Ch 10: Agriculture, Biotechnology, and the Future of Food

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Ch 10 Agriculture, Biotechnology, and the Future
of Food

• Case Study Oaxaca, Mexico
• The Race to Feed the World
• Pests and Pollinators

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Case Study Possible Transgenic Maize in Oaxaca,
Mexico

• Corn was domesticated in Oaxaca 5500 years ago
• Native varieties serve as reservoirs of genetic
  diversity that we may need to sustain or advance
  our agriculture
• In 2001 it was found that the genes of GM corn
  (transgenes) had appeared in the genes of native
  maize, which caused widespread concern
• Another study conducted in 2003-04 found no
  transgenes at all /
• How does genetic modification of crops affect
  people and the environment?

http//www.spiritofmaat.com/announce/gecornmex.htm
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The Race to Feed the WorldWe are producing more
food per person

• Over the past half century, our ability to
  produce food has grown faster than the global
  population
• But because of political obstacles and
  distribution inefficiencies, 850 million people
  in developing countries dont have enough to eat
  (down to 13 from 26 in 1970)

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The Race to Feed the WorldWe are producing more
food per person

• Scientists policymakers pursue a goal of food
  security, the guarantee of an adequate and
  reliable food supply for all people at all times
• Devote more fossil fuel energy to agriculture
• Plant and harvest more frequently
• Increase the use of irrigation, fertilizer,
  and pesticides
• Increase the amount of cultivated land
• Develop more productive crop and livestock
  varieties

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The Race to Feed the WorldWe are producing more
food per person

• However, grain production per person has
  decreased 9 since 1985 (varies by region)
• Nearly all the planets arable land has been
  claimed
• There is no guarantee that food production will
  continue to outpace population growth

http//www.economist.com/node/18200618
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The Race to Feed the WorldWe face
undernourishment, overnutrition, and malnutrition

• Undernourishment in developing countries an
  economic problem (low incomes half the world
  population lives on lt 2/day). About a billion
  undernourished people. 31 million Americans are
  food insecure
• Overnutrition in developed nations abundance of
  food, cheap junk food, sedentary lifestyles
• Malnutrition shortage of nutrients the body
  needs. Can affect both undernourished and
  overnourished individuals

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The Race to Feed the WorldThe green revolution
boosted agricultural production

• The desire for greater quantity quality of food
  led in the mid- and late-20th century to the
  green revolution
• In the 1940s Norman Borlaug introduced a special
  strain of wheat to Mexico, which soon tripled
  wheat production
• Other developing nations followed India,
  Pakistan, etc. (saved India from famine in 1970s)

A temporary success in mans war against
hunger and deprivation.
http//opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/su
stainable-farming/?smidtw-NYTOpinionatorseidaut
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The Race to Feed the WorldThe green revolution
boosted agricultural production

• Development of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of
  cereal grains
• Expansion of irrigation infrastructure
• Modernization of management techniques
• Distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic
  fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers
  (preexisting technologies)

These and other developments in the field of
agriculture contain the makings of a new
revolution. It is not a violent Red Revolution
like that of the Soviets, nor is it a White
Revolution like that of the Shah of Iran. I call
it the Green Revolution. William Gaud, USAID
director. 1968
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The Race to Feed the WorldThe green revolution
has brought the environment both benefit and harm

• Benefit

• Harm

• Higher yield
• Reduced pressures to convert additional natural
  lands for new cultivation
• The planting of crops in monocultures has made
  planting and harvesting more efficient

• Intensive application of water, fossil fuels,
  inorganic fertilizers, and synthetic pesticides
  worsened pollution, erosion, salinization, and
  desertification
• Monocultural planting has reduced biodiversity
  over huge areas, increased susceptibility to
  disease, and narrowed the human diet

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Questions to consider

• Has the green revolution solved problems, delayed
  our resolution of problems, or created new ones?
• How sustainable are green revolution approaches?

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Pests and Pollinators
Pests and weeds pose have always posed problems
for A pest is any organism that damages crops
that are valuable to people. A weed is any plant
that competes with crops These organisms are
simply attempting to survive and reproduce
There is truly no malice in their
existence/actions
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Thousands of Chemical Pesticides

• Aimed to kill
• Insects (insecticides)
• Plants (Herbicides)
• Fungi (Fungicides)
• Organisms (Pesticides)
• More than 32 billion is spent every year on
  pesticides, 1/3 of which is spent in the U.S.
• About 400 million kg of active ingredients from
  pesticides are applied in the U.S. every year

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Growing Resistance to Pesticides

• Apart from the toxicity of the previously
  mentioned chemicals, usefulness declines over
  time as pests evolve resistances to them
• Any gene that promotes an immunity to a specific
  chemical may be shared through reproduction
• Revolutionary Arms Race occurs between
  industrial chemists and the pests they battle to
  find/use stronger chemicals

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Biological Control

• Biological Control, or Biocontrol, operates on
  the principle that the enemy of ones enemy is
  ones friend
• Essentially Introduces organisms to help fight
  others
• Cactus moth introduced to Australia to fight
  Prickly Pear Cactus
• Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Naturally occurring
  soil bacterium that produces a protein that kills
  caterpillars and the larvae of flies and beetles
• Spores are sprayed on crops for protection

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Biocontrol can be Harmful

• In some cases, biocontrol agents have become
  invasive and unintentionally harmful to other
  organisms
• Due to the success of the previously mentioned
  cactus moth, it was introduced to the Caribbean,
  and then spread to Florida and is now destroying
  native cacti there.
• If Biocontrol works, it can be permanent in
  solving the problem, but if it fails the harm
  done can also be permanent

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Integrated Pest Management

• Realizing the drawbacks of both chemical use and
  Biocontrol, farmers attempted to develop more
  sophisticated strategies
• Integrated Pest Management- integration of
  various techniques in order to achieve long-term
  suppression of pests, including Biocontrol,
  chemical use (if necessary), habitat alteration,
  crop rotation, transgenic crops, alternative
  tillage methods, and mechanical pest removal
• This method has become popular around the world
  in recent decades

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Pollination

• Pollination- The process by which male sex cells
  of a plant (pollen) fertilize female sex cells of
  a plant recognized as the botanical version of
  sexual intercourse
• Can be influence by wind, or insects can play a
  role
• Conservation is vital
• Population of honeybee is declining
• Honeybees pollinate over 100 crops that make up
  1/3 of the U.S. diet, therefore contributing
  billions of dollars in services
• Farmers and homeowners can reduce or eliminate
  pesticide use in order to help maintain
  populations of pollinating insects

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(gt.)gtTHE END!!!lt(.lt)