A. Food availability
1. Developed countries have a lot of latitude in responding to a loss of production since approximately 80% of the food we grow goes into feeding livestock. We could tolerate a large loss of production by shifting diets away from meat. This is already happening to a small degree due to diet concerns.
2. Developing countries have many problems with food supply:
a. Growing populations, people want to have lots of children to support them in their old age, this is less prevalent in more prosperous countries.
b. Not able to shift to highly mechanized system of agriculture.
c. Already eat little or no meat.
d. Cultural bias against foods which might provide a more balanced diet.
B. Germplasm banks
Germplasm banks were instituted to store genetic variability currently found in important plants for future uses. Seeds are collected, tested for germination and stored at low temperatures to keep them alive and dormant. They must be germinated and grown out occasionally to prevent their loss. Pollen and tissue cultures are sometimes preserved also. The maintenance of these centers is very expensive but necessary.However, the best way to preserve germplasm is to conserve the habitats in which the plants naturally occur. The use of germplasm banks is a stopgap measure only, they have been referred to as "plant morgues" because some facilities do not have the resources necessary to properly store and grow out the plants.
C. Development of new crops
Research and development in unknown plants, especially tropical plants, is poorly funded. The countries that seriously need new crop plants do not have the resources to develop them. The development of new crops can address several problems:
1. Indrease diversity of plants grown, making them less susceptible to disease.
2. Will aid developing countries by allowing them to develop sustainable agriculture.Barriers to development:
a. Producing plants that are suitable for mechanical harvesting can be difficult and expensive.
b. Entire new infrastructures will have to be developed to produce a new crop on a large scale.
D. Biotechnology
1. Tissue culture
Allows the production of large numbers of clones without sexual reproduction. Can get around problems with ploidy by culturing haploid cells to produce haploid plants. These cells are more amenable to transgenic methods.
2. Transgenic methods
This involves the incorporation of novel genes into the plant genome and avoids any sterility barriers. Theoretically, you can transfer any gene from any organism into plants. In practice, it is not that easy. The gene or genes must not only be incorporated into the plant genome, it must be transcribed and translated, which requires that the genes are regulated. This can get rather tricky. For example, if we incorporate a gene that produces a compound toxic to insects into citrus, we have to be sure that this compound is not produced in the fruits under any environmental conditions the plant might encounter. Because of these difficulties you will see these sorts of gene limited to nonfood plants, i.e., cotton. Genes that increase yields, improve flavor (coming soon in California tomatoes) without the use of toxic principles will be preferred. One of the most recent and controversial products in this area is Roundup (a major general use herbicide) resistant crops. The crops are able to survive Roundup applications which will kill weeds. These crops are being produced by Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup. One side effect of Roundup application is the enhanced production of plant estrogens. The widespread use of Roundup resistant crops may result in elevated estrogen levels in virtually all processed foods, with unknown consequences.
E. Low-till agriculture
This minimizes the use of heavy machinery and tillage, which compacts soil and increases wind and water erosion. Plowing, seeding and application of pesticides ae done in one operation. Technique uses less fertilizer, fossil fuels and cuts down on soil erosion. However, the extensive use of pesticides required by this approach is a major problem.
Avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Involves the use of manture, mulches, and crop rotation. Some farmers have successfully shifted to organic methods. The transition requires a period of several years. The yields are lower, at least initially, but they are offset by savings on fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides. The organic farming approach has suffered from lack of support by the USDA and land grant universities.
G. Natural Systems Agriculture
This approach was first expressed by Wes Jackson, founder and current president of The Land Institute. Soil loss is probably the biggest problem facing agriculture because we have lost about half of the top soil in North America since European settlement. Natural Systems Agriculture promotes the use of a mix of perennial plants that mimic natural systems. These plants will not need to be replanted every year and will not require as many inputs as standard crops. In addition, they will build soil, not destroy it as is the case with annual monoculture.
H. How should agricultural methods be modified?
We first need to decide what we want:
1. Adequate quantities of nutritional, safe food.
2. More genetic diversity in established crops, new crops
3. Protect the environmenta. Soil runoff - ground water contamination.b. Wind erosion.
4. Provide funding for innovative research in agriculture - break up or circumvent the stranglehold big agribusiness corporations currently have on agriculture. Several large pharmaceutical and chemical companies have recently started buying seed companies and developing genetically engineered plants. Given the current trend, there will eventually be less than ten and maybe five or fewer companies that control most of the seed and pharmaceutical products worldwide. We should remember that the primary goal of these corporations is not to feed and take care of the health of the masses but to make money.
Unique approaches to agriculture for small farms:
1. Pick-your-own.
2. Sale of memberships.
3. Intensive growth of high value crops such as small fruits, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.
4. Diversification is important, people also want to know what has been used on their food.
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