent generations.
This is the reason why 99% of the maize grown in developed countries is hybrid maize that is bought every year by farmers. They could well collect the harvested grain and use it for sowing next year's crop, but they know they will suffer a large decrease in yield if they do.
They are able to calculate the economic difference between the two choices (to replant seed or to buy new seed) and the great majority chooses to buy commercial seeds. For other crops, the situation is somewhat different: rice and rapeseed are only partly grown as hybrids, while soybean and wheat are very rarely grown as such.
Even if a crop is not a hybrid, farmers often buy commercial seed because they know seed quality is important. But producing a good seed is a tough job.
Seeds must be pure (free of weeds for example), should germinate promptly, in synchrony and with a high percentage of viability. They should also be free of pathogens (virus, bacteria, molds) and pests, have a good yield and withstand suboptimal or stressful conditions (little rain or too much heat).
If a seed batch lacks some or many of these characteristics, then harvest is at risk. Therefore, there are companies whose business is to produce high quality seeds so that both seed producer and farmer prosper.
Seeds that cost money to produce cannot be given away or the company will cease to exit. It is, however, up to the farmer to decide if the seeds are worth the price and if they will deliver good value. In this regard, farmers usually test new seeds on small plots in one or two growing seasons before buying large amounts for planting. They want to see first if the superior quality touted by the company is real.
If a new variety gains the favor of farmers, then you can be sure that the variety is good and the price is reasonable. The farmers -- the buyers of the seed -- are the ones who decide if a seed and the company that produces it will be successful.
Safety
Another myth is that the data is not yet clear on whether or not GE crops are safe for people or the environment.
We have now 15 years of commercial cultivation and more than 25 years of research on GE plants. The approximate number of total GE plants grown so far is around 200,000 billion plants on more than 2 billion acres. To date, this has occurred not only without causing any harm more than that caused by conventional crops, but also reducing it.
Several national and international academies (
They have particularly stressed well-documented benefits and the further potential to the world's poor farmers. Also numerous scientific societies and international organizations (WHO, FAO) (see [3] for a long, but incomplete list) have reviewed the issues and concluded on the basis of large accumulated experience and thousands of scientific publications, that GE crops present no new or different risks, and can (and in fact, do) reduce or ameliorate some of the negative impacts of conventional agriculture.
The fact that GE crops pose no new risks is exemplified as it follows. There are several herbicide-tolerant crops that have been developed by less precise, conventional techniques, and which have been approved for cultivation without the long and costly process required for GE crops. (The process includes a risk evaluation and regulatory review that lasts between five and 10 years with costs upward of $10 million). And yet, these conventional plants (e.g. rapeseed, sunflower, rice or wheat), cultivated on millions of acres, present the same risks, and sometimes the same genetic modification, as herbicide-tolerant GE plants.
Benefits
In summary, the data overwhelmingly show that GE plants
offer great benefits. They do it today all over the world, and they do it
particularly well for millions of farmers in developing countries. In fact, the
great majority of farmers using GE crops (90% of about 13 million) are poor
farmers from developing countries, some of them in African nations such as
This is something that people should think twice before spreading falsehood to African people regarding their options for agricultural development. Unconvinced readers are suggested to read Robert Paarlberg's book "Starved for Science."[5]
Given all of the above, we strongly believe that it is not only "a moral obligation to permit these countries to do their own experimentation," as said Father Gonzalo Miranda, a professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum university, but also to provide them with the tools (education) to do it.
Also, it is an unnecessary luxury, and therefore a sin on
the part of Western countries, to demand complete safety from a technology when
a partly stagnant African agriculture means death and undernourishment for
many. Safety for
* * *
Piero Morandini
is a Researcher in Plant Physiology at the
Ingo Potrykus is Chairman, Humanitarian Golden Rice Board & Network, and Professor Emeritus in Plant Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
Squeezing more crop out of each drop of water
(USDA-ARS) – Studies in China and Colorado by Agricultural Research Service scientists and cooperators have revealed some interesting tactics on how to irrigate with limited water, based on a crop's critical growth stages.
Laj Ahuja,
research leader at the ARS Agricultural Systems Research Unit in
As one example, with wheat in
Other tactics for putting limited water to best use are to irrigate only part of a field, skip the pre-plant irrigation for corn, delay irrigating until up to half of the soil water is depleted, and wet soil to no more than 70 percent of field capacity.
Ahuja and his colleagues came up
with the findings in
While the combination of models has been used in other experiments to test alternative water and nitrogen management practices, this is the first time these models have been used to evaluate crop responses to lack of water across critical crop growth stages, and the first to use long-term weather data.
In
The scientists also found that farmers irrigating in
The experiments demonstrated that crop simulation models enable fast and cheap transfer of technology from research labs and experimental stations to farmers' fields. Coupled with local field experiments, they proved to be an excellent tool for making the best use of limited water.
Kids building a greenhouse with old bottles
(BBC News) – A group of children are building a truly "green" greenhouse - using 1,500 old plastic bottles.
The pupils from
They will then start growing plants in it next spring.
Teacher Robin Townley said 10 children from the after school greenhouse club were spending an hour a week working on the structure.
"The children love doing it as they think the idea of having a greenhouse made out of bottles is brilliant," said Mr Townley.
"There will be some small gaps when it's finished but it will work well. We hope to start growing plants in it next spring.
"Pupils are so enthusiastic about green issues and they love the thought of having one of the greenest greenhouses around."
The two-litre bottles, all donated by children, parents and staff, are threaded together with canes to make the walls around a wooden frame.
Last term, the school was awarded an
Torfaen council leader, councillor Bob Wellington, said: "Schools in Torfaen are so enthusiastic about green issues and this is a fantastic example of what can be achieved by using something as simple as an old plastic bottle."
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