tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/seeds-6839/articles
Seeds – The Conversation
2023-11-09T13:34:54Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216953
2023-11-09T13:34:54Z
2023-11-09T13:34:54Z
Exposing plants to an unusual chemical early on may bolster their growth and help feed the world
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558170/original/file-20231107-15-2x75fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C0%2C5106%2C3445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Priming' plants by exposing them to certain chemicals while they're seeds can affect their growth later in life. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/EbolaPlantMedicines/4e55603d42934e59bf03858de1aae0db/photo?Query=plants&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=222&currentItemNo=30&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Gerry Broome</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just like any other organism, plants can get stressed. Usually it’s conditions like <a href="https://theconversation.com/crops-could-face-double-trouble-from-insects-and-a-warming-climate-131367">heat and drought</a> that lead to this stress, and when they’re stressed, plants might not grow as large or produce as much. This can be a problem for farmers, so many scientists have tried <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-gene-editing-provide-a-solution-to-global-hunger-43444">genetically modifying plants</a> to be more resilient. </p>
<p>But plants modified for higher crop yields tend to have <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11010033">a lower stress tolerance</a> because they put more energy into growth than into protection against stresses. Similarly, improving the ability of plants to survive stress often results in plants that produce less because they put more energy into protection than into growth. This conundrum makes it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biori.2020.02.001">difficult to improve crop production</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://binderlab.utk.edu/">I have been studying</a> how the plant hormone ethylene regulates growth and stress responses in plants. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad216">study published in July 2023</a>, my lab made an unexpected and exciting observation. We found that when seeds are germinating in darkness, as they usually are underground, adding ethylene can increase both their growth and stress tolerance.</p>
<h2>Ethylene is a plant hormone</h2>
<p>Plants can’t move around, so they can’t avoid stressful environmental conditions like heat and drought. They take in a variety of signals from their environment such as light and temperature that shape how they grow, develop and deal with stressful conditions. As part of this regulation, plants <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/plant-hormone">make various hormones</a> that are part of a regulatory network that allows them to adapt to environmental conditions. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/ethylene">Ethylene</a> was first discovered as a gaseous plant hormone <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-015-9522-9">over 100 years ago</a>. Since then, research has shown that all land plants that have been studied make ethylene. In addition to controlling growth and responding to stress, it is also involved in other processes such as causing leaves to change color in the fall and stimulating fruit ripening. </p>
<h2>Ethylene as a way to ‘prime’ plants</h2>
<p>My lab focuses on how plants and bacteria sense ethylene and on how it interacts with other hormone pathways to regulate plant development. While conducting this research, my group made <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad216">an accidental discovery</a>.</p>
<p>We’d been running an experiment where we had seeds germinating in a dark room. Seed germination is a critical period in a plant’s life when, under favorable conditions, the seed will transition from being dormant into a seedling. </p>
<p>For this experiment, we’d <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad216">exposed the seeds to ethylene gas</a> for several days to see what effect this might have. We’d then removed the ethylene. Normally, this is where the experiment would have ended. But after gathering data on these seedlings, we transferred them to a light cart. This is not something we usually do, but we wanted to grow the plants to adulthood so we could get seeds for future experiments.</p>
<p>Several days after placing the seedlings under light, some lab members made the unexpected and startling observation that the plants briefly gassed with ethylene <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad216">were much larger</a>. They had larger leaves as well as longer and more complex root systems than plants that had not been exposed to ethylene. These plants continued growing at a faster rate throughout their whole lifetime. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two plants as shown from above on a black table. The plant on the left is smaller than the plant on the right." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557339/original/file-20231102-26-1tp153.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The plant on the left was not primed with ethylene, while the plant on the right was. Both plants are the same age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Binder lab, University of Tennessee, Knoxville</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My colleagues and I wanted to know if diverse plant species showed growth stimulation when exposed to ethylene during seed germination. We found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad216">the answer is yes</a>. We tested the effects of short-term ethylene treatment on germinating tomato, cucumber, wheat and arugula seeds – all grew bigger.</p>
<p>But what made this observation unusual and exciting is that the brief ethylene treatment also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad216">increased tolerance to various stresses</a> such as salt stress, high temperature and low oxygen conditions. </p>
<p>Long-term effects on growth and stress tolerance from brief exposure to a stimulus are often called priming effects. You can think of this much like <a href="https://chemicalengineeringworld.com/what-is-pump-priming/">priming a pump</a>, where the priming helps get the pump started easier and sooner. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.13881">Studies have looked at how plants grow after priming</a> at various ages and stages of development. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.13881">seed priming</a> with various chemicals and stresses has probably been the most studied because it is easy to carry out, and, if successful, it can be used by farmers. </p>
<h2>How does it work?</h2>
<p>Since <a href="https://scienmag.com/ethylene-boosts-plant-yield-and-vigor/">that first experiment</a>, my lab group has tried to figure out what mechanisms allow for these ethylene-exposed plants to grow larger and tolerate more stress. We’ve found a few potential explanations.</p>
<p>One is that ethylene priming increases photosynthesis, the process plants use to make sugars from light. Part of photosynthesis includes what is called <a href="https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/carbon-fixation">carbon fixation</a>, where plants take CO₂ from the atmosphere and use the CO₂ molecules as the building blocks to make the sugars. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CL9A8YhwUps?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">During photosynthesis and carbon fixation, plants take in sunlight and convert it into the sugars that they use to grow.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My lab group showed that there is a large increase in carbon fixation – which means the plants are taking in much more CO₂ from the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Correlating with the increase in photosynthesis is a large increase in carbohydrate levels throughout the plant. This includes large increases <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2022.111223">in starch</a>, which is the energy storage molecule in plants, and two sugars, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-050213-040251">sucrose</a> and <a href="https://sciencing.com/what-is-glucose-used-for-in-a-plant-13428304.html">glucose</a>, that provide quick energy for the plants. </p>
<p>More of these molecules in the plant has been linked to both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.13656">increased growth</a> and a better ability for plants to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813066-7.00002-4">withstand stressful conditions</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad216">Our study</a> shows that environmental conditions during germination can have profound and long-lasting effects on plants that could increase both their size and their stress tolerance at the same time. Understanding the mechanisms for this is more important than ever and could help improve crop production to feed the world’s population.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216953/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brad Binder receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>
A research accident in the Binder lab at the University of Tennessee led to an unprecedented discovery about how plants respond to a hormone called ethylene.
Brad Binder, Professor of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/182269
2023-10-04T12:34:15Z
2023-10-04T12:34:15Z
The Green Revolution is a warning, not a blueprint for feeding a hungry planet
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551417/original/file-20231002-15-em8fkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5310%2C3540&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A farmer spreads fertilizer in a wheat field outside Amritsar, India.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/farmer-spreads-fertiliser-in-a-wheat-field-amid-foggy-news-photo/1231155968">Narinder Nanu/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Feeding a growing world population has been a serious concern for decades, but today there are new causes for alarm. Floods, heat waves and other weather extremes are making agriculture increasingly precarious, especially in the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-global-south-19fa68cf8c60061e88d69f6f2270d98b">Global South</a>. </p>
<p>The war in Ukraine is also a factor. Russia is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-russia-pulled-out-of-its-grain-deal-with-ukraine-and-what-that-means-for-the-global-food-system-210046">blockading Ukrainian grain exports</a>, and <a href="https://www.ifpri.org/blog/russia-ukraine-war-after-year-impacts-fertilizer-production-prices-and-trade-flows">fertilizer prices have surged</a> because of trade sanctions on Russia, the world’s leading fertilizer exporter.</p>
<p>Amid these challenges, some organizations are renewing calls for a <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/green-revolution/">second Green Revolution</a>, echoing the introduction in the 1960s and 1970s of supposedly high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice into developing countries, along with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Those efforts centered on India and other Asian countries; today, advocates focus on <a href="https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/initiative/alliance-for-a-green-revolution-in-africa/">sub-Saharan Africa</a>, where the original Green Revolution regime never took hold.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MbBzzMh2CTk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In this Oct. 25, 2000, episode of the television drama ‘The West Wing,’ president Josiah Bartlet invokes the standard account of Green Revolution seeds saving millions from starvation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But anyone concerned with food production should be careful what they wish for. In recent years, a <a href="https://www.sbc.edu/live/files/2598-stone2019greenrevpdf">wave of new analysis</a> has spurred a critical rethinking of what Green Revolution-style farming really means for food supplies and self-sufficiency.</p>
<p>As I explain in my book, “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Agricultural-Dilemma-How-Not-to-Feed-the-World/Stone/p/book/9781032260457">The Agricultural Dilemma: How Not to Feed the World</a>,” the Green Revolution does hold lessons for food production today – but not the ones that are commonly heard. Events in India show why.</p>
<h2>A triumphal narrative</h2>
<p>There was a consensus in the 1960s among development officials and the public that an overpopulated Earth was heading toward catastrophe. Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 bestseller, “<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/book-incited-worldwide-fear-overpopulation-180967499/">The Population Bomb</a>,” famously predicted that nothing could stop “hundreds of millions” from starving in the 1970s. </p>
<p>India was the global poster child for this looming Malthusian disaster: Its population was booming, drought was ravaging its countryside and its imports of American wheat were climbing to levels that <a href="https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBSH">alarmed government officials in India and the U.S</a>. </p>
<p>Then, in 1967, India began distributing new wheat varieties bred by Rockefeller Foundation plant biologist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norman-Borlaug">Norman Borlaug</a>, along with high doses of chemical fertilizer. After famine failed to materialize, observers credited the new farming strategy with <a href="https://thewire.in/agriculture/food-security-green-revolution">enabling India to feed itself</a>.</p>
<p>Borlaug received the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1970/borlaug/biographical/">1970 Nobel Peace Prize</a> and is still widely credited with “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/globalcitizen/2023/07/23/oppenheimer-and-the-man-who-saved-1-billion-lives-tale-of-two-geniuses/?sh=397873936b26">saving a billion lives</a>.” Indian agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, who worked with Borlaug to promote the Green Revolution, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/09/28/ms-swaminathan-india-famine-dead/">received the inaugural World Food Prize in 1987</a>. Tributes to Swaminathan, who died on Sept. 28, 2023, at age 98, have reiterated the claim that his efforts brought India “<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/he-was-the-face-of-the-green-revolution-101695908903502.html">self-sufficiency in food production</a>” and independence from Western powers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a suit at a podium, speaking and gesturing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551481/original/file-20231002-15-vu3ucg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plant scientist M.S. Swaminathan, often called the father of India’s Green Revolution, speaks at a world summit on food security in Rome on Sept. 10, 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-unesco-ecotechnology-director-known-as-the-father-of-news-photo/90539380">Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Debunking the legend</h2>
<p>The standard legend of India’s Green Revolution centers on two propositions. First, India faced a food crisis, with farms mired in tradition and unable to feed an exploding population; and second, Borlaug’s wheat seeds led to record harvests from 1968 on, replacing import dependence with food self-sufficiency. </p>
<p>Recent research shows that both claims are false. </p>
<p>India was importing wheat in the 1960s <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674725812">because of policy decisions</a>, not overpopulation. After the nation achieved independence in 1947, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru prioritized developing heavy industry. U.S. advisers encouraged this strategy and <a href="https://thewire.in/agriculture/green-revolution-borlaug-food-security">offered to provide India with surplus grain</a>, which India accepted as cheap food for urban workers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the government urged Indian farmers to grow nonfood export crops to earn foreign currency. They switched millions of acres from rice to jute production, and by the mid-1960s India was <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674725812">exporting agricultural products</a>.</p>
<p>Borlaug’s miracle seeds were <a href="https://upittpress.org/books/9780822947349/">not inherently more productive</a> than many Indian wheat varieties. Rather, they just responded more effectively to high doses of chemical fertilizer. But while India had abundant manure from its cows, it produced almost no chemical fertilizer. It had to start spending heavily to import and subsidize fertilizer. </p>
<p>India did see a wheat boom after 1967, but there is evidence that this expensive new input-intensive approach was not the main cause. Rather, the Indian government established a new policy of paying higher prices for wheat. Unsurprisingly, Indian farmers <a href="https://rajpatel.org/2014/08/29/every-factoid-is-a-mystery-how-to-think-more-clearly-about-the-green-revolution-and-other-agricultural-claims/">planted more wheat</a> and less of other crops.</p>
<p>Once India’s 1965-67 drought ended and the Green Revolution began, wheat production sped up, while production trends in other crops like rice, maize and pulses <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Agricultural-Dilemma-How-Not-to-Feed-the-World/Stone/p/book/9781032260457">slowed down</a>. Net food grain production, which was much more crucial than wheat production alone, actually <a href="https://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Previous_AT_Glance.htm">resumed at the same growth rate as before</a>. </p>
<p>But grain production became more erratic, forcing India to resume importing food by the mid-1970s. India also became dramatically <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Agricultural-Dilemma-How-Not-to-Feed-the-World/Stone/p/book/9781032260457">more dependent on chemical fertilizer</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing grain production in India from 1952-1982 and intensifying fertilizer use." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551478/original/file-20231002-29-mxfc9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">India’s Green Revolution wheat boom came at the expense of other crops; the growth rate of overall food grain production did not increase at all. It is doubtful that the ‘revolution’ produced any more food than would have been produced anyway. What increased dramatically was dependence on imported fertilizer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Glenn Davis Stone; data from India Directorate of Economics and Statistics and Fertiliser Association of India</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to data from Indian <a href="https://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Previous_AT_Glance.htm">economic</a> and <a href="https://www.faidelhi.org/statistics/statistical-database">agricultural</a> organizations, on the eve of the Green Revolution in 1965, Indian farmers needed 17 pounds (8 kilograms) of fertilizer to grow an average ton of food. By 1980, it took 96 pounds (44 kilograms). So, India replaced imports of wheat, which were virtually free food aid, with imports of fossil fuel-based fertilizer, paid for with precious international currency.</p>
<p>Today, India remains the world’s second-highest fertilizer importer, spending <a href="https://www.worldstopexports.com/top-fertilizers-imports-by-country/">US$17.3 billion in 2022</a>. Perversely, Green Revolution boosters call this extreme and expensive dependence “<a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/india-at-75/overcoming-food-emergencies-through-imports-from-us-via-pl480/article65753881.ece">self-sufficiency</a>.” </p>
<h2>The toll of ‘green’ pollution</h2>
<p>Recent research shows that the environmental costs of the Green Revolution are as severe as its economic impacts. One reason is that fertilizer use is astonishingly wasteful. Globally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo325">only 17% of what is applied</a> is taken up by plants and ultimately consumed as food. Most of the rest washes into waterways, where it creates <a href="https://theconversation.com/dead-zones-are-a-global-water-pollution-challenge-but-with-sustained-effort-they-can-come-back-to-life-96077">algae blooms and dead zones</a> that smother aquatic life. Producing and using fertilizer also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18773-w">generates copious greenhouse gases</a> that contribute to climate change.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mZ7ErNcQbuo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Excess nutrients are creating dead zones in water bodies worldwide. Synthetic fertilizer is a major source.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Punjab, India’s top Green Revolution state, heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jul/01/the-indian-state-where-farmers-sow-the-seeds-of-death">contaminated water, soil and food</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/as.2019.1010101">endangered human health</a>. </p>
<p>In my view, African countries where the Green Revolution has not made inroads should consider themselves lucky. Ethiopia offers a cautionary case. In recent years, the Ethiopian government has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-16/wheat-farming-drive-in-ethiopia-gathers-pace-as-shortages-bite#xj4y7vzkg">forced farmers to plant</a> increasing amounts of fertilizer-intensive wheat, claiming this will achieve “<a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202306230565.html">self-sufficiency</a>” and even allow it to <a href="https://borkena.com/2023/02/27/wheat-selling-as-smuggled-commodity/">export wheat worth $105 million</a> this year. Some African officials hail this strategy as an <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202306230565.html">example for the continent</a>.</p>
<p>But Ethiopia has no fertilizer factories, so it has to import it – at a cost of <a href="https://newbusinessethiopia.com/agribusiness/ethiopia-spent-one-billion-usd-for-fertilizers-import/">$1 billion just in the past year</a>. Even so, many farmers face <a href="https://addisstandard.com/analysis-fertilizer-shortage-amidst-widespread-illicit-trade-cripples-farmers-threatens-productivity/">severe fertilizer shortages</a>.</p>
<p>The Green Revolution still has many boosters today, especially among biotech companies that are eager to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150903498754">draw parallels</a> between genetically engineered crops and Borlaug’s seeds. I agree that it offers important lessons about how to move forward with food production, but actual data tells a distinctly different story from the standard narrative. In my view, there are many ways to pursue <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2015.03.004">less input-intensive agriculture</a> that will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2018.05.002">more sustainable</a> in a world with an increasingly erratic climate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182269/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn Davis Stone receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.</span></em></p>
Did the Green Revolution, which brought high-tech agriculture to developing nations in the 1960s, prevent famine? Recent research takes a much more skeptical view.
Glenn Davis Stone, Research Professor of Environmental Science, Sweet Briar College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202591
2023-06-19T12:23:19Z
2023-06-19T12:23:19Z
How do spices get their flavor?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525195/original/file-20230509-18-suu7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5184%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Without spices, our meals would have less color and flavor.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/spices-royalty-free-image/556881787">Helaine Weide/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p>How do spices get their flavor? – Liam, age 6, San Francisco</p>
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<hr>
<p>I love savory and spicy foods. Lasagna laden with basil and oregano. Beautifully golden curries <a href="https://www.britannica.com/search?query=turmeric">infused with turmeric</a>, or rice <a href="https://www.britannica.com/search?query=saffron">flavored with saffron</a>. I can’t pass up a cinnamon-dusted snickerdoodle cookie. And some of my favorite childhood memories center on my mom’s nutmeg-infused sweet potato pie.</p>
<p>These ingredients come from many different plants and distinct plant parts, including leaves, seeds, bark and plant oils. Their flavors are created by accumulated <a href="https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals">phytochemicals</a> – substances the plants make. “Phyto” comes from the Latin word for plant.</p>
<p>Plants produce chemicals for different purposes. In my recent book, “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674241282">Lessons from Plants</a>,” I explore how plants use some of those compounds to communicate with one another.</p>
<p>Many of the chemicals that make up spice flavors can play important roles, such as protecting the plant against pests or pathogens. Known as secondary compounds, they can also help plants adapt to changes in the world around them. And, as spices, they communicate powerfully to our taste buds. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DzOcZlmeaH0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Harvesting Ceylon cinnamon in Sri Lanka involves a lot of handwork.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Common kitchen herbs like basil and oregano come from leafy plants. Essential aromatic oils that accumulate in the plants’ leaves produce their flavors. For basil, those oils are called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/basil">eugenol and linalool</a>; oregano gets its flavors from <a href="https://draxe.com/essential-oils/oregano-oil-benefits/#">carvacrol and thymol</a>. Oils from both of these herbs have medicinal uses against infections, pain and swelling.</p>
<p>Other common spices, such as pepper and red chili, come from the berries or fruits of plants. Black pepper is made by grinding the small berries, known as peppercorns, from the plant <em>Piper nigrum</em>. Red pepper comes from ground-up dried chiles – <a href="https://cpi.nmsu.edu/chile-info/for-kids-pages/the-story-of-chile-peppers.html">small, hot-tasting fruits</a> that grow on low bushes.</p>
<p>Turmeric spice comes from another plant part – the rhizomes, or underground stems, of the flowering plant <em>Curcuma longa</em>. Rhizomes often are confused with roots, but they are more like stems that grow sideways underground and help the plant spread. A relative of ginger, another rhizome-derived spice, turmeric is beautifully orange and is used in a range of cooking that includes my beloved curries. </p>
<p>Saffron is from the red-colored, threadlike <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigma_(botany)">stigmas</a> of the plant <em>Crocus sativus</em>. The stigma is one component of the female part of a flower. Saffron is one of the most expensive spices, because harvesting stigmas is very labor-intensive – it’s typically <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwJkN3EaJW0">done by hand with tweezers</a>. Saffron is high in antioxidants and has been used as a medicine, dye and perfume. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A six-petaled purple flower with bright red threads extending from its center." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Saffron comes from the vivid red stigma of <em>Crocus sativus</em>, commonly known as the ‘saffron crocus’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron#/media/File:Saffron8.jpg">Serpico/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Cinnamon, which cooks use in all kinds of baked goods, is derived from yet another plant part: the inner bark of tree species from the genus <em>Cinnamomum</em>. The phytochemical that gives cinnamon its distinctive smell and its rich woody flavor is the aromatic compound <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamaldehyde">cinnamaldehyde</a>. </p>
<p>Rich in antioxidants, cinnamon may help <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-cinnamon#">control blood pressure and reduce inflammation</a>. It also has natural antifungal and antimicrobial properties that may serve to protect the trees that produce it.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nutmeg">dried nutmeg</a> that my mom used in her legendary pie comes from grinding the seed of the tropical evergreen tree family <em>Myristica fragrans</em>. The same plant produces another spice, called mace, which is often used to flavor baked custards and to spice sausages or other meat. </p>
<p>Plants can teach us all kinds of meaningful lessons. One of their powerful truths is that variety is literally the spice of life. I’m thankful for their tasty chemical defenses every time I cook. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beronda L. Montgomery receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>
Humans have figured out how to season their food with virtually every part of plants.
Beronda L. Montgomery, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Grinnell College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199049
2023-03-28T12:15:57Z
2023-03-28T12:15:57Z
A shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517710/original/file-20230327-16-yltw9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3994%2C2814&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Planting native plant seeds on sand dunes at Westward Beach in Malibu, Calif., to stabilize the dunes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sara-cuadra-watershed-program-coordinator-with-the-bay-news-photo/1234406431">Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spring is planting time for home gardeners, landscapers and public works agencies across the U.S. And there’s rising demand for <a href="https://www.wildflower.org/plants-main">native plants</a> – species that are genetically adapted to the specific regions where they are used. </p>
<p>Native plants have evolved with local climates and soil conditions. As a result, they generally require less maintenance, such as watering and fertilizing, after they become established, and they are hardier than non-native species. </p>
<p>Many federal, state and city agencies <a href="https://law.pace.edu/sites/default/files/Team%20%233%20Brief.pdf">rank native plants as a first choice</a> for restoring areas that have been disturbed by natural disasters or human activities like mining and development. Repairing damaged landscapes is a critical strategy for <a href="https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/">slowing climate change and species loss</a>. </p>
<p>But there’s one big problem: There aren’t enough native seeds. This issue is so serious that it was the <a href="https://doi.org/10.17226/26618">subject of a recent report</a> from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The study found an urgent need to build a native seed supply. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EAP10S8AAAAJ&hl=en">plant scientists</a> who have worked on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-campanelli/">ecological restoration projects</a>, we’re familiar with this challenge. Here’s how we are working to promote the use of native plants for <a href="https://nenativeplants.psla.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3415/2022/08/netcr97_09-2.pdf">roadside restoration in New England</a>, including by building up a seed supply network.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Landscapers and land managers explain the benefits of planting native plants.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The need for native plants</h2>
<p>Many stressors can damage and degrade land. They include natural disasters, such as wildfires and flooding, and human actions, such as urbanization, energy production, ranching and development. </p>
<p>Invasive plants <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02478-8">often move into disturbed areas</a>, causing further harm. They may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2017.04.008">drift there on the wind</a>, be excreted by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1366-9516.2005.00195.x">birds and animals that consume fruit</a>, or be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051%5B0095:HAGPDG%5D2.0.CO;2">introduced by humans</a>, unintentionally or deliberately.</p>
<p>Ecological restoration aims to bring back degraded lands’ native biological diversity and the ecological functions that these areas provided, such as sheltering wildlife and soaking up floodwater. In 2021, the United Nations launched the <a href="https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/">U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration</a> to promote such efforts worldwide.</p>
<p>Native plants have many features that make them an essential part of healthy ecosystems. For example, they provide long-term defense against invasive and noxious weeds; shelter local pollinators and wildlife; and have <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/reducing-erosion-with-native-plants.htm">roots that stabilize soil</a>, which helps reduce erosion.</p>
<p>Restoration projects require vast quantities of native seeds – but commercial supplies fall far short of what’s needed. Developing a batch of seeds for a specific species takes skill and several years of lead time to either <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26618/chapter/2#2">collect native seeds in the wild or grow plants to produce them</a>. Suppliers say one of their biggest obstacles is unpredictable demand from large-scale customers, such as government and tribal agencies, that don’t plan far enough ahead for producers to have stocks ready.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dozens of small potted seedlings sprouting in large trays." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wyoming Big Sage seedlings growing in a greenhouse. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe are working together to produce native seedlings to restore public lands in Idaho that have been damaged by wildfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/xkGQ6Q">Bureau of Land Management Idaho/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restoring roadsides in New England</h2>
<p>Most drivers give little thought to what grows next to highways, but the wrong plants in these areas can cause serious problems. Roadsides that aren’t replanted using ecological restoration methods may erode and be taken over by invasive weeds. Ecological restoration provides effective erosion control and better habitat habitats for wildlife and pollinators. It’s also more attractive. </p>
<p>For decades, state transportation departments across the U.S. used non-native cool-season turfgrasses, such as fescue and ryegrass, to restore roadsides. The main benefits of using these species, which grow well during the <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/the-cool-season-turfgrasses-basic-structures-growth-and-development">cooler months of spring and fall</a>, were that they grew fast and provided a quick cover.</p>
<p>Then in 2013 the <a href="https://www.newenglandtransportationconsortium.org/">New England Transportation Consortium</a> – a research cooperative funded by state transportation agencies – commissioned our research team to help the states transition to native warm-season grasses instead. These grasses <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/warm-season-grasses">grow well in hot, dry weather</a> and need less moisture than cool-season grasses. One of us, John Campanelli, developed the <a href="https://nenativeplants.psla.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3415/2022/08/netcr97_09-2.pdf">framework for selecting plant species</a> based on conservation practices and identified methods for establishing native plant communities for the region.</p>
<p>We recommended using warm-season grasses that are native to the region, such as <a href="https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/schizachyrium/scoparium/">little bluestem</a>, <a href="https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/eragrostis/spectabilis/">purple lovegrass</a>, <a href="https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Panicum-virgatum">switchgrass</a> and <a href="https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/tridens/flavus/">purpletop</a>. These species required less long-term maintenance and less-frequent mowing than the cool-season species that agencies had previously used. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dense tall switchgrass plot with some leaves turning red." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Switchgrass is native to the U.S. Northeast. It grows very upright, can tolerate dry soil and drought, and produces seeds that are a good winter food source for birds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://extension.unh.edu/blog/2021/02/what-are-some-best-native-ornamental-grasses-landscapes">Peganum via University of New Hampshire Extension</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To ensure sound conservation practices, we wanted to use seeds produced locally. Seeds sourced from other locations would produce grasses that would interbreed with <a href="https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/env_topics/ecosystems/roadside_use/vegmgmt_rdsduse18.aspx#">local ecotypes</a> – grasses adapted to New England – and disrupt the local grasses’ gene complexes. </p>
<p>At that time, however, there was no reliable seed supply for local ecotypes in New England. Only a few sources offered an incomplete selection of small quantities of local seeds, at prices that were too expensive for large-scale restoration projects. Most organizations carrying out ecological restoration projects purchased their bulk seeds mainly from large wholesale producers in the Midwest, which introduced non-local genetic material to the restoration sites.</p>
<h2>Improving native seed supply chains</h2>
<p>Many agencies are concerned that lack of a local seed supply could limit restoration efforts in New England. To tackle this problem, our team launched a project in 2022 with funding from the New England Transportation Consortium. Our goals are to increase native plantings and pollinator habitats with seeds from local ecotypes, and to make our previous recommendations for roadside restoration with native grasses more feasible.</p>
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<p>As we were analyzing ways to obtain affordable native seeds for these roadside projects, we learned about work by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eve-allen-b84a38188/">Eve Allen</a>, a master’s degree student in city planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For her thesis, Allen used supply chain management and social network analysis to identify the best methods to <a href="https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/145170">strengthen the native seed supply chain network</a>. </p>
<p>Her research showed that developing native seed supplies would require cooperative partnerships that included federal, state and local government agencies and the private and nonprofit sectors. Allen reached out to many of these organizations’ stakeholders and established a broad network. This led to the launch of the regional Northeast Seed Network, which will be hosted by the Massachusetts-based <a href="https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/documents/1063/221027_Symposium_PR.pdf">Native Plant Trust</a>, a nonprofit that works to conserve New England’s native plants. </p>
<p>We expect this network will promote all aspects of native seed production in the region, from collecting seeds in the wild to cultivating plants for seed production, developing regional seed markets and carrying out related research. In the meantime, we are <a href="https://dailycampus.com/2023/02/10/university-of-connecticut-faculty-members-are-working-to-revive-native-plants-on-the-roadside-of-new-england/">developing a road map</a> for new revegetation practices in New England. </p>
<p>We aim to build greater coordination between these agencies and seed producers to promote expanded selections of affordable native seeds and make demand more predictable. Our ultimate goal is to help native plants, bees and butterflies thrive along roads throughout New England.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Native plants help damaged landscapes by stabilizing soil, fighting invasive species and sheltering pollinators. Two horticulture experts explain what they’re doing to help develop new seed sources.
Julia Kuzovkina, Professor of Horticulture, University of Connecticut
John Campanelli, PhD Student in Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/195697
2023-03-17T12:30:17Z
2023-03-17T12:30:17Z
Those seeds clinging to your hiking socks may be from invasive plants – here’s how to avoid spreading them to new locations
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514780/original/file-20230311-3629-ak0c82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C2048%2C1529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These stowaways can do a lot of damage.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/8sGFmW">Brett L./ Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With spring settling in across the U.S. and days lengthening, many people are ready to spend more time outside. But after a walk outdoors, have you ever found seeds clinging to your clothes? Lodged in your socks and shoelaces? Perhaps tangled in your pet’s fur? While most of us don’t give these hitchhikers much thought, seeds and burrs may be the first signs of invasive plant spread. </p>
<p>Certain species of non-native invasive plants produce seeds designed to attach to unsuspecting animals or people. Once affixed, these sticky seeds can be carried long distances before they fall off in new environments. With favorable conditions, they can become established quickly and outcompete native plants.</p>
<p>Outdoor recreation has <a href="https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2022-outdoor-participation-trends-report/#">expanded at a record pace</a> across the U.S. in recent years. Overcrowding in outdoor spaces <a href="https://thetrek.co/examining-impact-overcrowding-hiking-trails/">has many harmful effects</a>, from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(02)00202-5">degrading trails</a> to accelerating the introduction and spread of invasive plants. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nmAblPEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">recreation ecologist</a> and an avid hiker, I study how people inadvertently spread invasive plants along trails. There are simple things that everyone can do before, during and after going outdoors to avoid picking up plant hitchhikers and help maintain trail systems for others to enjoy. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Like many states, Iowa is battling dozens of invasive plants.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hardy, numerous and adaptable</h2>
<p>Invasive plants are non-native species that can harm <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.106020">the environment, human health and the economy</a> when they are introduced into new areas. However, not all non-native plants are invasive. </p>
<p>Plants with invasive capabilities tend to grow quickly, adapt easily to many different environmental conditions, produce seeds in vast quantities and successfully disperse and germinate them. These characteristics enable the plants to spread efficiently to different areas. Many vectors <a href="https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.24.20607">help invasive plants disperse</a>, including birds, animals, wind, water and humans, via clothing, shoes, pets, gear and vehicles.</p>
<p>Invasive plant seeds tend to be small in size, high in number and hardy. They can persist in soil for many years, remaining viable and ready to germinate when conditions are right.</p>
<p>These seeds will usually germinate earlier in spring than those of native plants and keep their leaves until late fall, crowding out and outcompeting native varieties. Each species produces seeds on a particular schedule – annual, biennial or perennial – and at a specific time. For example, invasive biennial <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/08-0845.1">garlic mustard</a> releases seeds every two years in late spring. </p>
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<h2>No cheap solutions</h2>
<p>Invasive plants have many harmful ecological impacts. One of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07352680490505150">most familiar U.S. examples is kudzu</a>, a climbing vine that has smothered trees across the Southeast. </p>
<p>Kudzu grows prolifically, outcompeting native vegetation. It also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/ES13-00142.1">alters the nitrogen cycle</a> by increasing soil nitrogen levels and releasing nitric oxide, a gas that reduces air quality and promotes ground-level ozone pollution.</p>
<p>In the western U.S., carpets of <a href="https://theconversation.com/invasive-grasses-are-fueling-wildfires-across-the-us-126574">invasive grasses</a>, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1641-8">cheatgrass</a> and <a href="https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants/medusahead">medusahead</a>, create highly flammable fine fuels. Their presence makes wildfires more frequent and intense. </p>
<p>Some invasive plants directly threaten human health. <a href="https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/invasive-species/meet-the-species/invasive-plants/giant-hogweed/">Giant hogweed</a> is an herb in the carrot family that can grow 15 to 20 feet tall. Its poisonous sap can cause <a href="https://www.fws.gov/story/dont-touch-these-plants">severe skin burns</a>. Others, such as poison hemlock and water hemlock, are highly toxic to humans and animals if consumed.</p>
<p>Managing invasive plants, animals and insects is a growing problem, with costs that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03405-6">run into billions of dollars annually</a>. A 2022 study estimated the annual cost of managing biological invasions in the U.S. at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151318">about US$21 billion</a> as of 2020.</p>
<p>Invasives are especially threatening for remote, biodiversity-rich places like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2022.2144777">Antarctica</a>, where remoteness and geographic isolation <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1804179115">promote endemic species</a> – those only found in a particular geographic region. These endemics evolve in the absence of natural competitors and predators, so introducing invasives can have catastrophic consequences. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hiker's feet, with muddy gaiters zipped over shoes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514784/original/file-20230311-3915-eiamcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fastening gaiters over hiking shoes is an effective way to keep invasive seeds from attaching.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Megan Dolman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recreational trails act as corridors</h2>
<p>Many invasive plants thrive on disturbed soil. Decades of research has shown that recreational trails promote the introduction of invasive plant species into natural and protected areas, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2239">national parks</a> and national scenic trails like the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/appa/index.htm">Appalachian Trail</a>.</p>
<p>The Appalachian Trail is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, extending almost 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. <a href="https://appalachiantrail.org/our-work/about-us/media-room/">More than 3 million visitors</a> hike on some portion of it every year. Invasive plants <a href="https://appalachiantrail.org/official-blog/five-common-invasive-species-along-at/">commonly found along the trail</a> include garlic mustard, multiflora rose and purple loosestrife. </p>
<p>In a recent study, I worked with the U.S. Geological Survey to investigate Appalachian Trail hikers’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2022.100581">invasive plant knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors</a>. We found that most hikers were unaware of this issue. As a result, few took precautions to avoid contributing to it.</p>
<p>Here are things that concerned hikers can do to help manage invasive plants:</p>
<p>– <a href="https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/species-type">Identify</a> and <a href="https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/subject/reporting">report</a> sightings of invasive plants. The more land managers know about where these species are present, the more effectively they can monitor and manage their spread. </p>
<p>– <a href="https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/type/smartphone-applications">Smartphone apps</a>, like Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System <a href="https://www.eddmaps.org/">EDDMapS</a>, <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a> and <a href="https://wildspotter.org/">Wild Spotter</a>, make this task easier. Or you can <a href="https://www.invasive.org/report.cfm">search and report by state</a>. Simply take a picture and identify and report when and where you see invasives. </p>
<p>– Arrive with clean gear. Cleaning shoes, clothing and equipment before and after going outdoors is one of the most effective ways to minimize invasive plant introduction and spread. The <a href="https://naisma.org/">North American Invasive Species Management Association</a>’s <a href="https://playcleango.org/">PlayCleanGo</a> campaign has installed <a href="https://playcleango.org/2021/08/12/boot-brush-stations-are-they-effective/">boot brush stations at trailheads</a> to remove <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2020.1838352">seeds lodged in boot treads</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sign above a metal brush directs hikers to clean their boots." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514782/original/file-20230311-3415-t58ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A boot cleaning station at a Hawaii trailhead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Megan Dolman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>– Choose clothing and shoes carefully. Certain surfaces, such as uncovered socks, shoelaces, fleece and Velcro, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.08.002">more seed-friendly</a> than smoother materials such as nylon. Wearing pants that are uncuffed and pocketless to minimize snag points and fastening gaiters over shoes are easy ways to repel plant hitchhikers. Gaiters will also keep pebbles and mud out of your boots.</p>
<p>– Follow the <a href="https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/">Leave No Trace principles</a>, which outline minimum-impact strategies for visiting the outdoors. For example, stick to marked formal trails to avoid dispersing invasive plants off-trail. Camp on designated or well-established campsites, and don’t transport firewood between sites – use certified or local firewood and hay. Clean your pets and vehicles as well as your clothes before and after hitting the trail. </p>
<p>People who want to do more to protect the outdoors can take a <a href="https://lnt.org/courses/online_awareness_take_action_html5/#/">free Leave No Trace online course</a> and take the <a href="https://playcleango.org/take-action/take-pledge/">PlayCleanGo Pledge</a> to make a difference with their actions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Dolman has received travel funding from the School of Geography and the Environment and Brasenose College, University of Oxford. </span></em></p>
Invasive species cause billions of dollars in damage across the US every year. Hikers and backpackers can take simple steps to avoid spreading seeds and making the problem worse.
Megan Dolman, PhD candidate in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Boise State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199372
2023-02-22T12:55:04Z
2023-02-22T12:55:04Z
In rural America, right-to-repair laws are the leading edge of a pushback against growing corporate power
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510919/original/file-20230217-18-bzd402.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=140%2C101%2C5052%2C3355&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Waiting for repairs can cost farmers time and money.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/combine-harvester-moves-through-a-field-of-barley-grains-news-photo/1162778105">VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As tractors became more sophisticated over the past two decades, the big manufacturers allowed farmers fewer options for repairs. Rather than hiring independent repair shops, farmers have increasingly had to wait for company-authorized dealers to arrive. Getting repairs could take days, often leading to lost time and high costs.</p>
<p>A new <a href="https://www.fb.org/news-release/afbf-signs-right-to-repair-memorandum-of-understanding-with-john-deere">memorandum of understanding</a> between the country’s largest farm equipment maker, John Deere Corp., and the American Farm Bureau Federation is now raising hopes that U.S. farmers will finally regain the right to repair more of their own equipment. </p>
<p>However, supporters of right-to-repair laws suspect a more sinister purpose: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1147934682/john-deere-right-to-repair-farmers-tractors">to slow the momentum</a> of efforts to secure right-to-repair laws around the country. </p>
<p>Under the agreement, John Deere promises to give farmers and independent repair shops access to manuals, diagnostics and parts. But there’s a catch – the agreement isn’t legally binding, and, as part of the deal, the influential Farm Bureau promised not to support any federal or state right-to-repair legislation.</p>
<hr>
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<p>The right-to-repair movement has become the leading edge of a pushback against growing corporate power. Intellectual property protections, whether patents on farm equipment, crops, computers or cellphones, have become more intense in recent decades and cover more territory, giving companies more control over what farmers and other consumers can do with the products they buy. </p>
<p>For farmers, few examples of those corporate constraints are more frustrating than repair restrictions and patent rights that prevent them from saving seeds from their own crops for future planting.</p>
<h2>How a few companies became so powerful</h2>
<p>The United States’ market economy requires competition to function properly, which is why U.S. <a href="https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=56116">antitrust policies were strictly enforced</a> in the post-World War II era.</p>
<p>During the 1970s and 1980s, however, political leaders began following the advice of a <a href="https://www.antitrustlawsource.com/2021/06/1990s-to-the-present-the-chicago-school-and-antitrust-enforcement/">group of economists</a> at the University of Chicago and relaxed <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1fx4h9c">enforcement of federal antitrust policies</a>. That led to a concentration of economic power in many sectors.</p>
<p>This concentration has become especially pronounced in agriculture, with a few companies <a href="https://farmaction.us/concentrationreport/">consolidating market share</a> in numerous areas, including seeds, pesticides and machinery, as well as commodity processing and meatpacking. One study in 2014 estimated that Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, was responsible for approximately <a href="https://fortune.com/2014/06/26/monsanto-gmo-crops/">80% of the corn and 90% of the soybeans</a> grown in the U.S. In farm machinery, John Deere and Kubota account for about a third of the market.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tractor with several computer screens in the cab on the floor of a convention, with several people in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510917/original/file-20230217-28-unn1iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510917/original/file-20230217-28-unn1iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510917/original/file-20230217-28-unn1iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510917/original/file-20230217-28-unn1iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510917/original/file-20230217-28-unn1iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510917/original/file-20230217-28-unn1iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510917/original/file-20230217-28-unn1iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New tractors are increasingly high-tech, with GPS, 360-degree camera and smartphone controls.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/inside-the-cab-of-the-deer-co-john-deere-8r-fully-news-photo/1237542314">Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Market power often translates into political power, which means that those large companies can influence regulatory oversight, legal decisions, and legislation that furthers their economic interests – including securing more expansive and stricter intellectual property policies.</p>
<h2>The right-to-repair movement</h2>
<p>At its most basic level, right-to-repair legislation seeks to protect the end users of a product from anti-competitive activities by large companies. New York <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/new-york-enacts-first-state-right-to-repair-law">passed the first broad right-to-repair law</a>, in 2022, and <a href="https://www.repair.org/stand-up">nearly two dozen states</a> have active legislation – about half of them <a href="https://apnews.com/article/agriculture-colorado-business-d5ea466725328d965a85a62130503d49">targeting farm equipment</a>.</p>
<p>Whether the product is an automobile, smartphone or seed, companies can extract more profits if they can force consumers to purchase the company’s replacement parts or use the company’s exclusive dealership to repair the product.</p>
<p><iframe id="yk0ep" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/yk0ep/7/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>One of the <a href="https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4247&context=law_lawreview">first cases</a> that challenged the right to repair equipment was in 1939, when a company that was reselling refurbished spark plugs was sued by the Champion Spark Plug Co. for violating its patent rights. The <a href="https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/casebrief/p/casebrief-champion-spark-plug-co-v-sanders">Supreme Court agreed</a> that Champion’s trademark had been violated, but it allowed resale of the refurbished spark plugs if “used” or “repaired” was stamped on the product.</p>
<p>Although courts have often sided with the end users in right-to-repair cases, large companies have vast legal and lobbying resources to argue for stricter patent protections. Consumer <a href="https://pirg.org/california/media-center/california-right-repair-bill-dies-senate-committee/">advocates contend</a> that these protections prevent people from repairing and modifying the products they rightfully purchased.</p>
<p>The ostensible justification for patents, whether for equipment or seeds, is that they provide an incentive for companies to invest time and money in developing products because they know that they will have exclusive rights to sell their inventions once patented.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-xg80-ct59">some scholars claim</a> that recent legal and legislative changes to patents are instead limiting innovation and social benefits. </p>
<h2>The problem with seed patents</h2>
<p>The extension of utility patents to agricultural seeds illustrates how intellectual property policies have expanded and become more restrictive.</p>
<p>Patents have been around since the founding of the U.S., but agricultural crops were initially considered natural processes that couldn’t be patented. That changed in 1980 with the U.S. Supreme Court decision <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1979/79-136">Diamond v. Chakrabarty</a>. The case involved genetically engineered bacteria that could break down crude oil. The court’s ruling allowed inventors to secure patents on living organisms.</p>
<p>Half a decade later, the U.S. Patent Office extended patents <a href="https://doi.org/10.3109/10731198909118281">to agricultural crops generated</a> through transgenic breeding techniques, which inserts a gene from one species into the genome of another. One prominent example is the insertion of a gene into corn and cotton that enables the plant to produce its own pesticide. In 2001, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2001/99-1996">included conventionally bred crops</a> in the category eligible for patenting.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Seeds grow in segmented compartments of petri dishes. The dishes have writing in marker on the top." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510918/original/file-20230217-364-qm2ktu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510918/original/file-20230217-364-qm2ktu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510918/original/file-20230217-364-qm2ktu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510918/original/file-20230217-364-qm2ktu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510918/original/file-20230217-364-qm2ktu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510918/original/file-20230217-364-qm2ktu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510918/original/file-20230217-364-qm2ktu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Genetically modified seeds, and even conventionally bred crops, can be patented.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/petri-dishes-containing-sprouting-embryos-of-an-news-photo/1314013422">Sean Gallup/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historically, farmers would save seeds that their crops generated and replant them the following season. They could also sell those seeds to other farmers. They lost the right to sell their seeds in 1970, when Congress passed the <a href="https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/plant-variety-protection">Plant Variety Protection Act</a>. Utility patents, which grant an inventor exclusive right to produce a new or improved product, are even more restrictive.</p>
<p>Under a utility patent, farmers can no longer save seed for replanting on their own farms. University scientists even face <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470752555">restrictions on the kind of research</a> they can perform on patented crops.</p>
<p>Because of the clear changes in intellectual property protections on agricultural crops over the years, researchers are able to evaluate whether those changes correlate with crop innovations – the primary justification used for patents. The short answer is that they do not.</p>
<p>One study revealed that companies have used intellectual property to enhance their market power more than to enhance innovations. In fact, some vegetable crops with <a href="https://illinoislawreview.org/print/volume-2012-issue-4/veggie-tales-pernicious-myths-about-patents-innovation-and-crop-diversity-in-the-twentieth-century/">few patent protections had more varietal innovations</a> than crops with more patent protections.</p>
<h2>How much does this cost farmers?</h2>
<p>It can be <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/23395/genetically-engineered-crops-experiences-and-prospects">difficult to estimate</a> how much patented crops cost farmers. For example, farmers might pay more for the seeds but save money on pesticides or labor, and they might have higher yields. If market prices for the crop are high one year, the farmer might come out ahead, but if prices are low, the farmer might lose money. Crop breeders, meanwhile, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06892-3">envision substantial profits</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, it is difficult to calculate the costs farmers face from not having a right to repair their machinery. A machine breakdown that takes weeks to repair during harvest time could be catastrophic.</p>
<p>The nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Research Group calculated that <a href="https://pirg.org/resources/repair-saves-families-big/">U.S. consumers could save</a> US$40 billion per year if they could repair electronics and appliances – about $330 per family.</p>
<p>The memorandum of understanding between John Deere and the Farm Bureau may be a step in the right direction, but it is not a substitute for right-to-repair legislation or the enforcement of antitrust policies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leland Glenna does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Corporations restrict what farmers can do with their own seeds, as well as their farm equipment when it breaks down.
Leland Glenna, Professor of Rural Sociology and Science, Technology, and Society, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196186
2022-12-19T13:36:14Z
2022-12-19T13:36:14Z
5 wintry books to read during long nights
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501588/original/file-20221216-20-9ln2hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C3%2C703%2C675&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Walden Pond was Thoreau's sometimes chilly muse.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/leaf-in-ice-at-walden-pond-news-photo/120004362?adppopup=true">Lane Turner for The Boston Globe/via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Winter solstice brings the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a great night to spend reading.</p>
<p>I’ve taught English and creative writing in snowy Binghamton, New York, for more than 40 years – <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C22&q=Liz+Rosenberg&btnG=">reading, writing, reviewing and judging books all the while</a> – so it’s never hard for me to find something to read. Only to choose. </p>
<p>To save you the same indecision, I’ve picked five books for the darkest time of the year.</p>
<h2>1. Henry David Thoreau, “<a href="https://worldcat.org/en/title/1345585403">Walden Pond</a>” (1854)</h2>
<p>Thoreau’s “Walden Pond” is America’s most celebrated nature book, filled with the author’s observations of the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. “Walden” begins in July, but Thoreau welcomes winter in some of the book’s most beautiful passages.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Black and white illustration of a small cabin surrounded by tall pines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501144/original/file-20221214-14156-hnc795.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501144/original/file-20221214-14156-hnc795.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501144/original/file-20221214-14156-hnc795.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501144/original/file-20221214-14156-hnc795.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501144/original/file-20221214-14156-hnc795.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501144/original/file-20221214-14156-hnc795.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501144/original/file-20221214-14156-hnc795.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thoreau’s cabin on the edge of Walden Pond cost US$28.12 in building materials when built in the early 1850s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/henry-thoreau-s-cabin-at-walden-pond-massachusetts-american-news-photo/171212802?phrase=Thoreau%20cabin&adppopup=true">Culture Club/via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“The north wind had already begun to cool the pond,” Thoreau writes, when he “went into winter quarters.” Not that he stayed indoors much.</p>
<p>Most of us won’t stretch out face down “on ice only an inch thick,” as Thoreau reports doing, but we can read about him doing it while staying warm. Thoreau noticed frozen bubbles, stacked “like a string of beads” or “silvery coins poured from a bag.” He catalogs – how he loves cataloging! – the colors of the pond, from “transparent” to dark green to “opaque and whitish or gray.” In winter he burned pine, decaying stumps, hickory, dry leaves and logs he’d dragged home while skating across the pond. Fuel provided him warmth, cooked food and company. “You can always see a face in the fire,” Thoreau wrote. </p>
<p>In winter he welcomed rare humans, such as fellow writer Louisa May Alcott’s father, Bronson. But mostly he encountered foxes, squirrels, chickadees, jays and a barred owl that he described as the “winged brother of the cat.” Thoreau delights in the sound of the ice booming in a thaw and describes moonlit rescues of hikers he escorted back to the edge of civilization. </p>
<p>The five chilly chapters of “Walden” comprise a winter sampler for those who haven’t read this mighty book — and for those returning to it.</p>
<h2>2. Robert Frost, “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/2538570">The Poetry of Robert Frost</a>”</h2>
<p>No poet sang of winter like poet laureate and New Englander Robert Frost. In his great “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” he pays homage to winter’s solitude: </p>
<p>“Between the woods and frozen lake/The darkest evening of the year.” </p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/2538570">The Poetry of Robert Frost</a>” weighs in at more than 600 pages. “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/12036745">You Come Too</a>,” a beautifully curated edition of poems for the young, is less than 100. </p>
<p>Both books contain popular midwinter favorites. Even their titles suggest the poet’s strong connection to winter: “Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter”; “A Hillside Thaw” (“Ten million silver lizards out of snow!”); “Good-by and Keep Cold”; “A Patch of Old Snow.” </p>
<p>In “Birches,” Frost writes of branches that turn raindrops into ice crystals melted by sunlight.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust –</p>
<p>Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away</p>
<p>You’d think the inner dome of heaven has fallen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Frost’s poems are easily memorized and lovely to read aloud over any blustering gales. </p>
<h2>3. Dylan Thomas, “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/966631968">A Child’s Christmas in Wales</a>” (1952)</h2>
<p>As Frost wrote for all ages, so did Dylan Thomas in “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” – available in its original Tiffany blue New Directions paperback edition, decorated exquisitely with illustrations by Ellen Raskin – a winter’s poem made to be sung. We can even hear the poet chanting it aloud on <a href="https://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/European-Classics/A-Childs-Christmas-in-Wales/146">his 1952 recording</a>.</p>
<p>One need not be Welsh to love Thomas’ seaside childhood. One need not even celebrate Christmas. </p>
<p>“One Christmas was so much like another,” the poem opens, “that I can never remember whether it snowed/for six days and six nights when I was 12/or whether it snowed for 12 days and/12 nights when I was six.” </p>
<h2>4. Italo Calvino, “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/1051073902">If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler</a>” (1979)</h2>
<p>Italo Calvino bundles magic, metafiction, philosophy, danger and love into “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler.” It’s Calvino’s most mystifying work, challenging readers’ assumptions about reading and storytelling.</p>
<p>Not exactly a novel, it comprises the first chapter of 10 invented novels by 10 imaginary authors. Is it still winter? a reader may wonder. Was it ever winter? </p>
<p>As Calvino admits, “The only truth I can write is that of the instant I am living.” </p>
<h2>5. James Fenton, “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/48122710">A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds</a>” (2002)</h2>
<p>Some gardeners spend all winter dreaming. Others spend it busily planning. </p>
<p>“A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds” proposes a radically old-fashioned approach – to grow a garden simply sprung from seed. Author James Fenton explains, “[S]imple-mindedness was a part of what I was after: buy a packet of nasturtium seeds and plant them, grow some very tall sunflowers – this is what gardening should be all about.” </p>
<p>A garden doesn’t need expensive starter plants or even a plan. The great question in life, as well as with gardens, is: What do I want to grow? </p>
<hr>
<p>Winter unearths simplicity – the stark black-and-white vista it presents, the bare-boned landscape. It encourages readers to follow suit by ridding themselves of the extraneous and making room for life. As the celebrated saying goes, “If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but the same amount of snow.” </p>
<p>Besides, as December ends, we turn the corner toward light. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of soft brown pots with seedlings growing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501149/original/file-20221214-14133-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gardeners spend winter nights dreaming of green growing things.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/seedlings-planted-in-pots-and-labelled-royalty-free-image/1306011708?adppopup=true">Busybee-CR via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Rosenberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A literature professor suggests some classic reads to curl up with when it is cold.
Liz Rosenberg, Professor of English, General Literature and Rhetoric, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194716
2022-11-17T03:58:49Z
2022-11-17T03:58:49Z
Toxic poppy seeds are sending people to hospital. 3 experts explain what’s behind the latest food scare
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496004/original/file-20221117-17-madsvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C1%2C994%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Poisonous poppy seeds have sent a number of people around Australia to hospital with severe symptoms – from muscle cramping and spasms to seizures and cardiac arrests – prompting a nationwide recall of <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/media/Pages/Additional-brands-listed-in-national-poppy-seed-recall.aspx">certain batches and brands</a> of this common pantry item.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1592706604905873408"}"></div></p>
<p>We work for two major poisons information services (<a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/20221115_00.aspx">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/chq/our-services/queensland-poisons-information-centre/">Queensland</a>), where we have been advising and caring for people with poppy seed poisoning. There have also been cases in <a href="https://www.health.vic.gov.au/health-alerts/health-warning-on-on-poppy-seeds">Victoria</a>, Australian Capital Territory, <a href="https://glamadelaide.com.au/urgent-recall-on-two-popular-poppy-seed-brands-amid-poisoning-concerns/">South Australia</a> and <a href="https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Media-releases/2022/November/WA-Health-warns-community-of-severe-reactions-after-consuming-poppy-seed-tea">Western Australia</a>. </p>
<p>To date, there have been around 32 cases of poppy seed toxicity reported in Australia over the past month, all in adults.</p>
<p>This is what we know about what’s behind these cases and what you need to do if you’ve consumed poppy seeds recently, or have poppy seeds in your kitchen cupboards.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-want-to-use-bleach-and-antiseptic-for-covid-and-are-calling-us-for-advice-168660">People want to use bleach and antiseptic for COVID and are calling us for advice</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How could these poppy seeds be dangerous?</h2>
<p>The poppy seeds involved in the latest national recall are non-food grade seeds that are not intended for human consumption and are not safe to consume. Investigations are under way to determine how non-food grade seeds ended up in the shops.</p>
<p>Food-grade poppy seeds – the type that you’d usually see sprinkled on cake or bread – are not dangerous.</p>
<p>Poppy seeds come from the poppy plant <em>Papaver somniferum</em>. This plant produces a number of chemicals called alkaloids. Some, like morphine and codeine, have been used medicinally for thousands of years to treat pain and other conditions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Poppy plant Papaver somniferum" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poppy seeds come from the plant <em>Papaver somniferum</em> and are used to make medicines, as well as food products.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/opium-poppy-heads-close-papaver-somniferum-2004569264">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other naturally occurring poppy alkaloids – such as thebaine, noscapine, laudanosine and papaverine – are less-well described in terms of their effects on humans, but they can have a wide range of toxic effects.</p>
<p>Different varieties of poppy plants contain different amounts of these alkaloids.</p>
<p>Some have very low amounts, which tend to be used to produce food-grade poppy seeds. Varieties with higher amounts are used to produce medicines, such as morphine and codeine.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-codeine-doesnt-work-for-some-people-and-works-too-well-for-others-58067">Weekly Dose: codeine doesn't work for some people, and works too well for others</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What happened recently then?</h2>
<p>The non-food grade poppy seeds that incorrectly entered the human food supply contain high amounts of the alkaloid thebaine. </p>
<p>Thebaine has very different effects to morphine. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31670127/">In large doses</a> it causes severe and prolonged muscle cramps, spasms, seizures and cardiac arrests, as seen in the recent cluster of poisonings. </p>
<p>High concentrations of thebaine have been identified in the blood of affected people in this latest cluster.</p>
<p>To our knowledge, this is the first time that thebaine has entered the food chain in Australia. However, there are a couple of reports of people who have had severe toxicity after consuming non-food grade poppies in recent decades.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-viagra-herbal-drug-kamini-contains-morphine-and-can-quickly-lead-to-dependence-191509">'Indian Viagra' – herbal drug Kamini contains morphine and can quickly lead to dependence</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How many poppy seeds are we talking about?</h2>
<p>All reported cases in the current cluster at the time of the recall occurred after people consumed poppy seeds as part of a drink – similar to a brewed tea. </p>
<p>Most people had consumed more than 100g poppy seeds (about 11 tablespoons). Although, 50g (5-6 tablespoons) may be sufficient to cause poisoning. Thebaine can build up in the body if you ingest it several times over the same day.</p>
<p>There have been no reports to date of people being poisoned after eating poppy seeds in baked goods. However, the investigation is ongoing. Owing to the nature of the contamination, we’d recommend avoiding poppy seeds from <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/media/Pages/Additional-brands-listed-in-national-poppy-seed-recall.aspx">affected brands</a> in any form.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bread rolls with poppy seeds on brown paper" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">So far, there have been no poisonings reported after eating poppy seeds in bread or cake.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kaiser-rolls-poppy-seeds-bakery-concept-1043931433">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What if I have poppy seeds at home?</h2>
<p>The non-food grade poppy seeds we’re currently concerned about likely entered the food supply in the past two months. So, if you bought poppy seeds <a href="https://www.health.vic.gov.au/health-alerts/health-warning-on-poppy-seeds">before September 2022</a>, these are likely to be safe. </p>
<p>If you’ve bought poppy seeds in the past two months and these <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/foodrecalls/recalls/Pages/default.aspx?k=poppy">are listed</a> as part of the national recall, you may be at risk.</p>
<p>You can throw them in the bin or return them to where you bought them for a refund.</p>
<h2>What if I’ve eaten poppy seeds or drunk the tea?</h2>
<p>If you or someone you know develops the following symptoms after consuming poppy seeds, seek urgent medical assistance by calling triple zero:</p>
<ul>
<li>severe muscle cramping, muscle spasms and abnormal movements </li>
<li>seizures </li>
<li>collapses or is unresponsive.</li>
</ul>
<p>If symptoms are mild, or you’re not sure if these are because of consuming poppy seeds, call the Poisons Information Centre for advice (details below).</p>
<p>If you’ve consumed poppy seeds more than four hours ago and you feel fine, you can be reassured. That’s because these poisoning symptoms typically happen quickly, within four hours. </p>
<p>If you’ve consumed a large number of poppy seeds as a drink, especially from an affected batch of seeds, in the past four hours, go to the emergency department regardless of symptoms.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises health concerns for you or for someone you know about consuming poppy seeds, call the <a href="https://www.poisonsinfo.nsw.gov.au/">Poisons Information Centre</a> from anywhere in Australia on 131 126. This evidence-base advice is available 24 hours a day. For life-threatening symptoms, call 000.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>Update: the article has been updated to reflect prior poppy poisonings.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194716/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darren Roberts is the Medical Director of the NSW Poisons Information Centre and a clinical Toxicologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jared Brown is a Senior Poisons Specialist in Toxicovigilance at NSW Poisons Information Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Isoardi is the Director of the Clinical Toxicology Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, and Medical Director of Queensland Poisons Information Centre, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia</span></em></p>
Affected poppy seeds made into a tea have led to seizures and cardiac arrests.
Darren Roberts, Conjoint Associate Professor in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, St Vincent’s Healthcare Clinical Campus, UNSW Sydney
Jared Brown, Clinical Associate Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, University of Sydney
Katherine Isoardi, Conjoint Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/193547
2022-11-14T12:31:05Z
2022-11-14T12:31:05Z
Mangrove forests won’t be able to spread further in South Africa, so protecting them is crucial
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494862/original/file-20221111-13-5ex5wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mangrove seed at Nxaxo estuary on South Africa's Wild Coast.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">J. Raw</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mangrove forests are a common sight in some tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world like Indonesia, Florida in the US, parts of Brazil and Australia. They can also be found on African coasts, including South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces. </p>
<p>These tidal forests of trees and shrubs are often talked about in the context of climate change. Along with other coastal wetlands like salt marshes and seagrasses, they are able to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africas-mangrove-forests-store-carbon-and-why-it-matters-131477">store more carbon than terrestrial ecosystems</a>. Waterlogged soils preserve the organic carbon and prevent decomposition – and if they’re left undisturbed, this “blue carbon” is locked up over thousands of years. This means they can play a key role in the oceans’s carbon cycle.</p>
<p>Mangroves are also valuable assets as ecosystems because they support a significant amount of biodiversity.</p>
<p>Mangroves won’t grow in cool climates. In the northern hemisphere, their range ends at areas where it snows in winter. But, even though the coasts of places like Brazil, Australia and South Africa don’t get freeze events, mangroves still stop occurring at a certain latitude in the southern hemisphere. </p>
<p>We wanted to know why this is the case and to determine whether there are other areas along South Africa’s coast that are climatically suitable for mangroves but where the forests don’t grow. </p>
<p>We also wondered, since climate change will make some parts of the world warmer in the coming years and decades, whether mangroves might in future be able to grow in parts of South Africa where they’re not found now. Finally, we wanted to understand whether climate change will make areas in South Africa where mangroves currently exist unsuitable for the forests in future.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.14020">new study</a> reveals the answers. Through a combination of species modelling and ocean modelling, we discovered it is South Africa’s high wave-energy that keeps mangroves from spreading: their seeds are pushed around the ocean without being easily able to get washed into the estuaries where they can take root and grow. </p>
<p>And existing mangrove forests are at risk from changes in rainfall, which are predicted in <a href="https://pta-gis-2-web1.csir.co.za/portal/apps/GBCascade/index.html?appid=b161b2f892194ed5938374fe2192e537">climate change scenarios for the region</a>. Increased rainfall can lead to more flooding. Less rainfall can result in estuary mouths closing off from the sea. Extreme or repeated occurrences of either change can make it difficult for mangroves to survive and thrive. </p>
<p>It’s therefore essential to safeguard existing mangrove forests. Different approaches will be needed for mangrove forests in rural and urban areas, but whatever is done must be done soon to preserve these important wetlands.</p>
<h2>Modelling</h2>
<p>Mangrove forests don’t cover a lot of ground in South Africa. Their total range in the country is only about 2,000 hectares across 32 of the 214 estuaries along about 1,000km of the country’s east coast. Mangroves are classified as an indigenous forest type and are therefore included in the country’s <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/national-forests-act">National Forests Act</a>. This requires that all natural forests on private, communal or state-owned land are protected. Most mangrove forests in South Africa, however, are not in formally protected areas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africas-mangrove-forests-store-carbon-and-why-it-matters-131477">How South Africa's mangrove forests store carbon and why it matters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As the first step in our research, we created a species distribution model. We collated everything we knew about where mangroves grow in South Africa. We ran the model to see where else in South Africa those conditions were met and whether mangroves grew there. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A landscape dominated by lush green plants in the foreground, with an estuary behind them and mountains silhouetted against a blue sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494841/original/file-20221111-16-ni6zfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1038%2C4013%2C1979&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494841/original/file-20221111-16-ni6zfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494841/original/file-20221111-16-ni6zfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494841/original/file-20221111-16-ni6zfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494841/original/file-20221111-16-ni6zfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494841/original/file-20221111-16-ni6zfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494841/original/file-20221111-16-ni6zfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mangroves at the Kosi Estuary, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">J. Raw</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The model identified good candidate areas. But mangroves did not occur in those places. This meant there must be another process creating this limitation. </p>
<p>Then we ran the same model but took climate change into account by feeding in data about areas that are predicted to become warmer (and so may be more hospitable for mangrove forests in future). This also showed that estuaries further south would be suitable for mangroves, but that conditions in some estuaries that currently support mangroves could become unfavourable – and this could lead to mangrove loss.</p>
<h2>Ocean activity</h2>
<p>Mangroves spread to new locations through floating seeds (known as propagules), which fall from the trees and are carried out to sea. Recent research has shown how important <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12514">ocean currents</a> are for transporting mangrove propagules in different part of the world. We wondered whether this could be the process limiting mangroves from occurring in those other suitable estuaries. </p>
<p>Through a collaboration with colleagues at the University of Brussels and the San José State University in California in the US, we were able to include some of this ocean modelling in our study. This was a way to simulate how mangrove propagules would float offshore in the southern African region. </p>
<p>The ocean model showed that although the Agulhas Current transports mangrove propagules rapidly south (about 600km in three weeks) to those suitable estuaries, the coast is very exposed, with lots of waves and sandy beaches. These conditions make it difficult and increasingly unlikely for mangrove propagules to reach and enter relatively small estuary mouths. </p>
<p>Many seeds wash up on beaches or rocky shores where they cannot establish new mangrove forests or become part of existing forests. The ocean modelling confirmed that propagules can float for weeks or months without reaching an estuary.</p>
<p>These findings suggest that mangroves are not going to become more widespread in South Africa as temperatures rise with climate change. This is contrary to what has been predicted at the global scale for mangrove forests, and what is already occurring in other <a href="https://serc.si.edu/research/laboratories/animal-plant-interaction/projects/mangrove-expansion-response-climate-change">regions</a>. </p>
<p>We are however not advocating for mangroves to be manually planted further south because the places where this would happen are already occupied by salt marsh vegetation. Salt marshes support different species to mangroves; for example they provide habitat for certain birds to nest that don’t use mangroves. Replacing one natural ecosystem with another is not recommended.</p>
<h2>Value what we have</h2>
<p>We recommend that estuaries currently supporting mangroves be safeguarded through appropriate conservation, restoration, and management measures. This would give mangroves the best possible chance of naturally responding to climate change (as they have done through <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mangrove-forest-reveals-ancient-climate-change-effects/">millennia</a>). </p>
<p>The protection and management of mangroves in South Africa needs to be integrated into coastal management practices and biodiversity conservation, as well as national and provincial climate adaptation strategies. </p>
<p>For example, stewardship programmes are likely to help reduce human impacts on these ecosystems. In rural areas where mangrove wood is sometimes used as building material and for building fish traps, approaches such as community-based monitoring, or payment for ecosystem services programmes, are viable options. In contrast, in urban areas mangroves can be afforded protection by reducing pollution and limiting activities through zoning in <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202106/44724gon533.pdf">estuary management plans</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193547/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline L Raw receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela University. </span></em></p>
Mangroves support a significant amount of biodiversity and their soils can capture a great deal of carbon.
Jacqueline L Raw, Postdoctoral Researcher (DST-NRF Innovation Fellow) DST-NRF Research Chair in Shallow Water Ecosystems Ocean Sciences Campus, Nelson Mandela University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176109
2022-02-22T13:41:39Z
2022-02-22T13:41:39Z
Farmers are overusing insecticide-coated seeds, with mounting harmful effects on nature
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446640/original/file-20220215-13-q2rhcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2995%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Planting corn near Dwight, Ill., April 23, 2020. Virtually all corn seeds planted in the U.S. are coated with neonicotinoid insecticides.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-aerial-view-from-a-drone-shows-john-duffy-planting-corn-news-photo/1220695117">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Planting season for <a href="https://simpson.ca.uky.edu/files/corn_and_soybean_production_calendar.pdf">corn and soybeans</a> across the U.S. will begin as soon as March in Southern states and then move north. As farmers plant, they will deploy vast quantities of insecticides into the environment, without ever spraying a drop.</p>
<p>Almost every field corn seed planted this year in the United States will be coated with <a href="https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/ael/articles/2/1/170026">neonicotinoids</a>, the most widely used class of insecticides in the world. So will seeds for about half of U.S. soybeans and nearly all cotton, along with other crops. By my estimate, based on <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/crop0122.pdf">acres planted in 2021</a>, neonicotinoids will be deployed across at least 150 million acres of cropland – an area about the size of Texas.</p>
<p>Neonicotinoids, among the most effective insecticides ever developed, are able to kill insects at concentrations that often are just a few parts per billion. That’s equivalent to <a href="https://gml.noaa.gov/outreach/info_activities/pdfs/MAA_understanding_ppm_and_ppb.pdf">a pinch of salt in 10 tons of potato chips</a>. Compared with older classes of insecticides, they appear to be relatively less toxic to vertebrates, especially mammals.</p>
<p>But over the past decade, scientists and conservation advocates have cited a growing body of evidence indicating that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109909118">neonicotinoids are harmful to bees</a>. Researchers also say these insecticides <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-40994-9">may affect wildlife</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.010">including birds</a> that eat the coated seeds. </p>
<p>In response to these concerns, Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine and New Jersey have <a href="https://environmentamerica.org/news/ame/gov-murphy-signs-legislation-limit-applications-bee-killing-pesticides">enacted laws</a> limiting use of neonicotinoid insecticides. Other states are <a href="https://www.ncelenviro.org/issue/neonicotinoids/">considering similar measures</a>. Consumer and environmental advocates are also suing to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/lawsuit-against-epa-over-pesticide-coated-seeds-cites-honeybee-die-offs-2021-12-15/">regulate coated seeds more tightly</a>.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AAdZM1UAAAAJ&hl=en">applied insect ecologist</a> and extension specialist who works with farmers on pest control, I believe U.S. farmers are using these insecticides far more heavily than necessary, with mounting harm to ecosystems. Moreover, our ongoing research indicates that <a href="https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/sustainable-intensification-cropping-systems-good-farmers-environment/">using farming strategies that foster beneficial, predatory insects can greatly decrease reliance on insecticides</a>. </p>
<iframe frameborder="0" class="juxtapose" width="100%" height="600" src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=c74b20ca-8eb2-11ec-a554-13fc6baea232"></iframe>
<figure><figcaption><span class="caption">Use of imidacloprid, a common neonicotinoid, increased dramatically from 1994 to 2019 (move slider to compare years).</span></figcaption></figure>
<h2>Insecticides on seeds</h2>
<p>Most neonicotinoids in the U.S. are used as coatings on seeds for field crops like corn and soybeans. They protect against a relatively small suite of secondary insect pests – that is, not the main pests that typically damage crops. National companies or seed suppliers apply these coatings so that when farmers buy seeds they just have to plant them. As a result, surveys of farmers indicate that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa019">about 40% are unaware that insecticides are on their seeds</a>. </p>
<p>The share of corn and soybean acreage planted with neonicotinoid-coated seeds has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/es506141g">increased dramatically since 2004</a>. From 2011 to 2014, the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/ael2017.08.0026">amount of neonicotinoids applied to corn doubled</a>. Unfortunately, in 2015 the federal government <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa019">stopped collecting data used to make these estimates</a>. </p>
<p>Unlike most insecticides, neonicotinoids are water soluble. This means that when a seedling grows from a treated seed, its roots can absorb some of the insecticide that coated the seed. This can protect the seedling for a limited time from certain insects. </p>
<p>But only a small fraction of the insecticide applied to seeds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173836">actually enters seedlings</a>. For example, corn seedlings take up only about 2%, and the insecticide persists in the plant for only two to three weeks. The critical question: Where does the rest go?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Treated and untreated seeds on a black background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446669/original/file-20220216-19-1r1o589.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soybean seeds treated with neonicotinoids (dyed blue to alert users to the presence of pesticide) and treated corn seeds (dyed red) versus untreated seeds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Grettenberger/PennState University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pervading the environment</h2>
<p>One answer is that leftover insecticide not taken up by plants can easily wash into nearby waterways. Neonicotinoids from seed coatings are now <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/EN15061">polluting streams and rivers across the U.S.</a> </p>
<p>Studies show that neonicotinoids are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105692118">poisoning</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abe1148">killing</a> aquatic invertebrates that are vital food sources for fish, birds and other wildlife. Recent research has connected use of neonicotinoids with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0582-x">declines in the abundance and diversity of birds</a> and the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aax3442">collapse of a commercial fishery in Japan</a>. </p>
<p>Neonicotinoids also can strongly influence pest and predator populations in crop fields. In a 2015 study, colleagues and I found that use of coated soybean seeds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12372">reduced crop yields by poisoning insect predators</a> that usually kill slugs, which cause serious damage in mid-Atlantic corn and soybeans fields. Subsequently, we found that neonicotinoids can <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2776">decrease populations of insect predators</a> in crop fields by 15% to 20%. </p>
<p>Recently we found that these insecticides can <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/brv.12817">contaminate honeydew</a>, a sugary fluid that aphids and other common sucking insects excrete when they feed on plant sap. Many beneficial insects, such as predators and parasitic wasps, feed on honeydew and may be poisoned or killed by neonicotinoids.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224364/original/file-20180622-26576-110g6sz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Slugs, shown here on a soybean plant, are unaffected by neonicotinoids but can transmit the insecticides to beetles that are important slug predators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://news.psu.edu/story/336981/2014/12/04/research/insecticides-foster-toxic-slugs-reduce-crop-yields">Nick Sloff/Penn State University</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Are neonicotinoids essential?</h2>
<p>Neonicotinoid advocates <a href="http://aginfomatics.com/index.html">point to reports</a> – often funded by industry – that argue that these products provide value to field crop agriculture and farmers. However, these sources typically assume that insecticides of some type are needed on every acre of corn and soybeans. Therefore, their value calculations rest on comparing neonicotinoid seed coatings with the cost of other available insecticides. </p>
<p>Recent field studies, however, demonstrate that neonicotinoid-coated seeds provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaa132">limited insect control</a> because target pest populations tend to be scarce and treating fields for them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229136">yields little benefit</a>. </p>
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<p>Does this mean that the U.S. should follow the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aau0152">European Union’s lead</a> and ban neonicotinoids or adopt strict limits like those enacted in New Jersey? </p>
<p>As I see it, neonicotinoids can provide good value in controlling critical pest species, particularly in vegetable and fruit production, and managing invasive species like the <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly">spotted lanternfly</a>. However, I believe the time has come to rein in their use as seed coatings in field crops like corn and soybeans, where they are providing little benefit and where the scale of their use is causing the most critical environmental problems. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1174680092414500864"}"></div></p>
<p>Instead, I believe agricultural companies should promote, and farmers should use, <a href="https://www.ipmcenters.org/about/what-is-ipm/">integrated pest management</a>, a strategy for sustainable insect control that is based on using insecticides only when they are economically justified. Recent research at Penn State and elsewhere reaffirms that integrated pest management can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2019.106812">control pests</a> in corn and other crops <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2108429118">without reducing harvests</a>. </p>
<p>Concerns about neonicotinoid-coated seeds are mounting as research reveals more routes of exposure to beneficial animals and effects on creatures they are not designed to kill. Agricultural companies have done little to address these issues and seem more committed than ever to selling coated seeds. Farmers often have very limited choice if they want to plant uncoated seeds. </p>
<p>Scientists are sounding the alarm about <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/">rising extinction rates worldwide</a>, and research indicates that neonicotinoids are contributing to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105692118">insect declines</a> and creating <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220029">more toxic agricultural lands</a>. I believe it’s time to consider regulatory options to curb the ongoing abuse of neonicotinoid-coated seeds.</p>
<p><em>This is an update of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-to-curb-widespread-use-of-neonicotinoid-pesticides-96620">article originally published on June 26, 2018</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176109/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John F. Tooker receives funding from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Soybean Promotion Board.</span></em></p>
Studies suggest that seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides may harm nontarget insects, mammals and birds. In response, states are starting to restrict use of these products.
John F. Tooker, Professor of Entomology and Extension Specialist, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/174181
2022-01-26T13:27:04Z
2022-01-26T13:27:04Z
The herbicide dicamba was supposed to solve farmers’ weed problems – instead, it’s making farming harder for many of them
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442064/original/file-20220122-25-9rovsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C5760%2C3794&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soybean plants on an Arkansas farm. Those at left show signs of damage from dicamba; others at right were planted later in the season.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/at-david-wildys-soybean-fields-on-the-left-soybean-plants-news-photo/842398912">Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In October 2021 I was a guest on a popular podcast to discuss my recently published book, “<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324002048">Seed Money: Monsanto’s Past and Our Food Future</a>,” which examines the agribusiness giant’s influence on the global food system. After the show, I got a lot of calls from around the world, but one really stood out to me: A farmer speaking on his cellphone from the seat of his combine in South Dakota as he harvested soybeans.</p>
<p>Farmers don’t like to stop tractors on good-weather days in the fall, but this was important. The caller wanted to talk about a chemical weedkiller called <a href="http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/dicamba_gen.html">dicamba</a> that had been sprayed on neighboring fields. He claimed it was damaging his crops. And he wasn’t alone.</p>
<p>In 2021, <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0492-0021">thousands of U.S. growers</a> reported to the Environmental Protection Agency that dicamba sprayed by other farmers – sometimes <a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/10/29/epa-documents-show-dicamba-damage-worse-than-previously-thought/">up to a mile and a half away</a> – damaged crops in their fields. Complaints came from all over the country.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0492-0021">The list</a> of affected plants was astounding: sycamore, oak and elm trees; azaleas, black-eyed Susans and roses; garden tomatoes, peppers and peas. <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0492-0003">According to an EPA memorandum</a>, there were 2,700 “dicamba incidents,” affecting about 3.6 million acres, in 2017. Two years later, the number of incidents ballooned to 3,300. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J0WoflW1TgQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Farmers describe their concerns about dicamba damage in 2017.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This problem has been building for over five years, and the EPA acknowledges that the modest controls it has required, such as creating buffer zones around fields, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-releases-summary-dicamba-related-incident-reports-2021-growing-season">aren’t working</a>. But tighter curbs on use of dicamba aren’t likely before the 2022 growing season starts in the spring, because they would require a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-releases-summary-dicamba-related-incident-reports-2021-growing-season">complicated legal process</a>. </p>
<p>Why is it so hard to address this national problem? Answering that question requires looking back to 1996, when a revolution transformed American agriculture.</p>
<h2>From Roundup to dicamba</h2>
<p>Weeds have always been an expensive headache for farmers. A 2016 study estimated that if left uncontrolled, weeds would cut corn and soybean yields in North America roughly in half, causing <a href="https://wssa.net/wssa/weed/croploss-2/">US$43 billion in yearly economic losses</a> just from those two crops. One of the problems farmers face is that weeds are very good at evolving resistance to chemical products used to kill them, so herbicides lose their effectiveness over time.</p>
<p>Weed problems became especially bad in the late 1980s and early 1990s as widely used herbicides called ALS inhibitors <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/074823379901500120">became less and less effective</a>. That’s why farmers were enthusiastic about Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” crops, first introduced in 1996. </p>
<p>These plants were engineered to resist heavy spraying of Monsanto’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/02/business/the-power-of-roundup-a-weed-killer-is-a-block-for-monsanto-to-build-on.html">blockbuster herbicide, Roundup</a>. Monsanto had developed and patented glyphosate, Roundup’s active ingredient, in the 1970s, but the advent of Roundup Ready seeds made glyphosate sales explode.</p>
<p>It seemed like a magical system: Farmers could treat fields with glyphosate throughout the growing season without hurting their crops. For a few years, overall herbicide use dropped: Farmers used glyphosate in huge quantities, but stopped buying most other herbicides. </p>
<iframe frameborder="0" class="juxtapose" width="100%" height="500" src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=80d6bc1c-7df5-11ec-abb7-b9a7ff2ee17c"></iframe>
<figure><figcaption><span class="caption">Use of glyphosate has increased dramatically since the introduction of Roundup Ready seeds starting in 1996 (move slider to compare 1995 and 2019 usage).</span></figcaption></figure>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19970714063108/http://www.monsanto.com/monpub/environment/monsantoear96/96earall.pdf">Monsanto asserted</a> that this approach would <a href="http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/weeds/weednews/roundupcottonad.htm">make farming more sustainable</a> by reducing long-term use of herbicides and pesticides – especially older, more toxic brands. Soon, however, the system started to falter. </p>
<p>In the early 2000s, scientists began reporting that weeds were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.4760">evolving resistance to Roundup</a>. In response, Monsanto rolled out a new generation of genetically engineered seeds that would make crops resistant to a wider array of older herbicides. Farmers could use these older products along with Roundup, improving their chances of killing most weeds.</p>
<p>One of the chemicals Monsanto bet on was dicamba, first introduced in the 1960s. In 2015 and 2016, the company began producing seeds <a href="https://www.roundupreadyxtend.com/products/pages/default.aspx">branded “Roundup Ready Xtend</a>” that were engineered to tolerate heavy spraying of both dicamba and glyphosate. The logic was that dicamba would eliminate glyphosate-resistant weeds, and glyphosate would wipe out all other unwanted vegetation.</p>
<h2>A solution becomes a problem</h2>
<p>It quickly became clear that this fix was seriously flawed. Dicamba is <a href="https://extension.umn.edu/herbicides/uncovering-dicambas-wayward-ways">one of the most volatile herbicides on the market</a>, meaning that it changes readily from a liquid to a vapor in warm temperatures. When farmers sprayed dicamba on hot days, it tended to vaporize and drift off target, spreading to fields and farms that often were not planted with crops genetically engineered to tolerate it. The South Dakota farmer who called me from his combine was harvesting organic soybeans that did not contain Monsanto’s Xtend traits. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1280128121681973248"}"></div></p>
<p>Maddeningly for farmers, Monsanto had seen this coming. In a 2020 federal court case, <a href="https://casetext.com/case/bader-farms-inc-v-monsanto-co-18">Bader Farms v. Monsanto</a>, confidential company documents revealed that the firm was aware that dicamba sprayed on Xtend crops would likely drift off target. Monsanto sales representatives even called this a sales point for dicamba-tolerant seeds. “Push ‘protection from your neighbor,’” one <a href="https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/dicamba-PLTF-22.pdf">slide in an internal 2013 sales presentation suggested</a>. </p>
<p>Farmers started complaining about dicamba drift soon after Monsanto introduced its first Xtend seeds. The Trump administration ordered farmers not to spray dicamba in buffer zones around fields, and to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-10/documents/dicamba-decision_10-27-2020.pdf">restrict dicamba application to particular times of day</a>, but this had little effect. </p>
<p>Amid this controversy, the EPA extended approval in 2018 for three dicamba-based herbicides. But the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/125--dicamba-opinion_35970.pdf">revoked this decision in June 2020</a>, ruling that the agency had ignored or downplayed evidence of damage from dicamba and failed to consider how its licensed use would “tear the social fabric of farming communities.” In response, EPA approved new dicamba licenses with some <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-2020-dicamba-registration-decision">additional control measures</a> that it asserted met the court’s concerns.</p>
<h2>A chemical arms race</h2>
<p>Now the Biden administration is weighing how to address dicamba – and none too soon. Farmers reportedly are seeing weeds that have <a href="https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2021/07/03/weed-resistance-dicamba-2-4-d-rise">developed resistance to dicamba and other herbicides</a> recommended for use with a new generation of genetically engineered seeds. According to weed specialists, this is happening precisely because farmers are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/magazine/superweeds-monsanto.html">using such large quantities of these chemicals</a> during the growing season. </p>
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<p>Seed companies like the German firm Bayer, which now owns Monsanto’s product portfolio, say one solution is for farmers to buy seeds that can tolerate a wider array of weedkillers. Recently, for example, Bayer sought approval for a new line of seeds that would make crops resistant to <a href="https://civileats.com/2020/07/01/bayer-forges-ahead-with-new-crops-resistant-to-5-herbicides-glyphosate-dicamba-2-4-d-glufosinate-quizalofop/">five different types of herbicides</a>.</p>
<p>For farmers, this will mean greater reliance on an expanding array of petrochemicals, and therefore higher costs. Today, U.S. farmers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/business/gmo-promise-falls-short.html">use more than twice as much herbicide</a> to grow soybeans as they did before Roundup Ready crops were introduced. </p>
<p>I see dicamba drift as a symptom of a larger petrochemical dependency that threatens the viability of the U.S. food system. My research in this area makes clear that if federal agencies really want to help farmers solve weed problems, they would do well to look to agricultural innovators who are demonstrating that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2017.8">crops can be grown productively and profitably</a> without relying so heavily on synthetic pesticides. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>In the U.S. and around the world, farmers are seeking alternative ways to deal with weeds. Some are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219847">diversifying what they grow</a>, using time-honored practices like <a href="https://www.farmers.gov/blog/conservation/discover-cover-managing-cover-crops-suppress-weeds-and-save-money-herbicides">cover cropping</a>, and looking to innovative methods coming out of a resurgent <a href="https://theconversation.com/regenerative-agriculture-can-make-farmers-stewards-of-the-land-again-110570">regenerative farming movement</a>. </p>
<p>If these tools can create a future agricultural economy less reliant on petrochemicals derived from finite resources, I believe it would be welcome news not just to farmers but also to those of us who depend on them for our food.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174181/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bart Elmore receives funding from the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and Columbia's University's School of Journalism.</span></em></p>
Farmers are stuck in a chemical war against weeds, which have developed resistance to many widely used herbicides. Seed companies’ answer – using more varied herbicides – is causing new problems.
Bart Elmore, Associate Professor of History and Core Faculty in the Sustainability Institute, The Ohio State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173294
2022-01-25T09:27:29Z
2022-01-25T09:27:29Z
The race to protect the food of the future – why seed banks alone are not the answer
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435887/original/file-20211206-17-2py2ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4125%2C2740&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/macro-view-glass-gem-ears-unique-514422814">ThomasLENNE/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last summer I grew three varieties of corn in my tiny garden. I knew from the start that my harvest, if any, would be meagre. The plants would be hindered by poor soils, assertive pigeons and, worst of all, my pathetic knowledge of farming. Luckily it wasn’t so much the product I was interested in, as the process. I was interested in the idea of crop diversity – and in what it means to conserve it. </p>
<p>Today hundreds of organisations around the world, from community non-profits to international research agencies, strive to conserve crop diversity. Many are worried about a future in which today’s industrial monocrops wither in the face of climate change, drought and emerging diseases, forcing farmers and plant breeders to look for crops with traits suited for a changing planet. </p>
<p>Today’s conservationists are trying to ensure that uncommon varieties of grains, vegetables and fruits remain available to future generations who might need the options they provide. But approaches to this shared goal can vary dramatically. I hoped that getting some seeds (and my hands) in the soil would help me better understand what makes conservation so challenging.</p>
<p>Decades of research has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17733">revealed</a> that the diversity of the plants we grow for food has diminished since the early 20th century. Scores of seeds no longer in widespread cultivation are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-010-9534-z">maintained by agricultural institutes</a> as resources for future crop research and development. Copies of the most valuable of these collections are ferried to the Arctic for long-term cold storage in the <a href="https://www.croptrust.org/our-work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/">Svalbard Global Seed Vault</a>.</p>
<p>This widespread attention to endangered seeds hasn’t always been the case. Agricultural experts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2018.12.002">began insisting</a> on the importance of preserving local strains of key crops in the 1880s. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that governments started to put <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cuag.12072">significant resources</a> into this issue and to coordinate conservation efforts across countries.</p>
<p>In the intervening period, many scientists and research institutions created collections of their own. Some were enormous. In Soviet Russia, the botanist and geneticist Nikolai Vavilov orchestrated world-spanning <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/104272">collection missions</a> in the 1920s and 30s. By 1940 he and his colleagues had amassed some 250,000 samples of diverse crop varieties and crop wild relatives in Leningrad.</p>
<p>Most collections were specialised. While Vavilov traversed the globe hoping to turn his department into “the treasury of all crops and other floras”, the British botanist A.E. Watkins drew on imperial networks, for example connections at the London Board of Trade, to have wheat seeds from around the world sent his way. By the 1930s, he had about 7,000 samples of different varieties in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4110413/">his collection</a>.</p>
<p>Few collectors were able to aspire explicitly to long-term preservation. Seeds are living things and will gradually die in storage, typically over years or decades depending on the type of seed and how it’s kept. As a result, keepers and curators of collections must monitor <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-012-9929-0">seeds’ viability</a> and be ready to sow, grow, and harvest a fresh batch of seeds when that viability drops off. For a collection of even a modest size (let alone for one of 250,000 samples) this is big commitment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Wooden boxes containing different coloured dried beans." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440736/original/file-20220113-13-e44a9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440736/original/file-20220113-13-e44a9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440736/original/file-20220113-13-e44a9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440736/original/file-20220113-13-e44a9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440736/original/file-20220113-13-e44a9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440736/original/file-20220113-13-e44a9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440736/original/file-20220113-13-e44a9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Six varieties of beans at the CIAT gene bank in Colombia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Six_bean_varieties_at_a_gene_bank.jpg#/media/File:Six_bean_varieties_at_a_gene_bank.jpg">Neil Palmer (CIAT)/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Long-term conservation action was slow to materialise as a result. It was hard to convince both scientists and states to bother with time-consuming monitoring and regeneration of collected “old” varieties, especially when all the reward seemed to be in making and growing new ones. Industrial farms, private seed companies and development experts were all transfixed by so-called modern varieties, with little time to spare for what had come before. </p>
<p>So what turned the tide? And why does it matter? To answer these questions, I dove deep into the history of seed banks and crop conservation. I visited active research stations and institutional archives, spoke with today’s seed conservation specialists and sifted through the papers of their predecessors. My findings are documented in my book, <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520307698/">Endangered Maize</a>.</p>
<p>An early breakthrough came as I thumbed through files at the archives of the <a href="http://nasonline.org/about-nas/history/archives/">US National Academy of Science</a>. Inside several folders labelled “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02985328">Committee on Preservation of Indigenous Strains of Maize</a>” from the 1950s lie minutes and records charting more than a decade of efforts to collect varieties of <em>Zea mays</em> – also known as maize or corn – from across the western hemisphere and, most ambitiously, preserve them in perpetuity. This immediately stood out to me. Here was an early outlier in the history of crop conservation: an international effort with its eyes on the very long term.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>The members of this Maize Committee worried that the corn varieties developed by professional breeders and sold by seed companies were steadily supplanting the kinds traditionally grown by farmers in Latin America. They called these varieties “indigenous strains” but today many scientists would speak of these locally adapted, farmer-saved lines as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018683119237">landraces</a>”.</p>
<p>From the northern deserts of Mexico to the tropical lowlands of Brazil to the highlands of Peru and Ecuador, the diverse peoples of the Americas had created <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010172">many kinds of corn</a> over centuries of cultivation and trade. The committee wanted to preserve these – not as crops cultivated and harvested by farmers – but as samples maintained in research facilities that they could study as geneticists and improve as breeders.</p>
<p>The Maize Committee succeeded in gathering thousands of seed samples. By 1960 most were stored in what the committee members referred to as “seed centres”, but which today we would label seed banks or genebanks. These were among the earliest facilities designated specifically for long-term seed conservation. The committee hoped that refrigerated storage at the centres would extend seeds’ lifespans and keep the inevitable task of regenerating samples to a manageable minimum. </p>
<p>Fast forward seven decades. Curious about the fates of these samples, I traced their journeys whenever paper trails and research budgets allowed. While visiting a seed bank in Mexico, I held a jar filled with seeds collected during those early missions. I passed descendants of many similar samples as I navigated the aisles of the <a href="https://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/ames-seed-bank-saves-for-future/article_e6bd7ae2-0736-11e2-bba9-0019bb2963f4.html">US maize germplasm collection</a> in Iowa. Clearly the Maize Committee had some success in its mission to secure seeds.</p>
<p>Despite this, I’m sceptical that seed banks – still conceived today as the central element in successful conservation of genetic diversity in crop plants – offer the long-term solution we need. The history of maize can help us understand why.</p>
<h2>F1 hybrid corn – a triumph of capital?</h2>
<p>To explain this, we need to get back to the Maize Committee. What drove its collecting and conservation enterprise in the 1950s? A simple answer is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15flCcT9N3g">hybrid corn</a>. This was the looming threat that worried the Maize Committee as it surveyed the future of corn diversity across the Americas. </p>
<p>I planted what’s known as an F1 hybrid variety in my garden last summer. It was a sweet corn, with creamy yellow kernels just like the corn I buy from the grocery store near my home. Cooked within minutes of being cut from the plant, it was meltingly tender and unbelievably delicious.</p>
<p>The “F1” stands for “first filial” and it indicates that the seed was produced by hybridising two genetically distinct parent lines. Those parent lines in turn had been produced through years of inbreeding, a process that ensured they would possess and pass on only the qualities that scientists wanted.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Aerial view of two agricultural harvesters cutting and harvesting mature corn on large fields." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440742/original/file-20220113-955-1dih7n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440742/original/file-20220113-955-1dih7n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440742/original/file-20220113-955-1dih7n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440742/original/file-20220113-955-1dih7n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440742/original/file-20220113-955-1dih7n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440742/original/file-20220113-955-1dih7n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440742/original/file-20220113-955-1dih7n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Most maize grown today is hybrid corn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/above-view-two-agricultural-harvesters-they-1841838514">Roman023_photography/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>My F1 hybrids had been through a process of genetic standardisation in which professional plant breeders had eliminated many potential sources of variability among them. I could expect plants of about the same size, ears of uniform colour, and that they’d all develop at roughly the same rate.</p>
<p>Historical accounts often pinpoint <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740022819000354">the invention and rapid adoption</a> of F1 hybrid corn from the 1940s, initially in the midwestern “corn belt” of the United States, as a turning point in agricultural history. In Iowa, the heart of the corn belt, hybrid varieties accounted for 1% of corn acres planted in 1933. By 1945, they represented <a href="https://cas.cgiar.org/sites/default/files/pdf/77.pdf">90%</a>.</p>
<p>For some observers, hybrid corn represented <a href="https://www.genetics.org/content/148/3/923.short">a first triumph</a> of the science of genetics, in which better understanding of the principles of heredity led to improvements in agricultural productivity and economic gains.</p>
<p>For others, it was more <a href="https://monthlyreviewarchives.org/index.php/mr/article/view/MR-038-03-1986-07_5">a triumph of capital</a>. The genetic makeup of a hybrid line means that subsequent generations grown from its seeds aren’t as productive as the parent plant. As a result, farmers cannot save their own seeds but instead must purchase fresh hybrid seeds each season. For seed companies, the most important outcome of the F1 hybrid method was not more productive varieties but a guaranteed revenue stream through the <a href="https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/2659.htm">commodification of the seed</a>.</p>
<p>Geneticists and corn breeders were inclined to see the swift uptake of hybrid corn as a good thing. But some found the speed at which midwestern cornfields “upgraded” from eclectic assemblages of locally adapted varieties to homogeneous stands of hybrid varieties disconcerting. The botanist and geneticist Edgar Anderson <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2394369">warned his colleagues</a> in 1944 that “the whole genetic pattern of <em>Zea mays</em> [corn]” had been “catastrophically overhauled”.</p>
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<img alt="Assortment of vegetable seeds for sale." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440744/original/file-20220113-15-op65zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440744/original/file-20220113-15-op65zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440744/original/file-20220113-15-op65zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440744/original/file-20220113-15-op65zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440744/original/file-20220113-15-op65zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440744/original/file-20220113-15-op65zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440744/original/file-20220113-15-op65zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Growing hybrid varieties often requires farmers to purchase fresh seed each year, rather than saving it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/minsk-belarus-march-20-2018-agriculture-1058124995">ArtCookStudio/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Anderson thought that there was still a lot to learn from the older varieties – including information that might make new hybrid corn still more productive. But without farmers to plant these, and save their seed from season to season, they weren’t likely to be available long to study. He called on his colleagues to think of some way to organise their conservation. Perhaps some farmers could be paid to grow them, he thought.</p>
<p>Neither Anderson nor any other scientists mobilised to systematically preserve farmers’ varieties in the US midwest. But when they learned of new state agricultural programs in Mexico, Brazil and other Latin American countries setting up shop in the 1940s and heard of hybrid seed companies making inroads with their commercial varieties, alarm bells went off. What if new corn varieties swept across these countries just as they had across the US?</p>
<p>This prospect was worrying because of the tremendous diversity of <a href="https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jbsc/037/05/0843-0855">maize varieties</a> grown across Latin America. Farmers harvested wide-kernelled <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/5185264337">white flour corn</a>, slender <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/5185322195/">red popcorn</a>, deep purple <a href="https://repositorio.inia.gob.pe/bitstream/20.500.12955/996/1/Manrique-Maiz_Morado_Peruano.pdf">flint corn</a> and more. They grew towering <a href="https://www.cimmyt.org/news/saving-the-giant/">20-foot giants</a> and scrubby desert bushes. Some types were dried and ground for flour and others eaten fresh as a vegetable. The manifestations of maize were as diverse and distinctive as the peoples who grew them.</p>
<p>An anticipated transition away from these diverse landraces explains the rapid mobilisation and almost bewildering ambition of the Maize Committee in the 1950s. The committee members assumed they had about a decade in which to gather farmers’ locally adapted varieties before hybrid corn and other professionally bred products overtook them.</p>
<p>The Maize Committee did not want to stop this transition. Most members were corn breeders themselves and all thought that the introduction of breeders’ “improved” lines, hybrid or otherwise, represented agricultural progress in form of higher grain yields and greater economic returns. That’s why they felt it safe to assume that farmers would inevitably shift from their locally adapted landraces to seeds of new varieties. Surely, they thought, it would be in farmers’ best interest to grow the best that scientific breeding had to offer?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Labelled jars of maize seeds on a shelf." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441101/original/file-20220117-25-1xy664b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441101/original/file-20220117-25-1xy664b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441101/original/file-20220117-25-1xy664b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441101/original/file-20220117-25-1xy664b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441101/original/file-20220117-25-1xy664b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441101/original/file-20220117-25-1xy664b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441101/original/file-20220117-25-1xy664b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A maize seed bank in Ames, Iowa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Helen Curry</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The Maize Committee therefore pursued the preservation of corn varieties they considered in danger of disappearing —- which is to say, all “indigenous strains” —- as samples in refrigerated storage. The main collections of these samples were sited at agricultural research stations in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Farmers were superfluous to this model of conservation. Maintaining crop diversity was a task for technical workers at central research facilities and not farmers in far-flung rural communities.</p>
<p>In 1956, with more than 12,000 samples collected and stored “in perpetuity” according to this model, the Maize Committee declared its conservation enterprise a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02985328">resounding success</a>.</p>
<h2>Hopi blue corn</h2>
<p>In setting out their conservation objectives and methods, the members of the Maize Committee assumed a singular, inexorable trajectory of agricultural development. Farmers would surely adopt breeders’ new varieties as these were introduced. Locally adapted varieties of maize and other crops that scientists categorised variously as “indigenous”, “native”, and “primitive” would give way to “improved” and “modern” lines. In the process farmers would transition, too, casting off approaches to cultivation usually denigrated as “primitive” or “backwards”. It was not a matter of whether these shifts would happen, but when.</p>
<p>This projection of inevitable cultural and agricultural change informed not only the work of the Maize Committee but also the efforts of many scientists who engaged in the <a href="https://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/_migrated/uploads/tx_news/Scientists__plants_and_politics_240_01.pdf">conservation of crop diversity</a> in the decades that followed. They <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/105366/727.pdf?sequence=3#page=33">constructed seed and gene banks</a> to preserve the world’s “primitive” and “traditional” crop varieties, assuming a world in which neither these varieties nor the modes of farming that sustained them would survive.</p>
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<img alt="Girl in white clothing peeling a raw blue corn cob with green leaves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440749/original/file-20220113-23-1ka5lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440749/original/file-20220113-23-1ka5lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440749/original/file-20220113-23-1ka5lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440749/original/file-20220113-23-1ka5lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440749/original/file-20220113-23-1ka5lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440749/original/file-20220113-23-1ka5lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440749/original/file-20220113-23-1ka5lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hopi blue corn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mexican-girl-white-traditional-clothing-peeling-641202910">Victoria Tori Dim/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Internationally coordinated seed banking projects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cuag.12072">intensified in the late 1960s</a> when “agricultural modernisation” was seen to accelerate in developing countries, thanks especially to the creation of new “high-yielding varieties” and aid programmes that sought to embed these as widely as possible.</p>
<p>Yet even as an international infrastructure for seed bank based conservation took shape, researchers began poking holes in the extinction narrative that sustained it.</p>
<p>One especially disruptive piece of evidence was the discovery that, in some places, farmers didn’t change over to newly introduced “high yielding” crop varieties, even when they had an opportunity to do so. Or that when farmers did adopt new seed, they also kept continued growing the older types, too. As a result, varieties slated for inevitable extinction in the 1950s hadn’t disappeared.</p>
<p>They still haven’t. Another variety I coaxed out of the soil last summer was Hopi blue corn. I wasn’t sure whether the British climate would be to the liking of these seeds, which trace their origins to the deserts of the American south-west and the labour of generations of <a href="https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/heart-hopi">Hopi farmers</a>. To my delight, however, the seeds I planted eventually produced gorgeous ears of plump, lavender-coloured kernels. These were chewy and nutty, and only delicately sweet, making a more satisfying savoury side than their hybrid neighbours did.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women in dungarees crouches by a vegetable bed with tall maize plants." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441102/original/file-20220117-17-1k3jb72.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441102/original/file-20220117-17-1k3jb72.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441102/original/file-20220117-17-1k3jb72.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441102/original/file-20220117-17-1k3jb72.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441102/original/file-20220117-17-1k3jb72.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441102/original/file-20220117-17-1k3jb72.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441102/original/file-20220117-17-1k3jb72.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author tending her maize crop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Andrew Buskell</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This type of corn, along with others originating among Hopi and neighbouring Native American communities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2014.3">who have cultivated corn</a> in the hot, dry south-west for thousands of years, were among those targeted by the Maize Committee in the 1950s. The committee assumed their fields represented some of the only remaining sites of significant maize diversity north of the US-Mexico border and dispatched the ethnobotanist Hugh Cutler to collect there in 1953.</p>
<p>As he travelled to pueblos of the south-west, Cutler encountered many farmers growing blue maize varieties. He learned that these were preferred for their tolerance of drought and resistance against insect pests and because they produced excellent flour.</p>
<p>Cutler and the Maize Committee imagined these seeds and others obtained from Native American farmers would only remain safe in perpetuity in the seed bank – unlike in farmers’ fields where, according to Cutler, many growers had already “practically ceased to grow their old kinds of corn”.</p>
<p>Three decades later, a trio of researchers <a href="https://www.nativeseeds.org/blogs/the-seedhead-news/no-29-summer-solstice-1990">visited farmers of the same region</a>. Seeking to document the diversity of crops still in cultivation in the late 1980s, they focused in on Hopi farmers.</p>
<p>After visiting more than 50 growers in 1988 and 1989, they concluded that the fields of Hopi farmers were “dominated by Hopi crop varieties”. These were better suited to the harsh desert environment than commercial alternatives and treasured for ceremonial and other specific uses.</p>
<p>These findings confirmed a pattern that researchers had observed repeatedly by the early 1990s. Many farmers continued to grow diverse “traditional” crop varieties, despite expectations to the contrary.</p>
<p>Maize fields in the Mexican highlands, potato plots in Peru, rice paddies in Thailand: these and other spaces where anthropologists and botanists discovered farmers’ varieties <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00889077">still in cultivation</a> suggested that “modernisation” was not the singular, all-encompassing pathway often imagined.</p>
<p>In fact, farmers had <a href="https://doi.org/10.3763/ijas.2007.0291">many reasons to maintain diversity</a>. Growing lines with different characteristics, and which would respond differently to drought or heat or wind, offered security against bad weather and unpredictable climates. Some varieties were valued for qualities that professional plant breeders neglected, everything from prized flavours to the ability to be stored for long periods. And sometimes breeders’ new offerings just didn’t grow as well or produce as much as established local varieties did.</p>
<p>A new conservation vision emerged on the heels of these observations, informed by the realisation that so-called “traditional” farmers had a deep knowledge of farming methods and the environments in which they lived. </p>
<p>New “on-farm” <a href="https://www.bioversityinternational.org/research-portfolio/conservation-of-crop-diversity/">conservation programmes</a> aimed to support the farmers cultivating local varieties. Activists and scientists organised community-run seed banks. Participatory breeding programmes helped farmers enhance the productiveness of local varieties and thus keep them in cultivation. These and other projects encouraged conservation on farms by farmers – rather than in cold storage facilities run by technicians.</p>
<p>Programmes like these would help sustain farmers and communities who had not benefited from the top-down agricultural development of previous decades. And rather than dictate farmers’ transformation from “traditional” into “modern”, they would recognise the value of diverse communities and cultures. They would contribute to not only communities’ survival, but also their flourishing.</p>
<p>The contrast between this approach to conservation and the cold-storage model espoused by the Maize Committee could hardly be more stark.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two cobs of red corn and one white-blue on a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441104/original/file-20220117-25-58cwtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441104/original/file-20220117-25-58cwtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441104/original/file-20220117-25-58cwtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441104/original/file-20220117-25-58cwtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441104/original/file-20220117-25-58cwtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441104/original/file-20220117-25-58cwtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441104/original/file-20220117-25-58cwtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blue and red corn from the author’s garden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Andrew Buskell</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Double red sweetcorn</h2>
<p>Since the 1990s, efforts to ensure the survival of the world’s maize diversity have taken a variety of forms.</p>
<p>Most state-led conservation activity remains centred on cold storage in seed banks. When studies in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that seed banks often <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/ced-81-75.pdf">struggled to maintain samples</a> in the ideal conditions demanded for successful long-term conservation, collection managers responded by <a href="https://cropgenebank.sgrp.cgiar.org/index.php/procedures-mainmenu-242/safety-duplication-mainmenu-207">duplicating their collections</a> and sending the copy for safekeeping at another facility.</p>
<p>This recourse to copying was a tacit acknowledgement of <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/lack-diversity-lack-funding-seed-banks-face-world-challenges-180959409/">the challenges faced</a> in keeping seeds alive in cold storage, especially in contexts where governments failed to cough up the required financial support.</p>
<p>Over time it produced an elaborate system of back up. Today this system has reached its apex in the <a href="https://www.croptrust.org/our-work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/">Svalbard Global Seed Vault</a>. Its holdings include <a href="https://www.cimmyt.org/multimedia/preserving-the-legacy-of-biodiversity/">copies of the preeminent global maize collection</a> of the International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat in Mexico. The Svalbard vault is seen by many people as the ultimate guarantor that crop diversity will survive for future generations to use.</p>
<p>But others disagree. Participatory breeding programs, community seed banks, subsidies to “seed guardians” and other farm and farmer-centred programmes run counter to the idea that diverse varieties must inevitably disappear from fields and therefore be frozen to survive. In this view, seed banks may be an important safeguard, but never the only sites where genetic diversity is kept alive. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1370434712062337035"}"></div></p>
<p>There is also a growing movement to protect and, where needed, <a href="https://lithub.com/seedkeeper-rowen-white-on-the-rematriation-of-seeds-to-their-native-lands/">to restore the crop varieties</a> traditional to certain communities as a means of <a href="https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-seeds-the-heart-of-the-struggle-for-food-sovereignty/">defending sovereignty</a> over land and food. The network <a href="https://braidingthesacred.org/">Braiding the Sacred</a> brings together Native and Indigenous corn growers to share knowledge, practice – and seeds – with the aim of increasing the cultivation of traditional maize, as well as other foods.</p>
<p>Seed banks have occasionally played a significant role in farm-based conservation programmes, for example by <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2021/10/native-american-food-sovereignty-alliance-honors-seed-rematriation-through-short-film/">“rematriating” seeds</a> of varieties otherwise lost to growers. And as the changing climate, water stress and resource shortages intensify the challenges to global agriculture, creating demands on breeders to produce resilient crop varieties, scientists’ access to seed-banked materials is more important <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15427528.2011.609928">than ever before</a>.</p>
<p>But crop diversity saved on a farm and in the bank are different. Seeds sown and harvested are seeds in motion, not just geographically but genetically. </p>
<p>A good example of this is a recent seed sensation. <a href="https://www.nativeseeds.org/pages/glass-gem-corn">Glass gem corn</a> burst onto the scene in the 2010s, thanks in large part to the glittering multi-coloured kernels from which it derives its name.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JMJ2zxTMypE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Although it has been described as a “poster child for the return to heirloom seeds”, glass gem is not an old variety but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-story-behind-glass-gem-corn-2013-10?r=US&IR=T">a new one</a>. Its creator, the Oklahoman Carl Barnes, started collecting corn varieties in the 1940s, inspired by memories of the corn grown by his Cherokee grandfather. He especially prized varieties associated with Native American communities, which he gathered from across the country.</p>
<p>Barnes was interested in preserving history, but for him this didn’t mean keeping varieties as static as museum samples. It meant cultivating. And it especially meant mixing. Barnes allowed different kinds to cross-pollinate in the fields and selected new types from the subsequent mosaic.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, a small, rainbow-kernelled line that Barnes developed from a mix of a few varieties caught the eye of another corn enthusiast, who started growing the seeds in New Mexico. There it cross-pollinated with larger, local flour corns, before making its way <a href="https://www.nativeseeds.org/blogs/blog-news/the-story-of-glass-gem-corn-beauty-history-and-hope">into the hands</a> of the director of an heirloom seed organisation and to eventually into internet fame and impressively widespread cultivation.</p>
<p>The story of glass gem is an outlier among seed conservation stories. Accounts of nearly vanished varieties, recovered intact as they were once grown, often from an isolated farmer or an aged gardener, are far more common. Recovery, revival, and narrow escapes from extinction feature centrally in these stories.</p>
<p>Glass gem reminds us that there is also potential for conservation in motion as well as in stasis, in reinvention alongside restoration. Diversity is not just something we can lose if we aren’t careful. It is something we can create.</p>
<p>I couldn’t get my hands on any glass gem seeds, so I tracked down another striking corn variety attributed to recent remixing. My <a href="https://www.seedsavers.org/double-red-organic-corn">double red sweet corn</a>, which I bought from a UK supplier, originated in handiwork of breeder Alan Kapuler of <a href="http://www.peaceseedslive.com/">Peace Seeds</a> in Oregon, USA.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A freshly harvested red corn on the cob." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441105/original/file-20220117-27-191po11.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441105/original/file-20220117-27-191po11.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441105/original/file-20220117-27-191po11.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441105/original/file-20220117-27-191po11.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441105/original/file-20220117-27-191po11.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441105/original/file-20220117-27-191po11.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441105/original/file-20220117-27-191po11.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s harvested double red maize.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Andrew Buskell</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A collector and cultivator of crop diversity since the 1970s, Kapuler today specialises in breeding new varieties from his diverse seed stocks. Double red is one product of Kapuler’s 15 years’ work with sweet corns high in anthocyanin pigments, including some originating among Hopi farmers. It is visually striking: deep red stalks and leaves and an equally red husk that is peeled back to reveal an ear of sparkling crimson kernels.</p>
<p>My harvest of double red was disappointing in comparison to the more abundant output of the F1 hybrid and Hopi sweet corn. I ended up with just a couple of ears, beautiful but devoured in a flash. Still, double red is even more new to my corner of the world than to Oregon and might need to adapt to the climate and soils I can provide.</p>
<p>That’s why I’ve saved some seeds of double red to sow next year. It’s a painfully small step, but it’s one I’m making in solidarity with a conservation agenda that my research has taught me can, and should, be centred on renewal, change and creativity.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Anne Curry receives funding from the Wellcome Trust.</span></em></p>
A historian argues for conservation strategies that embrace creativity and diverse farming methods.
Helen Anne Curry, Associate Professor in History of Modern Science and Technology, University of Cambridge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/174516
2022-01-13T19:25:59Z
2022-01-13T19:25:59Z
With fewer animals to spread their seeds, plants could have trouble adapting to climate change
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440528/original/file-20220112-15-fvjp9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C17%2C5751%2C3854&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Bohemian waxwing eating mountain ash berries.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/2krywR2">Lisa Hupp, USFWS/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picture a mature, broad-branched tree like an oak, maple or fig. How does it reproduce so that its offspring don’t grow up in its shadow, fighting for light?</p>
<p>The answer is seed dispersal. Plants have evolved many strategies for spreading their seeds away from the parent plant. Some produce seedlings that <a href="https://www.treespnw.com/resources/2017/9/28/maple-seeds-natures-helicopters">float on the wind</a>. Others have fruits that actually explode, <a href="https://carnegiemnh.org/its-my-flower-witch-hazel/">ejecting their seeds</a>.</p>
<p>And more than half of all plants rely on wildlife to disperse their seeds. This typically happens when animals eat fruits from plants or carry away their nuts, then excrete or drop the seeds somewhere else. In tropical rainforests, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/9780851994321.0000">animals disperse the seeds of up to 90% of tree species</a>. </p>
<p>Today the Earth is losing species at a rapid rate, potentially representing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-mass-extinction-and-are-we-in-one-now-122535">sixth mass extinction</a> in its history. In a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk3510">newly published study</a>, we examine what this loss means for seed dispersal, focusing on birds and mammals that disperse fleshy-fruited plants. </p>
<p>We assessed how seed dispersers help plants shift their geographic ranges to reach habitats newly suitable for growth – a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.292.5517.673">crucial mechanism for surviving climate change</a>. If not enough seeds disperse to track the environmental conditions like temperature and precipitation that plants require, the plants could be stuck in settings where they will struggle to survive. This could lead to losses of plant species, along with the valuable products and services they provide, ranging from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1667">food</a> to <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1501105">carbon storage</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0m6AjWZ2p8I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers follow brown spider monkeys in a Colombian tropical forest to determine which plant seeds they are dispersing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new era for plant movement</h2>
<p>Animals have been dispersing seeds for millions of years, but the relationships between plants and their seed dispersers have changed dramatically in our modern era.</p>
<p>Berries in California are no longer eaten by grizzly bears, which <a href="http://www.laalmanac.com/environment/ev15.php">disappeared from the state a century ago</a>. On the island of Madagascar, seeds no longer travel in the bellies of <a href="https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/biodiversity/lemurs-of-madagascar/article-lemurs-in-madagascar-then">gorilla-sized lemurs</a>, which went extinct there about 2,300 years ago. In France, seeds don’t catch a ride on the fur of <a href="https://www.earthtouchnews.com/discoveries/fossils/dna-reveals-the-true-identity-of-the-prehistoric-cave-lion/">lions</a> or between the toes of rhinos that once lived there, as shown in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvet_Cave#/media/File:Rhinos_Chauvet_Cave.jpg">prehistoric cave paintings</a>. When animals disperse seeds today, their movement is often hampered by roads, farms or built-up areas. </p>
<p>For most animal-dispersed plants – especially those with large seeds, which require large animals like <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/btp.12627">tapirs</a>, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/amazing-african-elephants-may-transport-seeds-farther-any-other-land-animal">elephants</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120062">hornbills</a> to spread them – these changes mean a big reduction in seed dispersal, and a great slowdown of plant movement.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dung pile with sprouts growing upward" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440529/original/file-20220112-21-1eg09ll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seedlings sprouting from elephant dung in Malaysia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahimsa Campos Arceiz</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research by our team and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012221-111742">work by many colleagues</a> have uncovered the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=nNoGtVQAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate">negative ecological consequences</a> that <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7qLnPUgAAAAJ&hl=en">occur</a> when <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fYAJtfsAAAAJ&hl=en">seed dispersers</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=we7WLk8AAAAJ&hl=en">disappear</a>. Now researchers are assessing how seed dispersal decline is affecting plants’ responses to climate change.</p>
<h2>Quantifying what’s been lost</h2>
<p>Only a small fraction of the thousands of seed disperser species and tens of thousands of animal-dispersed plant species have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22199">studied</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2011.01.014">directly</a>. Many seed disperser species are extinct or so rare that they can’t be studied at all.</p>
<p>To overcome this challenge, we pulled together data from published studies showing which bird and mammal seed dispersers eat which fruits, how far they spread the seeds, and how their digestive systems’ effects on the seeds help or hinder germination. These three steps together describe what’s required for successful seed dispersal: A seed must be removed from the mother plant, travel some distance away from it and survive to become a seedling. </p>
<p>Next, we used <a href="https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/machine-learning-explained">machine learning</a> to generate predictions for seed dispersal, based on the traits of each species. For example, data on a medium-sized thrush in North America could help us model how a medium-sized thrush species from Asia dispersed seeds, even if the Asian species wasn’t studied directly. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tapir browses on leaves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440530/original/file-20220112-25-l7d09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lowland tapirs like this one in Mato Grosso, Brazil, globally classified as vulnerable, are important seed dispersers in tropical forests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_tapir#/media/File:Lowland_Tapir_(Tapirus_terrestris)_browsing_leaves_..._(27931351641).jpg">Bernard Dupont/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using our trained model, we could estimate seed dispersal by every bird and mammal species – even rare or extinct species for which there isn’t any species-specific data on the seed dispersal process.</p>
<p>The last step was to compare current seed dispersal to what would be happening if extinctions and species range contractions hadn’t happened. For fleshy-fruited plants, we estimate that because of bird and mammal losses, 60% fewer seeds are being dispersed far enough worldwide to keep pace with climate change by shifting locations. Further, we estimate that if currently endangered seed disperser species such as bonobos, savanna elephants and helmeted hornbills became extinct, global seed dispersal would decline by an additional 15%. </p>
<p>The impact of past seed disperser declines has been greatest in areas including North America, Europe and the southern part of South America. Future losses of endangered species would have their most severe impacts in areas including Southeast Asia and Madagascar.</p>
<p>With fewer seed dispersers present, fewer seeds will be moved far enough to enable plants to adapt to climate change by shifting their ranges.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing regions where climate-tracking seed dispersal has declined most sharply." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440526/original/file-20220112-27-dxk522.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Areas with with brighter red coloration have lost more climate-tracking seed dispersal function. Areas with brighter blue coloration stand to lose more of their remaining seed dispersal function if endangered species there go extinct.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk3510">Fricke et al., 2022</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seed dispersers help sustain forests</h2>
<p>Seed dispersal also helps forests and other natural ecosystems recover from disturbances like wildfire and deforestation. This means that mammals and birds play a major role in sustaining natural vegetation. </p>
<p>Most forest recovery around the world happens through seed dispersal and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab79e6">natural forest regrowth</a> rather than via people planting trees. Seed dispersal by animals is especially important for tropical forests, which can <a href="https://theconversation.com/tropical-forests-can-recover-surprisingly-quickly-on-deforested-lands-and-letting-them-regrow-naturally-is-an-effective-and-low-cost-way-to-slow-climate-change-173302">grow back relatively quickly after they are logged or burned</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Seed dispersers also promote biodiversity by helping to ensure that a large number of plant species can survive and thrive. Ecosystems that contain many plant species with diverse genetic makeups are better equipped to handle uncertain futures, and to sustain the <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/ecosystemservices/">ecosystem functions</a> that humans rely on, such as storing carbon, producing food and timber, filtering water and controlling floods and erosion. </p>
<p>There are ways to increase seed dispersal. Making sure patches of similar habitats <a href="https://ipbes.net/glossary/habitat-connectivity">are connected</a> helps species move among them. Restoring populations of important seed dispersers, ranging from toucans to bears to elephants, will also help. And global models of seed dispersal like ours can help scientists and land managers think about seed dispersers as a nature-based solution for addressing climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174516/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Fricke receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alejandro Ordonez receives funding from the Aarhus University Research Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Haldre Rogers receives funding from the US National Science Foundation and the US Department of Defense's Joint Region Marianas and Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. She is affiliated with the nonprofit organization, Tåno Tåsi yan Todu. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jens Christian Svenning receives funding from numerous research funding agencies and private foundations, currently mainly VILLUM Fonden, Independent Research Fund Denmark, European Commission, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and Danida Fellowship Centre. He is on the Supervisory Board for Rewilding Europe.</span></em></p>
Forests around the world will need to shift their ranges to adapt to climate change. But many trees and plants rely on animals to spread their seeds widely, and those partners are declining.
Evan Fricke, Faculty Fellow in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University
Alejandro Ordonez, Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology, Aarhus University
Haldre Rogers, Associate Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Jens-Christian Svenning, Professor of ecology, Aarhus University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162345
2021-06-14T15:05:49Z
2021-06-14T15:05:49Z
Ghana’s farmers aren’t all seeing the fruits of a Green Revolution
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405891/original/file-20210611-17-1wg4uxe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana's Green Revolution has not been as successful as portrayed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta-eu/48742492442/">Wikimedia Commons/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Global businesses, donors and governments have each pursued a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002302">Green Revolution agenda</a> in Africa, Asia and South America since the 1960s. Its aim was, in theory, to produce more food, reducing food insecurity and poverty. This was done via improved seed varieties, chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals. </p>
<p>However, rates of hunger continued to increase alongside the uptake of these <a href="https://civileats.com/2008/07/20/seeking-global-food-justice-an-interview-with-raj-patel/">agricultural technologies</a>. They have also been <a href="https://www.nathab.com/blog/when-going-green-isnt-good-climate-change-and-the-green-revolution/">criticised</a> for the carbon they produce and the amount of water they use.</p>
<p>Despite the failings of the first Green Revolution, a second wave emerged in the early 21st century, this time primarily targeting the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002302">African continent</a>. National policies across a number of African countries have supported this agenda. In Ghana, for example, the government worked with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063?journalCode=jasa">donor organisations and the private sector</a> to extend the Green Revolution throughout its major food producing areas. </p>
<p>The Brong Ahafo region, now divided into Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions, is one such area. This <a href="https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1480&context=abe_eng_conf">zone</a> is often referred to as the “food basket” of Ghana. It <a href="https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1480&context=abe_eng_conf">leads</a> the production of maize and other major staple crops. It is also a favoured location for experiments with agricultural modernisation, because its ecological conditions suit food crop cultivation.</p>
<p>We designed a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063">study</a> to analyse drivers of this second Green Revolution in the Brong Ahafo region. It included key champions of this agricultural transformation agenda. We also aimed to assess its impacts at the local level and on different categories of farmers. </p>
<p>Our study found that international donors and philanthropic organisations were central in driving Green Revolution technologies in this region. Despite the hopes – and hype – pinned on this second Green Revolution, it has failed to address the needs of poor farmers. It hasn’t reduced poverty. Rather, it has increased farm input costs, farmer indebtedness and inequalities among farmers. </p>
<p>Given these outcomes, there is an urgent need to re-imagine agricultural transformation. It is farmers – not donors and philanthropists - who are best placed to lead a socially just and environmentally responsible farming future in Ghana. </p>
<h2>Drivers of farming technologies</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i6583e/i6583e.pdf">dominant view</a> among government and industry stakeholders is that the current Green Revolution is vital to make smallholder farming more productive. They call for access to farm inputs and innovations, financial and agricultural services and support, and access to markets.</p>
<p>Our study found many actors in farming communities also shared this view. For instance, representatives from donor organisations such as the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) championed the uptake of external inputs for increasing agricultural production. </p>
<p>Similarly, agricultural extension officers and representatives from local NGOs encouraged farmers to adopt these technologies. Pressure also came from commercial providers of “improved” seeds, chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals. </p>
<p>Through the uptake of these commercial inputs, farmers have become integrated within global agro-input chains. This is unlike the first Green Revolution, when farm inputs were most commonly freely exchanged among farmers. </p>
<p>Our study shows that farmers in the Brong Ahafo region are reluctantly adopting these inputs. They are being told that doing so will help them adapt to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063">changing ecological</a> conditions – including shortened rainfall periods and diminished soil fertility. Such claims are not necessarily matched by farmers’ experiences. </p>
<h2>Different outcomes</h2>
<p>The first Green Revolution has been widely <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/146499341101200308">criticised</a> on the basis of its adverse social and environmental impacts at the local level. Our study of the second Green Revolution in the Brong Ahafo region demonstrates similar trends. These practices of farming have increased the costs of production and put farmers further in debt. Poor and landless migrant farmers are hit hardest. </p>
<p>Although new technologies may have increased yields, they have also raised costs of production – and there are no assured markets for produce. The region has no structured market systems that can ensure farmers generate an income from crops. With bargaining power skewed in favour of buyers, the prices of produce often disadvantage farmers – especially when farm produce is abundant. </p>
<p>But the outcomes are not the same for all farmers. </p>
<p>Commercial farmers who are able to produce in large quantities are often linked to markets through contract buyers who purchase direct from their farms. Their financial and social capital puts these large scale farmers in the best position to benefit from any Green Revolution interventions. Poor and small scale farmers are unable to reap the same rewards. </p>
<p>The high costs of production – through dependence on costly off-farm inputs – and lack of access to ready markets are driving farmers away from food crops and towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghana-wants-to-grow-more-cashews-but-what-about-unintended-consequences-93162">cash crops for export</a>. Such conditions have already threatened local food systems and will continue to do so. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ghanas-smallholders-arent-excited-by-the-latest-green-revolution-134804">Why Ghana's smallholders aren't excited by the latest 'Green Revolution'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>Champions of the second Green Revolution in Africa – including national governments, donors and philanthropists – promise its technologies are the answer for feeding the world, even in an era of climate constraint. Yet the reality on the ground – as borne out in our study with farmers in the Brong Ahafo region in Ghana – tells a different story. </p>
<p>Faced with the challenges of land shortages and changing ecological conditions, alongside insecure and unfair markets, technological interventions alone will not ensure a socially just and environmentally responsible food system. </p>
<p>The many diverse challenges facing farmers in Ghana – and many other parts of Africa – must be met by taking local approaches. These consider the lived experiences and expertise of farmers themselves, and are supported by national agricultural policies and planning. Farmers need space to shape their own livelihoods and to innovate in response to changing ecological conditions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristen Lyons is a senior research fellow with the Oakland Institute and member of the Australian Greens</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boafo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Realities on the ground tell a different story from the claim that a Green Revolution ensures food security and increased income for smallholder farmers in Ghana.
James Boafo, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)
Kristen Lyons, Professor Environment and Development Sociology, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157036
2021-04-21T17:23:04Z
2021-04-21T17:23:04Z
Seedkeeping can connect people with their roots and preserve crops for future generations
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394338/original/file-20210409-23-cu50aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C6699%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cultivating traditional plants is a way of creating a space that is familiar within a new and often alienating environment. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“All seeds are sacred, these seeds are connected to 10,000 years of human relationship to the land,” says Owen Taylor, co-founder of Philadelphia-based <a href="https://trueloveseeds.com/">Truelove Seeds</a>, who sells vegetable, herb and flower seeds that tell ancestral and regional stories. He adds, “seedkeeping refers to not just the saving of seeds, but also the keeping of seed stories, cultural information, traditions, recipes, rituals and so on.” </p>
<p>Taylor says many of the varieties in Truelove’s seed catalogue are seeds that farmers and gardeners have collected from others, through seed exchanges and family lineages. “Most of our growers are on their own search for their beloved varieties — and to provide an outlet for some of the crops from home,” he says. Seeds from Syria to the African diaspora, those that tell the story of Philadelphia’s history and a wide variety of other culturally important seeds are included in the catalogue. </p>
<p>Taylor started Truelove Seeds in 2017, after managing a private heirloom seed collection with over 4,000 varieties. He co-founded the company with Chris Bolden-Newsome as a way to collaborate with farmers in the food sovereignty movement. Their goal was to preserve and make available culturally important seeds while providing mentorship for farmers, an outlet for their seeds and an income stream. </p>
<p>Truelove Seeds uses a profit-sharing model so gardeners and farmers make 50 per cent of every packet sale. Taylor and Bolden-Newsome also host a radio show called “<a href="https://trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio">Seeds and Their People</a>,” which explores stories of seeds and community. </p>
<p>Practices of seedkeeping vary, and each seedkeeper offers their own story and connection to the seeds. Their efforts can create a sense of home, reconnect communities with ancestral crops and preserve biodiversity and culturally significant crops for future generations. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-song-keepers-reveal-traditional-ecological-knowledge-in-music-123573">Indigenous song keepers reveal traditional ecological knowledge in music</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Seedkeeping and creating a familiar space</h2>
<p>“You don’t know how many days you will live in the jungle, so you have to carry the seeds, you carry the seeds for planting and medicine,” says Naw Ta Blu Moo, an interpreter for the Karen refugee community, an Indigenous community from Myanmar, at <a href="https://novickbrothers.com/urban-farm.html">Novick Urban Farm</a> in Philadelphia. </p>
<p>The Karen grow crops such as chilis, cucumber, gourd, bitter melon and the sour <a href="https://trueloveseeds.com/products/chin-baung-burmese-roselle-leaf?_pos=1&_sid=646890fb3&_ss=r">leaf of the roselle plant known as <em>chin baung ywet</em></a>. All sourced from an informal network of seedkeepers and savers from Myanmar, who bring seeds with them to North America, or preserve them and share them within the Karen community in the United States. “The farmers want to do more, and plant more because it helps heal their community,” says Blu Moo. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sour leaf or chin baung ywet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394334/original/file-20210409-13-9om14p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394334/original/file-20210409-13-9om14p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394334/original/file-20210409-13-9om14p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394334/original/file-20210409-13-9om14p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394334/original/file-20210409-13-9om14p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394334/original/file-20210409-13-9om14p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394334/original/file-20210409-13-9om14p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Karen grow crops such as chilis, cucumber, gourd, bitter melon, and sour leaf known as chin baung ywet from seeds sourced from an informal network of seedkeepers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shwe Chit, who fled his village with his family and resettled in Philadelphia because of ongoing conflict in Myanmar’s Kayin State, has spent five years working at Novick Urban Farm, where Karen gardeners can farm plots of land. He says the first year of land preparation was a challenge, but the reward of growing crops is worth it. He now sells his crops, such as winter gourd and hot pepper, at the Novick Urban Farmstand in the summer. </p>
<p>Blu Moo says for the Karen gardeners, finding exact seeds for the community can be difficult. Sometimes, community members thought they had secured the right seed but were wrong — as was the case with chilies; when the fruit came up, it was a Spanish chili, not one from Myanmar.</p>
<p>Terese Gagnon has worked with Karen gardeners for more than a decade, and is the co-editor of the upcoming book <a href="https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/moveable-gardens"><em>Moveable Gardens, Itineraries and Sanctuaries of Memory</em></a>.</p>
<p>She says cultivating plants from home is a way of creating a space that is familiar within a new and often alienating environment. “This includes having access to longed-for flavours, engaging in the physical work of gardening and getting to shape the landscape to have something that visually looks like home.”</p>
<h2>Co-operation and seedkeeping</h2>
<p>In the Arctic town of Svalbard, Norway, an initiative critical to food security and seedkeeping enables seeds to be deposited for future generations. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.croptrust.org/our-work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/">Svalbard Global Seed Vault</a> is a seed storage facility housed in a mountain, where copies of seeds from around the world are kept to prevent both incremental and catastrophic loss of crop diversity. According to the <a href="https://www.croptrust.org/">Crop Trust</a>, there are currently over one million seed samples in the vault, from nearly every country in the world. </p>
<p>Nations can deposit seeds from their <a href="https://www.croptrust.org/our-mission/crop-diversity-why-it-matters/need-genebanks/">genebanks</a> to <a href="https://www.croptrust.org/blog/an-international-rescue-mission-from-syria-to-svalbard/">safeguard them from human conflict or natural disaster</a>. Åsmund Asdal, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault co-ordinator, says that while nations may not be best friends, they co-operate in this important task to protect and preserve their seeds. </p>
<p>“Today, there are seeds from Russia and Ukraine on the same shelf. There are seeds from North Korea and South Korea. Even if countries are quite hostile to each other, they co-operate on this task to take care of the seeds.” The North Korean seeds are in seven wooden boxes made in North Korea, which contain seeds for cabbage, beans, barely and buckwheat, says Asdal. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="building with mountain in the back" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394337/original/file-20210409-23-1gebthd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C4131%2C2490&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394337/original/file-20210409-23-1gebthd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394337/original/file-20210409-23-1gebthd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394337/original/file-20210409-23-1gebthd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394337/original/file-20210409-23-1gebthd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394337/original/file-20210409-23-1gebthd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394337/original/file-20210409-23-1gebthd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seed bank on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reuniting seeds and community</h2>
<p>Tiffany Traverse of Peace River, B.C., is sowing seeds of <em>qwléwe</em>, or nodding onion, and other Indigenous crops. She says nodding onion is often destroyed by urban sprawl and tourists trying to access trails to the river. She is carefully transplanting the <em>qwléwe</em> to safer places so they can once again thrive. </p>
<p>Traverse, originally from Secwepemcúlecw territory, was mentored by one of the leaders of the seedkeeping movement, <a href="https://www.nativeseedpod.org/podcast/2018/episode-1-the-natural-law-of-seeds">Mohawk seedkeeper Rowen White</a>. </p>
<p>She founded <a href="https://www.facebook.com/4thsisterfarm/">Fourth Sister Farm</a>, where she works to provide access to healthy and culturally relevant seeds and foods, and uses traditional growing practices such as <a href="https://www.almanac.com/content/planting-by-the-moon">moon-phase planting</a>.</p>
<p>“What I’m doing is I’m stewarding those seeds to be returned back to the nations or the people or the communities they are linked to,” says Traverse. She’s referring to crops such as beans, tomatoes and squash, which she grows and returns to their respective communities — which can include sharing, teaching about seed saving, growing and recipes. </p>
<p>This process can also be referred to as rematriation. “Rematriation,” says Traverse, “is to return the seed ancestors home to their peoples and communities.” She believes by keeping and sowing seeds she is asking: “How are we going to help each other out? How will we lift each other up and grow these seeds out and share them back into the community?” </p>
<p>Gagnon says much of the work is about having to make spaces of sanctuary within a time of precarity. “Seeds weigh nothing and are designed to travel great distances,” says Gagnon. “Seeds are important companions with which people make home and create a sense of continuity, a cohesion to life, even when forced to be on the move or perpetually in-between.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Jesionka does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Seedkeeping can create a sense of home, reconnect communities with ancestral crops and preserve biodiversity and culturally significant crops for future generations.
Natalie Jesionka, Dalla Lana Global Journalism Fellow, University of Toronto
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/155896
2021-03-10T16:25:40Z
2021-03-10T16:25:40Z
How Cabo Verde indigenous beans could boost food security
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388543/original/file-20210309-17-5653pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Farmers, Rui Vaz village, Santiago island, Cape Verde</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/farmers-rui-vaz-village-santiago-island-cape-verde-image62196524.html">https://www.alamy.com/farmers-rui-vaz-village-santiago-island-cape-verde-image62196524.html</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With just over half a million inhabitants, Cabo Verde is heavily dependent on food imports. It spent $65 million <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/daily_update_e/trade_profiles/CV_e.pdf">importing</a> food products in 2018. </p>
<p>This dependence on food imports puts the country in a vulnerable situation when it comes to food security. According to Food and Agricultural Organisation, Cabo Verde has not yet eradicated hunger, with about <a href="http://www.west-africa-brief.org/content/en/partners-help-cabo-verde-cope-food-insecurity#:%7E:text=Cabo%20Verde%20has%20reported%20almost,are%20currently%20facing%20food%20insecurity.">5.3% of its population</a> suffering from food insecurity. </p>
<p>There are other challenges too. Cabo Verde is located in the Sahelian arid and semiarid region which means there is sporadic rainfall. Agriculture in the archipelago is <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/106069/CSA%20profile%20Cabo%20Verde.pdf">highly dependent on rainfall</a>. Poor soil and limited water resources make the situation even more critical. Limited agro-industrial production with outdated and noncompetitive manufacturing industry are factors too. </p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1080752">accentuated</a> this vulnerability, primarily by the big impact it had on the issues of employment and household income. The archipelago depends heavily on <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/cabo-verde-tourism#:%7E:text=In%202019%2C%20Cabo%20Verde%20welcomed,coming%20from%20the%20United%20Kingdom.">tourism</a> </p>
<p>Agriculture on the islands is anchored in staple foods, such as corn and beans. Also, to a minor extent, pumpkin, cassava, sugar cane, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. The diet of the population mainly relies on cereals - maize, rice, and wheat - vegetables, starchy roots, and fish.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/2/206">research</a> looked at how legumes could help prevent and combat food insecurity. We concluded that legumes grown on the island are an excellent, yet relatively inexpensive, source of essential nutrients and minerals. Dry beans are low cost, low fat, low cholesterol and low maintenance - balanced with high macro and micronutrients content, high fibre, high versatility and very long shelf life. </p>
<p>The study also highlighted pulses’ agronomic value, as they occupy most of the agricultural area of Cabo Verde and are highly traded in national markets. </p>
<p>An important outcome of the study is a checklist of legumes used as food. We also collected new data on their native distribution (archipelago and worldwide), common names, and other uses. Added to this is an assessment on which legume species are consumed and traded in Santiago Island, the largest and most populated Cabo Verdean island. </p>
<p>The information will contribute to improving the knowledge of plant genetic resources in Cabo Verde. It will also help to design new strategies and investments to conserve the agronomic value and plant genetic resources of such crops.</p>
<h2>Our research findings</h2>
<p>We focused on the main legume species in Cabo Verde: <em>Cajanus cajan</em> Huth, <em>Lablab purpureus</em> Sweet, <em>Phaseolus vulgaris</em>, <em>Phaseolus lunatus</em> and <em>Vigna unguiculata</em> Walp. </p>
<p>Our results showed that 15 Leguminosae species are recognised as food plants in Cabo Verde. Eleven are non-native and four are native species. About 47% are used in traditional medical practice and 53% as forage. </p>
<p>Among the cultivated species, only three are native to these islands, meaning that those species occur naturally and are part of the ecological basis of the country. They also represent less in terms of agriculture related expenditure and are much easier to cultivate as they are extremely well adapted to local environmental conditions, and are often more nutritious that some introduced crops. </p>
<p>Seeds are the most consumed plant parts in Cabo Verde and are an excellent, yet relatively inexpensive, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/1/74/htm">source</a> of essential nutrients and minerals. They also have enormous potential to combat malnutrition and food insecurity on these islands. This data is in accordance with findings on the importance of pulses in ensuring food security in other island states such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212682114000213">Maluku Islands</a>, <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/156651824.pdf">Pacific Islands</a> and <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca9492en/CA9492EN.pdf">Solomon Islands</a>.</p>
<p>This makes pulses very important especially in many households where people do not have easy access to a wide variety of nutrient sources. </p>
<p><em>Lablab purpureus</em>, one of the relatively most neglected species, showed greater nutritional potential associated with greater climate resilience. This concerns adaptation to drought, a significant fact in terms of sustainability. </p>
<p>Another important finding was the possibility of including bean leaves in Caboverdean diet as a valuable source of antioxidant compounds, phenols and other beneficial elements. Despite being commonly used in other parts of Africa as a food source, in Cabo Verde they are only used in animal feeding. Including these plant parts in Caboverdean diet could be a valuable addition especially in a country where food shortage and malnutrition still prevails. </p>
<p>Beans have great economic and social importance and contribute to food security. They do this both as food and as a source of family income, especially in rural households. This is because of their drought-resistant ability, high nutritional value, and remarkable shelf-stability. </p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>Our research presents legumes in a new light, underlining the fact that they receive little attention from public decision-makers, who have done little to promote their use. They have also failed to include these species in conservation programmes. Consumers also, as they are increasingly replacing beans with less nutritious and functional foods. </p>
<p>Public decision-makers could include some of these under utilised but nutritious seeds in the National Agricultural Development Program, provide support for farmers through seeds distribution initiatives. They can also create a National Germplasm Bank and foster opportunities for national universities and research centres to have more resources to finance research to characterise, evaluate, enhance and preserve these crops. </p>
<p>Some action could also be taken to promote and heighten the general populations consumption of pulses. This could include native bean species in the <a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/nutrition/docs/policies_programmes/Good_practices/16.FSNL_Fact_sheet-School_Meals_in_Cabo_Verde.pdf">Scholar Canteens Program</a>, and public awareness campaigns on the nutritional and functional value of beans seeds and leaves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study was developed by a multidisciplinary team of Cape Verdean and Portuguese researchers, including the author of this summary, and within the scope of the project “CV- AGROBIODIVERSITY - climate change and plant genetic resources: the neglected potential of the endemic Cabo Verde flora ”financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Development Network of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKDN). The involved institutions were: LEAF and CENTROP from Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), CE3C from Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon , CIBIO/InBIO from University of Azores, Nova School of Business and Economics, University of Cabo Verde, CEsA from Higher Institute of Economics and Management – ISEG/UL and MEtRICs/DCTB from New University of Lisbon – Faculty of Sciences and Technology. The full list of author may be viewed at <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10020206">https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10020206</a></span></em></p>
Indigenous beans could enhance food security in Cabo Verde which depends on food imports.
Anyse Sofia Fernandes Pereira Essoh, PhD Student Tropical Knowledge and Managment at Nova SBE (specializes in genetics and agrobiotechnology), Nova School of Business and Economics
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/151672
2021-03-01T13:16:26Z
2021-03-01T13:16:26Z
Why do flowers smell?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376865/original/file-20201231-17-b5tlb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A floral scent can be enjoyable for a person, but it has an important job for the flower.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard L. Harkess</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why do flowers smell? – Henry E., Age 9, Somerville, Massachusetts</strong></p>
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<p>Imagine walking through a tropical forest as a sweet scent wafts through the air. A little farther down the path, the putrid stench of rotting flesh makes you catch your breath. Upon investigation, you find that both odors originate from flowers – but why do flowers smell like anything at all?</p>
<p>It’s actually part of a strategy that helps flowering plants reproduce themselves and spread their species. Certain scents help these flowers solve a big problem.</p>
<p>Plants flower to produce seeds that can go on to become new plants. To make a viable seed, pollen from one part of the flower must <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/What_is_Pollination/">fertilize the ovules</a> in another part of the flower. <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/What_is_Pollination/birdsandbees.shtml">Some plants can self-pollinate</a>, using their own pollen to fertilize the ovule. Others require pollen from another plant of the same species – that’s called <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/What_is_Pollination/birdsandbees.shtml">cross-pollination</a>.</p>
<p>So how does one plant get some other individual plant’s pollen where it needs to be?</p>
<p>Sometimes gravity helps pollen fall into place. Sometimes wind carries it. Wind-pollinated flowers, like those of many trees and grasses, don’t produce a scent.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bee transfers pollen from one blossom to another" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382302/original/file-20210203-21-1afen3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Animal pollinators can carry pollen from one flower’s stigma to another flower’s ovule as they forage for food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/the-process-of-cross-pollination-with-bee-royalty-free-illustration/1060121100">ttsz/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
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<p>Other flowers are pollinated by birds, bats, insects or even small rodents carrying the pollen from one flower to another. In these cases, the flowers might provide a little incentive. <a href="https://www.esa.org/blog/2018/04/04/vertebrate-polinator-metaanalysis/">Animal pollinators are rewarded</a> by sweet energy- and nutrient-rich nectar or protein-packed pollen they can eat.</p>
<p>Flowers that need the help of insects and bats go one step further, producing a floral scent that acts as a smelly kind of welcome sign for just the right pollinator.</p>
<p>An orchid blooming in the tropical forest or a rose in your garden needs to attract a pollinator to bring pollen from flowers of the same species. However, there are flowers which look similar but are from other species. To differentiate itself from other flowers, each species’ flowers puts out a unique scent to attract specific pollinators.</p>
<p>Similar to the perfumes at a department store counter, flower scents are made up from a large and diverse number of chemicals which evaporate easily and float through the air. The type of chemical, its amount and its interaction with other chemicals give the flower its unique scent. The <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-do-flowers-smell-good-349826/">scent of a rose</a> may consist of as many as 400 different chemicals.</p>
<p>People can smell these floral scents because they easily evaporate from the flower, drifting on the air currents to attract pollinators. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="corpse flower blossom in a greenhouse" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382303/original/file-20210203-21-8gnlyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The giant corpse flower has a very stinky scent that its pollinators love.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/titan-arum-royalty-free-image/911610946">Photography by Mangiwau/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Flower fragrances may be sweet and fruity, or they can be musky, even stinky or putrid depending on the pollinator they are trying to attract. A blooming apple or cherry tree emits a sweet scent to attract bumblebees, honeybees and other bees. But stick your nose into the beautiful flowers of a pear tree – a close relative of apples and cherries – and you may recoil in disgust, as these flowers smell musky or putrid to attract flies as pollinators. Similarly, the <a href="https://www.usbg.gov/corpse-flowers-us-botanic-garden">corpse flower</a>, native to Indonesian rainforests, emits a foul odor reminiscent of rotting flesh to attract flies and beetles to pollinate its flowers.</p>
<p>Moths and bats flying at night locate flowers by the scent some release after the Sun goes down. The night-blooming cereus, the saguaro cactus and the dragon fruit all have large white flowers which open at night – they seem to glow in the moonlight, making them visible to nocturnal visitors. Their strong perfume helps guide pollinators inside. While drinking the sweet nectar, the pollinator picks up pollen which it then deposits in the next flower visited.</p>
<p>Once pollinated, the flower stops producing a floral scent and nectar and redirects its energy to the fertilized embryo that will become the seed.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Harkess has received funding from USDA/NIFA. </span></em></p>
Not all flowers smell good, to people at least, but their scents are a way to attract pollinators.
Richard L. Harkess, Professor of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture, Mississippi State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/153916
2021-02-02T14:54:38Z
2021-02-02T14:54:38Z
Higher quality seeds can help beat Africa’s ‘hunger pandemic’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381456/original/file-20210130-13-v76ry0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ugandan-people-sowing-seeds-as-part-of-a-sustainability-news-photo/661831536?adppopup=true">Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Vaccination efforts across the globe <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/now-there-is-real-hope-to-end-covid-19-with-vaccines-who-chief/articleshow/79384318.cms">encourage hope</a> of an imminent end to the COVID-19 health crisis. But the food security crisis that the pandemic has <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/WFP-0000121038.pdf">deepened</a> cannot be alleviated quickly and will require lasting solutions. </p>
<p>Well-adapted and nutrient dense crops like millet, sorghum, groundnut, chickpea, pigeonpea, cowpea and common bean, collectively called dryland cereals and legumes, are like a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbr.12554">vaccine of sorts</a> for hunger and under-nutrition. This is because, over time, improved varieties of crops will be able to render farming resilient to climate stresses, help improve nutritional outcomes and improve soil health. In the short run, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14390523/2019/138/4">they boost</a> yields, ensure food sufficiency in farm households and increase earnings. </p>
<p>Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, seed systems, which determine seed access in a country or a region, were beset with challenges. In a <a href="https://techniumscience.com/index.php/technium/article/view/1074">recently published paper</a> we identify what the bottlenecks are and what can be done about them. </p>
<p>The biggest issues we identified include, firstly, the limited access to varieties of groundnut, chickpea, pigeonpea, sorghum and finger millet that are bred to perform where they are needed. They need to be suited to changes in temperature and rainfall in the area and the stress of pests and diseases. They must also be nutrient-dense and there must be a market for them. The problem of access to these varieties is partly due to limited interest in the private seed sector to include grain legumes and dryland cereal crops in their portfolio. </p>
<p>The second issue is the limited capacity of the institutions involved in the production and delivery of early generation and certified seed production. </p>
<p>Thirdly, there are large gaps in the flow of information, which means that farmers have limited awareness of crops best suited for their environment and the merits of new varieties.</p>
<p>The pandemic further hit these systems, warranting emergency responses from governments and relief agencies. To ensure quality seed flow in the long run, <a href="https://techniumscience.com/index.php/technium/article/view/1074">several interventions have been identified</a>. </p>
<h2>Beyond relief</h2>
<p>One useful intervention would be to organise farming communities – or seed producer groups – into business entities. This would offer several benefits. Primarily, it would help boost local access by people who currently can’t get or afford certified seed. </p>
<p>High quality seed access will mean better quality grain production and meeting the standards set by grain buyers. This, in turn, would enhance grain demand and encourage farmers and other seed enterprises to produce and use quality seed.</p>
<p>Another problem that needs to be addressed is quality control. Farmers in Africa often procure seed from informal markets, which doesn’t allow for robust quality checks. In a sample of 2,592 smallholder farmers in six countries, 92% of sorghum seed, 84% of millet seed, 93% of groundnut seed, 93% of common bean seed and 88% of cowpea seed were <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-015-0528-8">reported</a> to be from informal sources. </p>
<p>These seeds are likely to be suboptimal. They are more likely to be of subpar genetic purity, unknown variety and hence performance and they may have a huge seed-borne disease burden. </p>
<p>Another challenge is how information is shared, and what language is used. For example, a <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.00029/full">study</a> in Uganda found that farmers were interested in and willing to pay for high quality seed. But the term “certified seed” didn’t strike a chord with them. The research concluded that simpler language, such as “super seed”, would be better. </p>
<p>A major hurdle is getting seed companies to participate in developing the new varieties. This could be through using structures like the <a href="https://www.icrisat.org/a-seed-revolving-fund-is-driving-malawis-groundnut-revival/">Seed Revolving Funds</a>. These involve an initial start-up fund to get groups of seed producing farmers to produce foundation seed from breeder seeds sourced from research institutes that are later multiplied into certified seed for sale to the larger farming community. </p>
<p>The sale of proceeds of foundation seed supports the scheme by covering infrastructure costs and packaging. </p>
<p>The fund has had success <a href="https://www.icrisat.org/malawi-seed-revolving-fund-model-wins-accolades/">in Malawi</a> and is being piloted in Tanzania. </p>
<p>Through the <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-981-15-8014-7">work</a> of <a href="https://www.icrisat.org/">International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics</a> and partners in Africa, there’s evidence that local seed production can benefit immensely from communities setting up and managing seed banks with support and technical backup from agriculture research organisations. Seed banks are local stocks of seeds managed by a community of farmers who have been trained in seed production, harvest and post-harvest management. They may also involve a <a href="https://www.icrisat.org/making-seed-available-for-improved-adoption-of-climate-smart-crops/#:%7E:text=Community%20Seed%20Banks%20are%20forms,more%20choices%20at%20affordable%20prices">private sector collaboration</a>.</p>
<p>An example of how crop researchers can help is by calculating for farmers how much seed they’d need per unit of land for maximum yields and growth efficiency. This planting data is essential for smallholder farmers in particular.</p>
<p>These measures have already been <a href="https://techniumscience.com/index.php/technium/article/view/1074">tried</a> in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. This has led to a 30% increase in the adoption of improved varieties. </p>
<p>Finally, digital tools such as <a href="http://seedsystems.icrisat.org/">digital seed catalogue</a> and <a href="https://www.icrisat.org/tag/digital-seed-roadmap/">road map</a> applications like <a href="https://seedx.icrisat.org/#/login">SeedX</a> and social media have to be added. They are increasingly popular and available. </p>
<h2>An unprecedented opportunity</h2>
<p>We believe the fallout from COVID-19 has presented an opportunity that should be exploited. This is because some people have taken <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2020-05-26-car-boot-market-thrives-during-pandemic/">refuge in agriculture</a> after losing their jobs to the pandemic. </p>
<p>Newcomers from formal employment sectors are more likely to be willing to take professional planting advice, adopt improved varieties and use high quality seeds. This is an opportunity to intervene on behalf of nutrition. </p>
<p>Increasing the likelihood of good harvests and good returns in the near future will ensure African farms can sustain and help reverse rural-urban migration. More hands will mean increased food supply to meet the demands of a growing population and an opportunity to make diets nutritious. </p>
<p>For governments, policymakers, research institutions and others wanting to intervene in African food systems to help fulfil this long but connected chain of objectives, the time is now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153916/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris O. Ojiewo receives funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and United States Agency for International Development.
</span></em></p>
Improved seeds can alleviate a food security crisis deepened by COVID-19.
Chris O. Ojiewo, Theme Leader, Seed Systems at ICRISAT, CGIAR System Organization
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152720
2021-01-20T13:31:45Z
2021-01-20T13:31:45Z
Stickiness is a weapon some plants use to fend off hungry insects
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377854/original/file-20210108-15-ukf9cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C17%2C3858%2C2549&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A coat of sand makes an effective armor.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric LoPresti</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine the texture of a plant. Many may come to mind – the smooth rubberiness of many tropical houseplants, the impossibly soft lamb’s ear, the sharp spines of cacti, or the roughness of tree bark. But stickiness, in the flypaper-stick-to-your-fingers sense, probably isn’t at the top of your list. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, a great many <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1890/15-0342.1">plants have evolved sticky leaves</a>, stems and seeds, including some you likely know – such as petunias and tobacco. </p>
<p>In evolutionary biology, a trait that has evolved many times is interesting, since it suggests that over and over this trait serves some benefit. While people have noticed and discussed this odd characteristic for a great many years, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=7l5UAp4AAAAJ">biologists like me</a> are finally beginning to understand what stickiness is for – and why so many plants have it. </p>
<h2>Sand and stickiness</h2>
<p>Sticky plants are widespread. They are found in temperate and tropical areas, in wet and dry places and in forests, fields and dunes. In each of these environments, stickiness functions somewhat differently. </p>
<p>I am naturally drawn to sand dunes, whether in dry deserts or along beautiful coastlines, and stickiness has some interesting functions for plants in these locations. Shifting sand presents a challenging environment for plants – sand-blasting winds, potential burial and the lack of water retention are just a few.</p>
<p>Interestingly, hundreds of <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/fedr.19961070510">plant species in sand dunes have evolved sticky surfaces</a>, suggesting utility in that habitat. Windblown sand coats these sticky surfaces – a phenomenon known as psammophory, which means “sand-carrying” in Greek. While a sandy coating may limit light from reaching plant surfaces, it also likely protects plants from abrasion and reflects light, reducing leaf temperature. It also defends plants from hungry predators.</p>
<p>A few years ago, my colleagues and I <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1890/15-1696.1">studied yellow sand verbena (<em>Abronia latifolia</em>) plants in coastal California</a>. When we gently removed sand from leaves and stems, those leaves and stems got eaten by hungry snails, caterpillars and other herbivorous animals at twice the rate of sand-intact leaves and stems.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close up of plant leaves covered in green tinted sand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378083/original/file-20210111-23-my6dah.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leaves covered in colored sand to test whether camouflage is a factor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric LoPresti</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We wondered if the sand might be protecting plants by camouflaging them. With a second experiment, we carefully cleaned and re-coated some verbena leaves with tinted sand that didn’t match the background. It turned out the color of the sand didn’t matter – <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1890/15-1696.1">predators ate the sand-covered leaves at the same rate</a>, regardless of whether they blended with their background or not – showing sand protects plants as a physical barrier, rather than as a camouflage.</p>
<h2>Wearing down mouthparts</h2>
<p>This result makes intuitive sense – after all, who wants to eat something covered in sand, even if it is nutritious? Yet I’ve observed over the years that a great many herbivorous insects do indeed eat sandy leaves. It got me wondering what effect the sand might be having on them, so we did a series of simple experiments. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A microscopic view of two different sets of mandibles. One shows pointy 'teeth,' while the other looks worn down." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=242&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=242&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=242&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377857/original/file-20210108-23-1w4o9js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mandible of a caterpillar eating clean leaves (left), versus the worn-down mandible of one eating sand-encrusted leaves (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric LoPresti</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When we gave caterpillars a choice between eating sand-free and sand-covered plants, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1111/een.12483">they overwhelmingly chose to eat sand-free plants</a>. When we gave caterpillars no choice – one group getting only sandy leaves, the other getting clean leaves – we observed the mandibles, or mouthparts, of the sand eaters were noticeably worn down. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close up shot of a caterpillar's stomach contents, which show grains of sand amid digested leaves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378319/original/file-20210112-21-15ryy0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gut contents of a caterpillar fed sand-coated leaves. Note the many grains of sand present.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric LoPresti</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sand-eating caterpillars also <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1111/een.12483">grew about 10% more slowly</a> than those fed on nonsandy foliage, we suspect in part because they were ingesting some sand.</p>
<h2>Sticky seeds</h2>
<p>In sandy areas, it’s also common to find seeds that become sticky when moistened. Such seeds are coated in mucilage, which are simple carbohydrates that, in the presence of water, become a sticky mess. Even when they dry out, they can become sticky again, virtually indefinitely. You may be familiar with this phenomenon in chia seeds – mucilage is what gives chia pudding its distinctive texture. </p>
<p>When a mucilage-coated seed falls into sand, gets moistened by rainfall or dew and then dries, it becomes encrusted in a heavy coating of sand. This extra weight <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2809">makes it difficult for carpenter ants to carry the seeds back to their nests to consume</a>. </p>
<figure>
<img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1413/ezgif.com-optimize-1.gif?1609965144">
<figcaption><span class="caption">The struggle is real. <i>Eric LoPresti</i></span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We demonstrated this by making feeding stations where we could measure removal rates of sand-covered seeds and bare seeds. In nearly all of the 53 plant species we tested, the <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2809">sandy seeds were removed far more slowly than the bare seeds</a>.</p>
<p>While plant stickiness in sandy areas creates a barrier to stop herbivores, in other habitats it operates differently. For example, some carnivorous plants use stickiness to catch prey. </p>
<p>Every bit of a plant is shaped, over millions of years, by having to confront the challenges of the world around it while remaining rooted in a single place. Stickiness is one of thousands of strategies plants have stumbled on to survive the onslaught of hungry animals in nature. </p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric LoPresti received funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>
For some sand-dwelling plants, stickiness is a defense tactic that keeps predators at bay.
Eric LoPresti, Assistant Professor of Plant Biology, Ecology and Evolution, Oklahoma State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/149229
2021-01-12T19:43:16Z
2021-01-12T19:43:16Z
Anti-nutrients – they’re part of a normal diet and not as scary as they sound
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377416/original/file-20210106-13-22nh6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=109%2C97%2C4164%2C2670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These compounds occur naturally in a number of healthy foods, including legumes and whole grains.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/legumes-whole-grains">foodism360/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Maybe you’re trying to eat healthier these days, aiming to get enough of the good stuff and limit the less-good stuff. You’re paying attention to things like fiber and fat and vitamins… and anti-nutrients?</p>
<p>What the heck are anti-nutrients and are they something you need to be concerned about in your diet?</p>
<p>Let me, as a public health nutrition researcher, reassure you that anti-nutrients aren’t the evil nemesis of all the nutritious foods you eat. As long as you’re consuming a balanced and varied diet, anti-nutrients are not a concern. In fact, scientists are realizing they actually have many health benefits.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="illustration of small intestine amid other organs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377772/original/file-20210108-21-x8ovnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nutrients get absorbed into your bloodstream – or not – as digestion occurs in your small intestine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/small-intestine-illustration-royalty-free-illustration/1190674194">Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are anti-nutrients?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/anti-nutrients/">Anti-nutrients are substances</a> that naturally occur in plant and animal foods.</p>
<p>The name comes from how they function in your body once you eat them. They <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/antinutrients">block or interfere with how your body</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B0710640">absorbs other nutrients</a> out of your gut and into your bloodstream so you can then use them. Thus, anti-nutrients may decrease the amount of nutrients you actually get from your food. They most commonly interfere with the absorption of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025">calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc</a>.</p>
<p>Plants evolved these <a href="https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/070111p54.shtml">compounds as a defensive mechanism</a> against insects, parasites, bacteria and fungi. For example, some anti-nutrients can cause a food to taste bitter; animals won’t want to eat it, leaving the seed, for instance, to provide nourishment for future seedlings. Some anti-nutrients block the digestion of seeds that are eaten. The seeds disperse when they come out the other end in the animal’s fecal matter and can go on to grow new plants. Both of these survival tactics help the plant species grow and spread.</p>
<p>In terms of foods that people eat, you’ll most commonly find anti-nutrients naturally occurring in whole grains and legumes.</p>
<h2>Time for an image makeover as health enhancers</h2>
<p>Despite sounding scary, studies show that anti-nutrients are not of concern unless consumed in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2014.01.010">ultra, unrealistically high amounts</a> – and they have numerous health benefits. </p>
<p>Anti-nutrients are currently undergoing a change in image very similar to the one dietary fiber experienced. At one point, scientists thought dietary fiber was bad for people. Since fiber could bind to nutrients and pull them out of the digestive tract in poop, it seemed like something to avoid. To address this perceived issue, grain processing in the late 1800s removed fiber from foods.</p>
<p>But now scientists know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00189.x">dietary fiber is incredibly important</a> and encourage its consumption. Eating plenty of fiber lowers the risks of obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some gastrointestinal diseases.</p>
<p>In the same way, rather than something to avoid, many anti-nutrients are now considered health-promoting nutraceuticals and functional foods due to their numerous benefits. Here’s an introduction to some of the most frequently eaten anti-nutrients that come with benefits:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/109662004322984734">Saponins, common in legumes</a>, can boost the immune system, reduce risk of cancer, lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar response to foods, result in fewer cavities, reduce risk of kidney stones and combat blood clotting seen in heart attacks and strokes.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2014.01.010">Lectins, found in cereal grains and legumes</a>, are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers and becoming overweight or obese.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10408699891274273">Tannins, commonly found in teas, coffees and processed meats and cheeses</a>, are antioxidants that can inhibit growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeast and may decrease cholesterol levels and blood pressure.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B0710640">Phytates, found in wheat, barley, rice and corn</a>, are associated with increased immune function and cancer cell death, as well as reduced cancer cell growth and spread. They also have antioxidant properties and can reduce inflammation. </p></li>
<li><p>Finally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831.72.1.26">glucosinates, found in brassica vegetables</a> like cauliflower, inhibit tumor cell growth.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Oxalates are one of the few anti-nutrients with mostly negative impacts on the body. They are <a href="https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/aa166321">found in lots of common foods</a>, including legumes, beets, berries, cranberries, oranges, chocolate, tofu, wheat bran, soda, coffee, tea, beer, dark green vegetables and sweet potatoes. The negative impacts of oxalates include binding to calcium in the digestive tract and removing it from the body in bowel movements. Oxalates can also <a href="https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/aa166321">increase the risk of kidney stones</a> in some people.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="bowl of chickpea curry" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377773/original/file-20210108-21-17lbxqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lots of healthy, tasty foods come with the added benefits of anti-nutrients.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/chickpea-and-spinach-curry-royalty-free-image/657152778">Joan Ransley/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fitting anti-nutrients into a healthy diet</h2>
<p>Overall, comparing the benefits to the drawbacks, anti-nutrient pros actually outweigh the cons. The healthy foods that contain them – mainly fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes – should be encouraged not avoided.</p>
<p>Anti-nutrients become a concern only if these foods are consumed in ultra-high amounts, <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/project/?accnNo=426312">which is very unlikely</a> for most adults and children in the U.S. Additionally, a large proportion of anti-nutrients are removed or lost from foods people eat <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/anti-nutrients/">as they’re processed and cooked</a>, especially if soaking, blanching, boiling or other high-heat processes are involved.</p>
<p>Vegetarians and vegans may be at higher risk of negative effects from anti-nutrients because their diet relies heavily on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. But these <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025">plant-based diets are still among the healthiest</a> and are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and numerous types of cancers. </p>
<p>Vegetarians and vegans can take a few steps to help counteract anti-nutrients’ effects on their absorption of particular nutrients:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Pair high iron <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/130.5.1378S">and zinc</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.afnr.2014.11.003">foods with</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/59.5.1233S">foods high in vitamin C</a> (examples: veggie meatballs with tomato sauce, tomato-based chili with beans).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.jblearning.com/catalog/productdetails/9780763779764?jblsearch">Soak legumes before cooking</a>. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/70.3.543s">Time dairy intake</a> such that it is not always paired with high oxalate foods.</p></li>
<li><p>Purchase dairy products that are fortified with calcium.</p></li>
<li><p>Consider a multivitamin-mineral supplement with about 100% of the daily recommended dose of nutrients (check the nutrition facts panel) as nutrition insurance if you are worried, but be sure to talk to your doctor first.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jill Joyce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Anti-nutrients naturally occur in food and can block the amount of other nutrients available for your body to use. But their effects aren’t all bad, which is why they’re undergoing an image makeover.
Jill Joyce, Assistant Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Oklahoma State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147976
2020-11-11T15:50:41Z
2020-11-11T15:50:41Z
How traditional seeds and crops are bringing food independence to Timor-Leste
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367965/original/file-20201106-21-3awebe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C52%2C3430%2C2182&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman in Timor-Leste surveys her chili crop.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Creative Commons)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“We hear the voice of the farmers,” explains the acting director of <a href="https://www.raebia.org/">Raebia</a>, an organization in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/aug/05/timor-leste-what-its-like-to-travel-in-a-land-without-tourists">Timor-Leste</a> working for sustainable agricultural development.</p>
<p>I am talking with Mateus and his colleagues Josefa and Leonora in their central office on a side street in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, which remains one of Asia’s poorest countries some 20 years after the end of a brutal Indonesian military occupation. </p>
<p>Raebia works to ensure agricultural self-sufficiency through the promotion of crop diversity and seeds in three Timorese villages, with plans to expand to others. At a time when local <a href="https://foodsecurecanada.org/who-we-are/what-food-sovereignty#:%7E:text=%22Food%20Sovereignty%20is%20the%20right,injustice%20in%20the%20food%20system.">food sovereignty</a> is increasingly on the global agenda, it shows the way for other places. That’s especially true in the aftermath of this year’s <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2020/press-release/">Nobel Peace Prize</a> going to the UN <a href="https://www.wfp.org/">World Food Program</a>.</p>
<h2>Ties with a Canadian organization</h2>
<p>Unlike many Timorese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Raebia does not have a permanent overseas partner. However, it retains a link to <a href="https://weseedchange.org/">SeedChange Canada</a>, formerly USC, which supports small-scale farmers around the world. </p>
<p>That Canada-Timor connection has a long history. Canadian officials tried to convince what was then Unitarian Services of Canada to enter the Timor aid field as early as 1978, but an Indonesian military occupation made this impossible. </p>
<p>Canada, as I recount in a <a href="http://www.ubcpress.ca/challenge-the-strong-wind">new book</a>, supported Indonesian rule until just a year before a United Nations-sponsored referendum set Timor-Leste on the road to independence in 1999.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-east-timor-advocacy-20-years-ago-paves-the-way-for-leadership-today-122385">Canada's East Timor advocacy 20 years ago paves the way for leadership today</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>SeedChange entered the field in 1997 through its partnership with Indonesian affiliate Satunama. The Timor operation has been independent since 2000, and now receives foreign assistance directly. In 2013, it changed its name to Raebia (Resilient Agriculture and Economy through Biodiversity in Action), a name evoking sustainability in local languages. </p>
<p>Canada pledged long-term development support to Timor-Leste as it emerged from Indonesian military rule after 1999. Canadian aid peaked in 2004 at $7.3 million. But under Paul Martin and Stephen Harper governments, Ottawa broke its promise, dropping the newly independent Timor-Leste.</p>
<p>Canadian aid now flows only through the Canada Fund of the Canadian Embassy in Indonesia, and through the continuing support of SeedChange. </p>
<h2>Reducing aid dependency</h2>
<p>Though among Asia’s poorest countries, Timor-Leste is reducing aid dependency and is a <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-timor-leste-mobilised-covid-.html">world leader in combating COVID-19</a> with only 29 total cases and no deaths. Moderate government investments in agriculture and the work of groups like Raebia have resulted in progress, but <a href="https://globalnutritionreport.org/resources/nutrition-profiles/asia/south-eastern-asia/timor-leste/#">one-quarter of adults remain undernourished</a> and <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/26394?show=full">half of children under age five suffer from stunting</a>, the third-highest rate in the world. </p>
<p>A visit to Fadabloko, one of three villages where Raebia currently operates, illustrates both the need and the progress made. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A town with a terraced hillside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365327/original/file-20201024-13-1frrwsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365327/original/file-20201024-13-1frrwsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365327/original/file-20201024-13-1frrwsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365327/original/file-20201024-13-1frrwsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365327/original/file-20201024-13-1frrwsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365327/original/file-20201024-13-1frrwsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365327/original/file-20201024-13-1frrwsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fadabloko village centre, late in the dry season, is seen in July 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The village was the centre of Timorese resistance to the Indonesian invasion in the early 1970s. At the time, those military operations led to an enormous famine. War and famine cost more than 100,000 lives in a country that previously had a population of only 680,000. </p>
<p>The Remexio subdistrict, where Fadaboloko is located, was at the heart of the famine zone, as recounted by survivor Constancio Pinto <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Inside_the_East_Timor_Resistance.html?id=GYnPZuDwLiMC&redir_esc=y">in a memoir</a>. He wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It was a time of incredible suffering. Food shortages, diseases and killing were all around us. The Indonesian army was always hunting us…. We walked among the dead bodies.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Famine grew worse because people were barred from farming in traditional locations. One Canadian diplomat, visiting Remexio in 1978, called this a “food denial policy” on the part of the Indonesian army. Some 10 to 15 people died daily from starvation and diarrhea, dysentery and tuberculosis at this time. The long-term effects of that famine linger in today’s local food challenges. </p>
<h2>‘Wild crops’</h2>
<p>Much traditional knowledge of “wild crops” — plants such as yams and beans that grow in forested areas — was lost in the famine years. The work in Fadabloko aims in part to retrieve that knowledge. It catalogues both cultivated and uncultivated crops, reviving traditional knowledge and boosting the low biodiversity of many farmed crops.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bundles of crops on a table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365328/original/file-20201024-19-1g8x7mt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365328/original/file-20201024-19-1g8x7mt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365328/original/file-20201024-19-1g8x7mt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365328/original/file-20201024-19-1g8x7mt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365328/original/file-20201024-19-1g8x7mt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365328/original/file-20201024-19-1g8x7mt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365328/original/file-20201024-19-1g8x7mt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crops on display in Fadabloko, Timor-Leste.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A key element is local seed banks, where farmers can contribute and withdraw seeds. </p>
<p>“Without good seed, we will not have good food,” Mateus of Raebia explains. No special technology is required, making the seed bank a sustainable approach without any need for ongoing technology. The seed banks, in effect, promote local food sovereignty.</p>
<p>Local control is furthered by including all farmers in Fadabloko in a local co-operative. Demonstration farm plots create examples that individual farmers can implement on their own land. Terracing has moved from stone and wood construction to new techniques using natural grasses to shore up soil against erosion, a sustainable process with both ecological and labour-saving benefits.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman and two men hold jars of seeds" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365325/original/file-20201024-17-1vnwrhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365325/original/file-20201024-17-1vnwrhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365325/original/file-20201024-17-1vnwrhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365325/original/file-20201024-17-1vnwrhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365325/original/file-20201024-17-1vnwrhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365325/original/file-20201024-17-1vnwrhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365325/original/file-20201024-17-1vnwrhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fababloko residents and Raebia staff in the local seed bank.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author provided)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than burning forest or grassland to create new fields fertilized by ash, farmers are instead using a double-pit manure fertilizer system, with goats kept to provide the raw materials that are then processed in the pits (again without the need for technological inputs or artificial fertilizer, and with added benefits for air quality).</p>
<p>The Timor-Leste government is focused on infrastructure and <a href="https://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/briefing/AfterOilRunsDryCurrentEn.pdf">relies on limited oil reserves</a> for revenue. But Raebia’s work offers an alternative vision grounded in local sustainable agriculture, control, biodiversity and the revival of Indigenous environmental knowledge. Stronger local communities, ultimately, help to build a stronger nation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Webster receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He is affiliated with the Centro Nacional Chega! in Timoe-Leste and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). </span></em></p>
How Indigenous communities and a Timor-Leste NGO are reviving food sovereignty in one of Asia’s poorest countries.
David Webster, Associate Professor of History / Professeur Agrégé, Département d’Histoire, Bishop's University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/134804
2020-04-13T07:41:15Z
2020-04-13T07:41:15Z
Why Ghana’s smallholders aren’t excited by the latest ‘Green Revolution’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325723/original/file-20200406-74220-fb7sv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Ghanaian vegetable farmer sits on his land</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghanaian_Vegetable_Farmer.jpg">Vrinda Khushu/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Green Revolution – the introduction of new higher yielding seed varieties, increased use of fertiliser, irrigation and other mechanisation introduced since the 1960s – brought about a great <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/300/5620/758">increase in crop yields</a> in some countries in the Global South. Hybridised seeds produced more grains per plant and were more responsive to fertiliser and irrigation.</p>
<p>But the effects of this “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/Africas-Green-Revolution-Critical-Perspectives-on-New-Agricultural-Technologies/Moseley-Schnurr-Bezner-Kerr/p/book/9781138185951">revolution</a>” were famously uneven, both between and within countries. The farming environment in sub-Saharan Africa wasn’t as well suited to the technologies as Asia and Latin America. </p>
<p>In the past 20 years, a newer model of the Green Revolution has emerged predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. Domestic and international agribusinesses have a much more prominent place. The Green Revolution of the past was more heavily supported by public and quasi-public institutions. Now the private sector is encouraged to take the lead role in distributing agricultural inputs and getting outputs to market. The idea is to commercialise production and integrate farmers into global markets. </p>
<p>The contemporary version of the Green Revolution is promoted largely by the <a href="https://agra.org/">Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa</a>, the G7/G8’s <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/535010/EXPO_STU(2015)535010_EN.pdf">New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa</a>, the World Bank, USAID, the African Union among others. These donors generally take the view that African agriculture must be transformed to use land more efficiently and catch up with the productivity levels of other regions.</p>
<p>But there are many questions about whether this newer Green Revolution can increase production in a way that will reduce poverty and food insecurity. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11287462.2014.1002294">previous research</a> analysed whether this approach is likely to succeed. We looked at the assumptions it’s based on and the possible consequences, particularly for smallholder farmers. Focusing on northern Ghana, we then completed a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504509.2020.1733702">case study</a> of how the strategy is playing out. </p>
<p>We found that the vast majority of smallholder farmers were reluctantly adopting the new varieties of seed, chemical fertilisers, agrochemicals and farm contracts promoted as part of the Green Revolution. Farmers adopted these inputs and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436597.2018.1552076">business arrangements</a> to address the immediate challenges of erratic rainfall, shortened growing seasons, drier soils with diminished fertility and increasing land competition. But many described this decision as a short-term trade-off to maintain the yields required to survive. They did not have the hope of increasing yields.</p>
<p>They also identified serious negative consequences of these newer farming practices. </p>
<h2>Reluctant adoption</h2>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504509.2020.1733702">case study</a> we found that many farmers expressed deep concern about the long-term consequences of the Green Revolution prescriptions. These included damage to soils from herbicides and fertilisers, the narrowing of crop varieties planted and foods consumed, rising levels of indebtedness, and heightened risks of land dispossession, particularly for women. </p>
<p>Most smallholders used new varieties of seed when planting soy, rice, maize and groundnuts. These matured and could be harvested in a shorter time than “non-improved” varieties. This helped in a shortened growing season associated with a changing climate. </p>
<p>But some farmers insisted that the new seed does not actually increase yields. </p>
<p>The improved varieties were also “open pollinating” – the plants produce seeds for the next season. But only a limited number of crops have been improved and could grow within shorter time periods (such as 90 days for maize). This was reducing the diversity of crops planted and the variety of foods consumed. Crops that required longer growing periods, such as millet and sorghum (120-150 days), were once common but are grown by fewer farmers. This could have shifted diets to maize instead of more nutritious staples such as sorghum or millet.</p>
<p>Many smallholders said they were more frequently turning to herbicides to deal with weeds – a growing problem which they blamed on soil degradation. They said chemical fertilisers were becoming necessary just to maintain production levels, and this put them further into debt. Their increasing dependence on pesticides and chemical fertilisers was becoming a vicious dependency spiral. </p>
<p>Community members pointed out that farming was becoming polarised between those who could afford to finance the promoted package of inputs and those who couldn’t. </p>
<p>Another major concern for many smallholders was the growing presence of newcomers to their communities who have access to finance to farm, including direct payments from development projects. Their presence stoked competition for land. One smallholder described his sense of the newcomers: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Big people, MPs and the educated who are all into farming. I think it is a way of investment. That is why more of such people are rushing into it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Land was regularly described as being in short supply, as more people moved into farming in response to new incentives and environmental changes. Some were trying to increase their acreage planted to compensate for lower yields stemming from drying conditions. </p>
<p>The majority of farmers felt they had to continuously cultivate all of their fields. Many knew this contributed to soil degradation and reliance on chemical inputs but they are trying to minimise the risk of dispossession. As one smallholder put it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We know of the benefit of fallowing, but the moment you even leave it, somebody is hungry for land, he will even come and say, ‘you are satisfied and left some’, so he will be begging to farm on it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our case study shows that even though many smallholders have adhered to the newer Green Revolution model, they are worried about its long-term implications. It is also clear that wealth and gender disparities affect the ability of farmers to access and benefit from new technologies and markets. Female farmers are especially disadvantaged and at risk of dispossession. </p>
<p>In developing more sustainable agriculture, the first step should be to listen to what smallholder farmers say about their particular environments and constraints. And not funding technologies and business arrangements that exacerbate environmental changes and socioeconomic inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Siera Vercillo has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the International Development Research Centre and Western University in Ontario, Canada.</span></em></p>
And why development funders should listen to smallholder farmers
Siera Vercillo, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/128722
2019-12-18T13:25:04Z
2019-12-18T13:25:04Z
Climate change is hurting farmers – even seeds are under threat
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307156/original/file-20191216-124022-r2addy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paddy-hands-men-rice-seedlings-growing-583446406">kram9/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change is already affecting the amount of food that farmers can produce. Several recent extreme weather events, which are only likely to become more frequent as the world continues heating up, provide stark illustrations of what this impact can look like. For example, crop sowing in the UK was delayed in autumn 2019 and some emerging crops were damaged <a href="https://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/crop-management/how-the-wet-is-affecting-cropping-plans-and-farm-finances">because of wet weather</a>. Meanwhile in Australia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-hot-and-dry-australian-summer-means-heatwaves-and-fire-risk-ahead-127990">considerable drought</a> has been <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/winter-crop-forecasts-slashed-as-armageddon-drought-bites-20191202-p53g2p.html">immensely damaging</a>. </p>
<p>But climate change can also have a knock-on impact on farming by affecting the quality of seeds, making it harder to establish seedlings that then grow into mature, food-producing plants. My research group has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960258519000217">recently published a study</a> showing that even brief periods of high temperature or drought can reduce seed quality in rice, depending on exactly when they occur in the seed’s development.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it is possible to breed improved varieties to help crops adapt to the changing climate. And the resources needed to do this are being collected and conserved in “genebanks”, libraries of seeds conserving crop plant diversity for future use. </p>
<p>In much of the developing world in particular, the supply of affordable, good-quality seed limits farmers’ ability to establish crops. Seeds need to be stored between harvest and later sowing and poor-quality seeds don’t survive very long in storage. Once planted, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-4290(89)90078-6">low-quality seeds</a> are less likely to emerge as seedlings and more likely to fail later on, producing a lower plant density in the field and a lower crop yield as a result.</p>
<p>For this reason, investigating seed quality is an important way of assessing such effects of climate on cereal crop production. We already know that climate change can reduce the quality of cereal seeds used <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/jcrs.2002.0501">for food</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0733-5210(05)80008-6">food ingredients</a> and for planting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/47.5.631">future crops</a>. </p>
<p>The main factor that affects seed quality in this way <a href="https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2014.01.0042">tends to be temperature</a>, but the amount and timing of rainfall is <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/seed-science-research/article/development-of-ability-to-germinate-and-of-longevity-in-airdry-storage-in-wheat-seed-crops-subjected-to-rain-shelter-or-simulated-supplementary-rainfall/72D704AC6AB96AFE1173C739AFD97B0C">also important</a>. This impact can come from changes in average weather patterns, but short periods of extreme temperature or rainfall are just <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcx074">as important</a> when they coincide with sensitive stages in crop development. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/47.5.623">research in the 1990s</a> revealed that brief high temperature periods during and immediately before a crop flowers reduces the number of seeds produced and therefore the resulting grain yield in many cereal crops.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307155/original/file-20191216-124009-ilx367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307155/original/file-20191216-124009-ilx367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307155/original/file-20191216-124009-ilx367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307155/original/file-20191216-124009-ilx367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307155/original/file-20191216-124009-ilx367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307155/original/file-20191216-124009-ilx367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307155/original/file-20191216-124009-ilx367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hot spells can make rice seeds less likely to become seedlings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/farmer-planting-on-organic-paddy-rice-497587918">FenlioQ/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960258519000217">Our research</a> has now confirmed that seed quality in rice is damaged most when brief hot spells coincide with early seed development. It also revealed that drought during the early development of the seeds also reduces their quality at maturity. And, unsurprisingly, the damage is even greater when both these things happen together.</p>
<p>In contrast, warmer temperatures later in the maturation process <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960258518000211">can benefit</a> rice seed quality as the seeds dry out. But flooding that submerges the seed can also cause damage, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960258517000368">gets worse</a> the later it occurs during maturation. This shows why we have to include the effects of changing rainfall as well as temperature and the precise timing of extreme weather when looking at how seed quality is affected.</p>
<h2>Future seeds</h2>
<p>Our research has also shown that different seed varieties have different levels of resilience to these environmental stresses. This means that farming in the future will depend on selecting and breeding the right varieties to respond to the changing climate.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gardeners-are-reclaiming-agriculture-from-industry-one-seed-at-a-time-128071">How gardeners are reclaiming agriculture from industry, one seed at a time</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>The world now has a global network of genebanks storing seeds from a wide variety of plants, which helps safeguard their genetic diversity. For example, the <a href="https://www.irri.org/international-rice-genebank">International Rice Genebank</a> maintains more than 130,000 samples of cultivated species of rice, its wild relatives and closely-related species, while the <a href="http://www.africarice.org/warda/genebank.asp">AfricaRice genebank</a> maintains 20,000 samples.</p>
<p>Our finding mean that, when scientists breed new crop varieties using genebank samples as “parents”, they should include the ability to produce high-quality seed in stressful environments in the variety’s selected traits. In this way, we should be able to produce new varieties of seeds that can withstand the increasingly extreme pressures of climate change.</p>
<p><em>This article was amended to make clear that climate change increases the likely frequency of extreme weather events rather than being demonstrably responsible for individual examples.</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1128722">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Ellis works for The University of Reading and receives funding from a range of sponsors including DEFRA, the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, and the Crop Trust (via ILRI). He is Principal Investigator of the National Fruit Collection, a Trustee of the National Fruit Collections Trust, and a Director of the World Vegetable Center.</span></em></p>
New research shows even brief hot spells can damage seed quality.
Richard Ellis, Professor of Crop Production, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/128071
2019-12-18T11:16:39Z
2019-12-18T11:16:39Z
How gardeners are reclaiming agriculture from industry, one seed at a time
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306142/original/file-20191210-95120-rxl0aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Yy-dHQP-Ax0">Markus Spiske/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Agriculture has changed significantly in the past century. Bigger machines, bigger farms and bigger budgets allow fewer farmers to produce more food. Changes in science and policy have also resulted in an industry in which <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1337273">power over what we grow and eat</a> is increasingly held by very few.</p>
<p>Consider one of agriculture’s most basic inputs: the seed. Although there have long been farmers and merchants who specialised in growing and selling seeds, it wasn’t until the 20th century that people started talking about seed production as an industrial process. Thanks to changes in farming, science and government regulations, most of the “elite” seed that is bought and sold around the world today is mass produced and mass marketed — by just <a href="https://philhoward.net/2018/12/31/global-seed-industry-changes-since-2013/">four transnational corporations</a>.</p>
<p>This transition has made many people uneasy. As a result, a new movement is growing, one that aims to wrest power back through the renewal of an age-old agricultural task: setting aside some seeds from each season’s harvest to plant in the next. Community gardeners, home growers and small-scale farmers increasingly insist that seeds should be something <a href="https://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedsavinginfo.html">they produce themselves</a>, or get from a <a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone/organise-a-seed-exchange">friend or neighbour</a>, rather than something they buy off the shelf. </p>
<p>For some, seed saving is a way of keeping history alive, for example by growing the vegetables their grandparents enjoyed. For others, it’s a way to save money, or to connect with their community. And today, it is increasingly a political statement – a choice that allows consumers to avoid fruits, vegetables and other foods produced at an industrial scale. Depending on the grower, it may even be all of these — <a href="https://seedsavers.net/shop/home/why-save-seeds/benefits-of-seed-saving/">and more</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306159/original/file-20191210-95111-1wr1kse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306159/original/file-20191210-95111-1wr1kse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306159/original/file-20191210-95111-1wr1kse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306159/original/file-20191210-95111-1wr1kse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306159/original/file-20191210-95111-1wr1kse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306159/original/file-20191210-95111-1wr1kse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306159/original/file-20191210-95111-1wr1kse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seed saving.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/packet-seeds-on-wooden-background-467518892">Eddgars/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many seed savers are motivated by the idea that their actions contribute to keeping diverse crop varieties from disappearing, especially those ignored by industrial farms or commercial seed companies in their pursuit of profit. Organisations such as the <a href="https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl">Heritage Seed Library</a> (UK) and the <a href="https://www.seedsavers.org/">Seed Savers Exchange</a> (US), and the growers they represent, routinely connect the individual acts of growing, storing and sharing seed with a global conservation mission. In cultivating awareness of this connection, they have transformed a timeless task into a powerful political act.</p>
<p>So how exactly did this transformation occur? New historical research shows that concerned <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjhs-themes/article/from-bean-collection-to-seed-bank-transformations-in-heirloom-vegetable-conservation-19701985/1D973B01429B782FDB86B9206559C456">citizens and organisations</a> worked hard to <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cuag.12239">make it happen</a>.</p>
<h2>Vanishing vegetables</h2>
<p>The Heritage Seed Library, today a part of the British non-profit <a href="https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/">Garden Organic</a>, offers a case in point. This collection of 800 or so local and rare vegetable varieties has its roots in a campaign to save endangered vegetables that Garden Organic launched in the 1970s, back when it was known as the <a href="https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/our-history">Henry Doubleday Research Association</a>, or HDRA.</p>
<p>At the time, the HDRA was well established as source of expert advice on organic gardening in Britain. Its director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_D._Hills">Lawrence Hills</a> had founded the organisation in 1954 to encourage gardeners to experiment with natural pest deterrents, green manures and other alternatives to the synthetic chemicals that were becoming common in agriculture. </p>
<p>Among the many subjects on which the HDRA offered advice from its earliest days was helping “own growers” — backyard gardeners, allotment holders, and others growing food to eat themselves — to decide what varieties to plant. Hills was adamant that newer types of tomatoes, carrots and green beans lacked the flavours of earlier generations and performed worse in small-scale cultivation.</p>
<p>He was therefore dismayed to learn in the early 1970s that changes in British agricultural regulations would make it difficult for seed companies to sell “old-fashioned varieties”. He feared, rightly, that the small market for such seeds would not justify the price that a company would now have to pay to register these for legal sale. If seed companies weren’t stocking them – and growers accustomed to buying their seed weren’t saving them – these old-fashioned varieties would simply disappear.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306160/original/file-20191210-95138-otkjdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306160/original/file-20191210-95138-otkjdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306160/original/file-20191210-95138-otkjdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306160/original/file-20191210-95138-otkjdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306160/original/file-20191210-95138-otkjdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306160/original/file-20191210-95138-otkjdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306160/original/file-20191210-95138-otkjdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Official seed packets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/england-uk-january-25-2012-woman-223745686">Caron Badkin/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>In a 1975 letter to the Times, Hills announced an initiative of the HDRA intended to address this impending extinction crisis: establishing a collection of Europe’s “vanishing vegetables” at the HDRA. </p>
<h2>From bank to library</h2>
<p>Hills asked fellow gardeners to help him locate as many uncommon varieties as possible. Ambitious as it was, that collection was only the start.</p>
<p>The HDRA soon began a campaign to start a “seed bank”. Hills envisioned that this long-term storage facility would gather and preserve vegetable varieties from around the world. In this sense, it would be just like a few already existing <a href="https://www.genebanks.org/genebanks/">international seed banks</a>, which ensured that diverse seeds would be available for plant breeders in the future. Unlike those seed banks (also called “genebanks”), the vegetable collection that Hills imagined would have a public-facing component, a “seed library” that any grower, regardless of professional expertise, would be able to access.</p>
<p>Both seed bank and seed library eventually came to fruition, though not in a single institution. When it became apparent during planning that a government-supported <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/wcc/gru/genebank/">Vegetable Gene Bank</a> would mainly serve professional researchers, Hills and HDRA staff organised The Heritage Vegetable Seed Library for Research and Experiment — later shortened to the Heritage Seed Library — to serve the needs of ordinary gardeners. Launched in February 1978, the library gave away seed of its rare varieties to subscribing members. </p>
<p>The Heritage Seed Library was the more innovative of the two projects, and arguably the more transformative of British vegetable conservation in the long term. This was because it emphasised the need for the active participation of individual gardeners to to achieve conservation goals. The library only functioned with the help of “<a href="https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/seed-guardians">seed guardians</a>” who helped keep it stocked with seed. HDRA also encouraged library users to learn how to save their own seed.</p>
<p>Together with other HDRA initiatives, the seed library helped cement the idea that conservation of vegetable diversity would only succeed through the commitment of ordinary gardeners to purchasing, growing, saving and circulating seeds of useful or delicious varieties.</p>
<p>Today, many home and allotment garderners who save seeds see themselves as protectors of endangered plants – and their gardens as repositories of important biodiversity. They believe that their stewardship of vegetable diversity contributes to the possibilities for a better, fairer global food system in the future. The history of the HDRA reminds us that there was — and still is — work involved in connecting these individual acts of seed saving to the future of the world’s food.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Anne Curry receives funding from the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and the Wellcome Trust.</span></em></p>
Saving seed is a way of protecting the world’s vegetable varieties, saving money, and increasingly, a political statement too.
Helen Anne Curry, Peter Lipton Senior Lecturer in History of Modern Science and Technology, University of Cambridge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/126711
2019-11-15T13:29:11Z
2019-11-15T13:29:11Z
Tons of acorns? It must be a mast year
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301775/original/file-20191114-26237-144yg3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=203%2C0%2C3962%2C2605&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mast year can be a squirrel's dream come true.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/acorns-fruits-closeup-oak-nut-tree-1060538540">Editor77/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have oak trees in your neighborhood, perhaps you’ve noticed that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12722.x">some years the ground is carpeted</a> with their acorns, and some years there are hardly any. Biologists call this pattern, in which all the oak trees for miles around make either lots of acorns or almost none, “masting.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301776/original/file-20191114-26202-8v7s3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dipterocarp seed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-dipterocarp-seed-1368795053">kumakumalatte/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Naturalists have <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/04/1210645279/hardwood-trees-are-dropping-more-nuts-than-usual-this-fall">declared this fall a mast year for many trees</a>: Not just oaks, but walnuts, beeches and more are all making tons of nuts all at the same time.</p>
<p>Many other types of trees, from familiar North American species such as pines and hickories to the massive dipterocarps of Southeast Asian rainforests, show similar synchronization in seed production. But why and how do trees do it?</p>
<h2>Benefits of synchronized seeds</h2>
<p>Every seed contains a packet of energy-rich starch to feed the baby tree that lies dormant inside. This makes them a tasty prize for all sorts of animals, from beetles to squirrels to wild boar.</p>
<p>If trees coordinate their seed production, these seed-eating animals are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(03)00157-9">likely to get full</a> long before they eat all the seeds produced in a mast year, leaving the rest to sprout.</p>
<p>For trees such as oaks that depend on having their seeds carried away from the parent tree and buried by animals like squirrels, a mast year has an extra benefit. When there are lots of nuts, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02857850">squirrels bury more of them</a> instead of eating them immediately, spreading oaks across the landscape. </p>
<h2>Getting in sync</h2>
<p>It’s still something of a mystery how trees synchronize their seed production to get these benefits, but several elements seem to be important.</p>
<p>First, producing a big crop of seeds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14114">takes a lot of energy</a>. Trees make their food through <a href="https://www.livescience.com/51720-photosynthesis.html">photosynthesis</a>: using energy from the Sun to turn carbon dioxide into sugars and starch. There are only so many resources to go around, though. Once trees make a big batch of seeds, they may need to switch back to making new leaves and wood for a while, or take a year or two to replenish stored starches, before another mast. </p>
<p>But how do individual trees decide when that mast year should be? <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/14-0819.1">Weather conditions appear to be important</a>, especially spring weather. If there’s a cold snap that freezes the flowers of the tree – and yes, oaks do have flowers, they’re just extremely small – then the tree can’t produce many seeds the following fall.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301777/original/file-20191114-26217-1gjk78k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harm to the tree’s flowers in spring doesn’t bode well for the acorn crop come fall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/detail-flowering-oak-spring-close-165059594">almgren/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0217.1">drought during the summer</a> could also kill developing seeds. Trees will often shut the pores in their leaves to save water, which also reduces their ability to take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.</p>
<p>Because all the trees within a local area are experiencing essentially the same weather, these environmental cues can help coordinate their seed production, acting like a reset button they’ve all pushed at the same time.</p>
<p>A third intriguing possibility that researchers are still investigating is that trees are “talking” to each other via chemical signals. Scientists know that when a plant is damaged by insects, it often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1042/bst0310123">releases chemicals into the air that signal</a> to its other branches and to neighboring plants that they should turn on their defenses. Similar signals could potentially help trees coordinate seed production. </p>
<p>Investigation of tree-to-tree communication is still in its infancy, however. For instance, ecologists recently found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.4161/psb.28258">chemicals released from the roots</a> of the leafy vegetable mizuna can affect the flowering time of neighboring plants. While this sort of communication is unlikely to account for the rough synchronization of seed production over dozens or even hundreds of miles, it could be important for syncing up a local area.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301778/original/file-20191114-26202-1x6ie87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lots of nuts is good news for the animals that eat them – and the bigger animals that, in turn, eat them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/squirrel-autumn-acorn-dry-leaves-128704667">TessarTheTegu/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Masting’s effects ripple through the food web</h2>
<p>Whatever the causes, masting has consequences that flow up and down the food chain.</p>
<p>For instance, rodent populations often boom in response to high seed production. This in turn results in more food for rodent-eating predators like hawks and foxes; <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0859-z">lower nesting success for songbirds</a>, if rodents eat their eggs; and potentially higher risk of transmission of diseases <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-8-1">like hantavirus to people</a>.</p>
<p>If the low seed year that follows causes the rodent population to collapse, the effects are reversed.</p>
<p>The seeds of masting trees have also historically been important for feeding human populations, either directly or as food for livestock. Acorns were a staple in the diet of Native Americans in California, with families carefully <a href="https://heydaybooks.com/book/the-way-we-lived/">tending particular oaks and storing the nuts</a> for winter. In Spain, the most prized form of ham still comes from <a href="http://www.mast-producing-trees.org/2009/11/acorn-finished-pork-an-ancient-tradition/">pigs that roam through the oak forests</a>, eating up to 20 pounds of acorns each day.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301779/original/file-20191114-26202-1gg10ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sometimes the ground seems paved in acorns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/acorns-on-ground-1243010128">kurutanx/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So the next time you take an autumn walk, check out the ground under your local oak tree – you might just see the evidence of this amazing process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Moran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Masting is what biologists call the pattern of trees for miles around synchronizing to all produce lots of seeds − or very few. Why and how do they get on schedule?
Emily Moran, Assistant Professor of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.