 |
|||
 |
" I heard it |
||
December 2, 2009
· Studies conflict on GM crops and pesticide use
· NASA system turns wastewater into biofuel
· UC Davis dropping Small Farm Program
· How whiteflies sabotage plant alarm system
· Aquaculture could feed growing world population
Studies conflict on GM crops and pesticide use
(GMO Compass) – Two current studies on the environmental influence of genetically modified (GM) plants arrive at differing results. According to one study, significantly more pesticide has been applied to fields since the cultivation of genetically modified plants began in 1996. The other study books substantial environmental relief through GM plants.
One study, authored by Charles Benbrook and published by the American non-governmental organisations The Organic Center and Union of Concerned Scientists, has come to a negative result: since the market entry of herbicide-resistant GM plants in the USA in 1996, the quantity of applied herbicide has increased by 175 million kilogrammes, of which 46 per cent fall in the years 2007 and 2008 alone. According to Benbrook, primarily in the south of the USA numerous weeds have spread in the meanwhile that have developed resistance to the herbicide agent glyphosate (Roundup) suited to the GM plants. Many farmers attempt to combat these weeds through higher doses of glyphosate or through the application of other herbicide agents. For this reason, a further increase in the amount of deployed pesticide may be expected.
In contrast, a positive balance is found in the study conducted by the British agricultural economist Graham Brookes (PG Economics). He ascertained a world-wide decrease in the application of herbicide between 1996 and 2007 due to the cultivation of GM plants. According to the study, approximately 200 million fewer kilogrammes of herbicide were deployed. However, in contrast to Benbrook, Brookes did not compare the total quantity of herbicide deployed but the quantities of active agent. In the case of soy, according to Brooks, a reduction in deployed herbicide agent of 4.6 per cent in comparison to the level of 1996 was found as a result of the cultivation of herbicide-resistant varieties. In the case of cotton, this figure was 15 per cent.
With regard to insect-resistant plants, the studies arrive at similar conclusions: Benbrook determined a reduction in the application of plant protection agents by 28 million kilogrammes since 1996 as a result of the cultivation of Bt maize and Bt cotton.
According to Brookes, the worldwide application sank by as
much as 157 million kilogrammes. Once again, this was
stated in terms of the active agent. For this study, primarily cotton
contributed to environmental relief through insecticide reduction. However,
neither
In total, Brookes calculates a global environmental relief of 17 per cent due to the lowered need for insecticide and herbicide in the cultivation of GM plants. In contrast, Charles Benbrook states the stark increase in glyphosate-resistant weeds as the primary problem. As a result, he expects rising costs, declining yields and increasing environmental strain.
NASA system turns wastewater into biofuel
(SpaceRef.com)
NASA's
"NASA has a long history of developing very successful energy conversion devices and novel life support systems," said Lisa Lockyer, deputy director of the New Ventures and Communication Directorate at NASA Ames. "NASA is excited to support the commercialization of an algae bioreactor with potential for providing renewable energy here on Earth."
The OMEGA system consists of large plastic bags with inserts of forward-osmosis membranes that grow freshwater algae in processed wastewater by photosynthesis. Using energy from the sun, the algae absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nutrients from the wastewater to produce biomass and oxygen. As the algae grow, the nutrients are contained in the enclosures, while the cleansed freshwater is released into the surrounding ocean through the forward-osmosis membranes.
"The OMEGA technology has transformational powers. It can convert sewage and carbon dioxide into abundant and inexpensive fuels," said Matthew Atwood, president and founder of Algae Systems. "The technology is simple and scalable enough to create an inexpensive, local energy supply that also creates jobs to sustain it."
When deployed in contaminated and "dead zone" coastal areas, this system may help remediate these zones by removing and utilizing the nutrients that cause them. The forward-osmosis membranes use relatively small amounts of external energy compared to the conventional methods of harvesting algae, which have an energy intensive de-watering process.
Potential benefits include oil production from the harvested algae, and conversion of municipal wastewater into clean water
before it is released into the ocean. After the oil is extracted from the algae, the algal remains can be used to make fertilizer, animal feed, cosmetics, or other valuable products.
This successful spinoff of NASA-derived technology will help support the commercial development of a new algae-based biofuels industry and wastewater treatment.
For more information about NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, and NASA technology infusion activities, visit: http://ipp.nasa.gov
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov
For information about Algae Systems, visit: http://www.algaesystems.com
UC Davis dropping Small Farm Program
(The
California Aggie) – After 30 years of providing support to thousands of
farmers around the state, the
The decision came as part of an effort to address a $9 million budget shortfall within the university's division of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the upcoming year.
Though the advisers will continue to receive funding, the program will lose its support staff who are responsible for writing and managing grant proposals, said the program's director Shermain Hardesty.
"Since 2000, we have generated $2.2 million in grants which is used to fund advisers' research and most of our workshops," she said. "The advisers will lose a lot of their support which means that they will be much more limited in their work and in communicating with farmers in their area."
Hardesty said she was surprised that SFP was cut completely as most of the other programs in the division received only 20 percent cuts in their funding.
"I expected the same thing to happen to us so I was pretty shocked that we were cut altogether," she said. "We weren't given a reason for why this decision was made."
Barbara Allen-Diaz, the assistant vice president of programs for the division, said the decision to cut the program came as part of a lengthy consolidation process.
"The budget cuts mean that we can no longer afford to have independent, stand-alone administrative units," she said. "We plan to eventually consolidate all units, but we could not do everything simultaneously."
Though the administrative support staff will be cut, Allen-Diaz said advisers will retain their positions.
"People will lose their jobs, but with these enormous cuts, it can't be helped," she said. "Over 90 percent of our state funding is tied up in personnel and when you have a 20 percent cut, people are affected. These decisions did not come lightly and none of us are looking forward to the state budget for the next year."
Over 85 percent of
"Small farmers don't have the resources to get the assistance they need," Hardesty said. "They can't afford to pay consultants for advice on pest control or putting together a business plan and our program provides these resources."
In addition to providing assistance with marketing techniques and educational programs, SFP also maintains advisers in eight counties throughout the state that conduct research on the specialty and emerging crops that help small farms survive.
"Small farmers really can't compete with large farmers on basis of price - they simply have higher production costs per acre," Hardesty said. "In order to compete, small farmers focus more on specialty or 'niche' crops that are ignored by larger farmers."
This emphasis on specialty crops has led to the propagation
of many unique crops within the state such as
It has also meant the introduction of crops previously
deemed impossible to grow in
For example, a decade ago, experts were critical of farm adviser Manuel Jimenez's efforts to introduce early season blueberries to the state.
"I was told over and over 'you can't grow blueberries here,'" he said. "Many people thought it wasn't possible because blueberries have a high chill requirement and need acidic soil.'"
Jimenez was persistent in his research. Today,
"If a student has ever bought blueberries at their local farmers market, they have the small farm program to thank," Hardesty said.
How whiteflies sabotage plant alarm system
(PhysOrg.com) -- When spider mites attack a bean plant, the plant responds by producing odours which attract predatory mites. These predatory mites then exterminate the spider mite population, thus acting as a type of 'bodyguard' for the plant. However, if the plant is simultaneously attacked by whiteflies, insects that are related to aphids, the plant becomes less attractive to the predatory mites and therefore more vulnerable to spider mites.
Together with German colleagues, researchers from the
Laboratory of Entomology at
The research team studied the strength of the plant’s “cry for help” through a chemical analysis of the plant odour blend and found that one of the odour components (beta-ocimene) is produced in much lower quantities if the plant is not only attacked by spider mites, but also by whiteflies. The production of the odour decreases because of a lower expression rate of the plant gene that codes for a crucial enzyme in the production chain. When the researchers added ocimene to the odour of plants which were attacked by both species, the attraction of predatory mites was restored.
This recent breakthrough demonstrates that there are also herbivores that can interfere with a plant’s “cry for help”, possibly because the whiteflies attempt to interfere with the plant’s defence system. Spider mites also produce more offspring on a plant under attack by whiteflies. For a spider mite, there are therefore two reasons why a bean plant which is being attacked by whiteflies is better than a bean plant that is not being attacked: more offspring and fewer bodyguards. It is therefore no surprise that the researchers found that the spider mite preferred plants infested with whiteflies above plants without them.
The results of this study are significant for integrated crop protection in which a combination of methods can be used to fight various pests infesting a crop. Integrated crop protection offers effective possibilities for environmentally safe pest control, and is based on a solid knowledge of the crop system and its complex of enemies. Once it becomes clear which insects weaken plant defence systems and which strengthen them, more focused research on environmentally-safe pest control will be possible, and people will no longer be caught off guard by unexpected interference from some pest species.
The fact that plants “cry for help” at all was discovered by the Wageningen research group in 1988. Since that time, various laboratories worldwide have continued studying this topic and it is now known that many - if not all - plants apply this type of defence. The research conducted worldwide has focused primarily on the situation in which plants are only attacked by a single herbivore. In nature, the situation is much more complex, however. Plants are involved in a continuous arms race with herbivorous insects which exploit the plant as food in a variety of ways. Spider mites suck the contents of parenchyma cells. Contrary to what their name suggests, whiteflies are not actually flies at all, but sap-sucking insects related to aphids, which suck from the vascular tissue located deeper in the plant. Some insects reinforce the plant’s defence system which protects it from other predators.
Aquaculture could feed growing world population
(BioScience via Physorg.com) – The oceans could become the source of more of humanity's food if steps are taken to expand and improve marine aquaculture, according to a study published in the December 2009 issue of BioScience.
As the world's population continues to grow, lack of fresh
water and space mean that terrestrial agriculture is unlikely to be able to
meet food demand, according to Carlos M. Duarte of the University of the
Balearic Islands,
Marine aquaculture is already on the rise: production has
increased ten-fold over the past 30 years and is expected to exceed fisheries
catches within 20 years. Yet
These could be used as food for both humans and for fish. New technology will also help, by allowing marine aquaculture operations to be expanded into more exposed, offshore locations. Although some environmental impacts can be expected from the expansion of marine aquaculture, these are modest compared to those resulting from food production on land.
End Transmission