A MORE detailed understanding of just how big an issue food security will be over the next 100 years is altering the public’s perception of GM technology, according to Monsanto’s director of research Harvey Glick.
He acknowledged that there had been strong consumer resistance to GM products in places such as Europe, but said he believed the tide was turning.
“You look at the recent report from UK science academy, the Royal Society, and they produced a lengthy report that came out quite strongly on the need for biotechnology to meet food security needs.”
He said the perception of Europe as a stronghold of anti-GM opinion was not matched by the figures.
“Europe is one of the world’s leading importers of GM products, in the form of corn and soy beans, so you have to take these calls that Europe will not accept GM with some perspective.”
Dr Glick said he believed food security would be one of the largest issues confronting the world in...
ECOSYSTEMS on the land and in the oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb carbon dioxide than had previously been recognised.
Information from new data runs contrary to a significant body of recent research that expects the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans to absorb CO2 should start to diminish as CO2 emissions increase, letting greenhouse gas levels skyrocket.
The data, however, shows the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850.
That's despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now, according to the University of Bristol in the UK.
Dr Wolfgang Knorr at the University of Bristol has found that the trend in the airborne fraction since 1850 has only been 0.7pc per decade (standard deviation of 1.4pc), which is essentially zero.
The strength of the new study, published online on Nov 9 in Geophysical Research Letters, is...
This is the week of Agritechnica, the huge indoor, seven-day farm show at Hanover, Germany. Held every-other-year the show claims to be the "The World's No. 1". Organisers say their attendance for the full run of the show should be about 300,000, as growers come to see exhibits displayed by more than 2100 companies from 45 countries.
The future agri machinery - 600 HP Deutz Fahr tractor, huge sprayers with nighttime functions, 'steering by wire' John Deere tractors etc etc.
Please watch the slideshow player: http://theland.farmonline.com.au/slideshowplayer.aspx?id=9598...
Ever since somebody suggested that eating one a day kept the doctor away, the health benefits of the apple have been trumpeted by grandmothers and government ministers alike. The fruit's only drawback is its tendency to lose its glossy sheen and crunchy texture within a few days – a problem that a team of scientists in Australia now claims to have solved.
For the past 20 years, researchers at Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF), a department of the Queensland government, have been developing a new variety of apple which they claim can stay fresh for months.
Its name, RS103-130, might not have quite the same ring as popular varieties such as Golden Delicious, Pink Lady or Braeburn, but the scientists have described it as "the world's best apple" thanks to its sweet taste, longevity and ability to resist disease.
The apple, which is a deep red in colour, stays "crispy" for up to 14 days if kept in a fruit bowl, and...
MOST land use changes occurring in the continental United States reduce vegetative cover and raise regional surface temperatures, according to a new study by scientists at Purdue University, the University of Maryland and the University of Colorado-Boulder.
This map shows observation minus re-analysis trends in the continental US from 1979 to 2003. The trends are associated with land use and changes in land use. Researchers from Purdue and the universities of Colorado and Maryland conducted a study showing land use can affect surface temperatures locally and regionally. Units are in degrees Celsius per decade. Photo: Purdue University/Souleymane Fall.
The study, which will appear in the Royal Meteorological Society's International Journal of Climatology, found that almost any change that makes land cover less "green" contributes to warming.
However, a less obvious finding is that the conversion of any land to agricultural use results in cooling - even land that was previously forested.
This suggests that local and regional strategies such as creating...
With a projected 25 per cent and 50pc increase in United States and world populations respectively by 2050, substantial increases in freshwater use for food, fibre and fuel production, as well as municipal and residential consumption, are inevitable, according to a new publication from the Council on Agricultural Science & Technology (CAST).
This increased water use will not come without consequences, and as one of the largest users of water in the US, agriculture will be affected significantly by changes in water availability and cost.
An abundant, reliable supply of water to meet demands cannot be taken for granted, CAST said.
To evaluate current trends, summarise key vulnerabilities and identify possible solutions to current and future challenges, CAST convened a task force of eight scientists, educators and resource analysts who have prepared the new CAST Issue Paper, Water, People & the Future: Water Availability for Agriculture in the United States.
Through case studies, the new CAST publication discusses the diverse demands for water resources...
CAN the green tag reinvigorate wool demand?
That’s the question circulating around the industry as vertically integrated wool marketing company, The Merino Company (TMC), becomes the first wool licensee of the highly respected EU Eco-label ‘Flower’ and offers it to its retail clients.
The environmentally conscience label first hit European retail shelves in 1992 and at the beginning of 2009 more than 750 companies world-wide had been awarded the label as marketing managers attempted to benefit from the shiny green dollars by helping consumers find more environmentally friendly products and services.
Growth spiraled 18 months ago when around 230 new companies were added to the green store catalogue.
To become a licensee the credentials are tough, but in one promotional week in Denmark licensee holders reported a 600 per cent lift in sales.
It is this consumer response that Stefan Bernerius, manager of TMC yarns, says is why the Eco-label is a significant marketing tool.
"We recognise the importance placed on high quality natural fibres that...
MONSANTO’S director of scientific affairs Harvey Glick has shrugged off suggestions genetic modification advances have stalled and has predicted a boom period for biotech products as the 'second generation' of traits becomes available to growers.
"I think we are just at the beginning of an exciting period, with crops being rolled out with new traits, especially in soybeans and corn," Dr Glick said.
Canada-based Dr Glick said that it was not just more of the same herbicide resistance traits either.
"We are working on more nitrogen efficient and drought tolerant lines, as well as oilseeds with higher oil levels."
He dismissed claims that many of the new traits being developed were being done by conventional breeding regardless of genetic modification.
"It's not fair to say its just being done with conventional traits."
And work is still being done on perfecting existing traits.
"Take a look at Roundup Ready soybeans," he said. "Roundup Ready is one of the most widely planted traits, but we are not just taking...
Pre-commercial, prototype equipment for harvesting cobs for cellulosic ethanol production continues to improve.
Several hundred farmers braved cold, wind and rain this week at Emmetsburg, Iowa, USA, to see the latest in pre-commercial equipment designed for harvesting corn cobs for cellulosic ethanol production.
The event was the POET Project Liberty field day.
Project Liberty is POET's effort to commercialise cellulosic ethanol.
The project will be a 25 million-gallon-per year cellulosic ethanol plant located within the current grain ethanol plant.
POET's pilot-scale plant in Scotland, South Dakota, is already producing cellulosic ethanol at a rate of approximately 20,000 gallons per year.
"We feel this can be a brand new revenue stream for farmers," said Jeff Broin, POET chief executive.
"It's a tremendous opportunity for farmers and rural America.
"We had 800 farmers here last year and the equipment continues to improve."
Corn cobs are the feedstock of choice for POET.
But collecting corn cobs can be a challenge while trying to get the harvest done on time.
That's why a number of...
LIVE with wool and reduce your carbon footprint'. That's the theme of a new marketing alliance for wool announced today, highlighting the benefits of wool as the ideal fibre to help reduce global warming.
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) launched the program with the Wool Carbon Alliance, a group of Australian and international wool industry representatives working together.
It's based on international research which says a household can significantly reduce its carbon emissions by living with wool: insulating with wool, wearing wool, walking, sleeping and sitting on wool.
According to the alliance, wool is a planet-friendly fibre made from the simple combination of sunlight, water and grass.
It is made of up to 50 per cent carbon, stored in a stable form. It is renewable, has the ability to biodegrade without harm to the environment and can be recycled.
Furthermore, it takes significantly less energy to produce wool products than that required by man-made fibre products, and this ensures CO2 emissions are kept very low.
Therefore, the...