Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[<mdnagel@verizon.net>]

"In short, the world needs to produce more while conserving more,” the 
company’s chief executive, Hugh Grant, said in a statement."

Hey, it's like a perpetual motion machine!  The more we conserve the more we 
can "produce!"

Seems that minerals are missing from this equation...  Will natural gas (for 
nitrogen production) hold up?


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA


>From: Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>
>
>June 5, 2008
>Monsanto Plans to Boost Food Supply
>By ANDREW POLLACK
>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/business/worldbusiness/05crop.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
>
>Monsanto, the leader in agricultural biotechnology, pledged Wednesday to 
>develop seeds that would double the yields of corn, soybeans and cotton by 
>2030 and would require 30 percent less water, land and energy to grow.
>
>The announcement, coming as world leaders are meeting in Rome to discuss 
>rising food prices and growing food shortages, appears to be aimed at least 
>in part at winning acceptance of genetically modified crops by showing that 
>they can play a major role in feeding the world.
>
>Much of what is in the commitment are things the company was doing anyway, 
>though it now becomes a formal goal.
>
>Monsanto said it had developed its new commitment after consulting farmers, 
>political leaders, academics and advocacy groups as to what needed to be 
>done to increase food production to cope with a rising population and the 
>demand for biofuels without converting more forests into farmland.
>
>“In short, the world needs to produce more while conserving more,” the 
>company’s chief executive, Hugh Grant, said in a statement.
>
>How much genetic engineering, which involves adding bacterial or other 
>foreign genes to the DNA of plants, could contribute to improving output is 
>a matter of debate.
>
>A recent review of agricultural technology, sponsored by the United Nations 
>and the World Bank, saw a very limited role. But in Rome on Tuesday, United 
>States Secretary of Agriculture Edward T. Schafer said biotechnology would 
>be essential if the world was to increase food supply by 2030 to meet rising 
>demand.
>
>Genetically modified soybeans, corn and cotton, genetically engineered to 
>provide herbicide tolerance, insect resistance or both, are widely grown in 
>the United States and several other countries. But they are largely shunned 
>in Europe and some other areas because of concerns about potential 
>environmental and health effects.
>
>Perhaps seeking to avoid controversy, Monsanto’s announcement did not 
>mention the term “genetic engineering.” It referred instead to “other 
>technologies” beyond breeding.
>
>Monsanto’s goal of doubling yields by 2030 over levels in 2000 might require 
>a sharp acceleration in the rate by which agricultural productivity has been 
>increasing. James E. Specht, a soybean genetics expert at the University of 
>Nebraska, said he doubted it could be done.
>
>“The hype-to-reality ratio of that one is essentially infinity,” Mr. Specht 
>said. “Seeing an exponential change in the yield curve is unlikely.”
>
>Mr. Specht said that on irrigated farms in Nebraska, soybean yields have 
>been increasing by about 0.6 bushels an acre every year. At that rate it 
>would take 83 years for yields to double from the 50 bushels an acre 
>recorded in 2000.
>
>But Monsanto executives say that a new technique called marker-assisted 
>selection could double the rate of gain made from breeding. That technique 
>does not involve altering crops by putting in foreign genes. Rather it uses 
>genetic tests to help choose which plants to use in conventional 
>cross-breeding, vastly speeding up the process and improving its efficiency.
>
>But Monsanto executives say genetic engineering could provide additional 
>increases in output beyond that. The company’s insect-resistant crops 
>already help protect corn and cotton. And Monsanto scientists are working on 
>genetically engineered crops that would grow better with less water and 
>fertilizer.
>
>Moreover, the company is not talking about the United States alone. Its said 
>its commitment was to double the weighted average yield of all countries 
>with access to the company’s seeds and modern agriculture production 
>techniques, particularly Argentina and Brazil, in addition to the United 
>States.
>
>Brazil, for instance, produces only 58 bushels of corn an acre compared to 
>157 bushels in the United States. So big gains might be made by bringing 
>Brazil to American levels, without having to vastly accelerate yield 
>improvements in Nebraska.
>
>Some critics of biotechnology say that genetic engineering so far has not 
>been shown to improve yields, though it may provide more convenience for 
>farmers. They also have said that the biotech crops developed so far have 
>mainly been aimed at feeding livestock in wealthy countries, not improving 
>the staple crops grown by small farmers in poor countries.
>
>As part of its announcement Wednesday, Monsanto said it would work to 
>improve the lives of farmers, including poor ones, including sharing its 
>technology. It recently announced a project with some other organizations to 
>develop drought-tolerant corn for Africa, with Monsanto forgoing the 
>collection of royalties for use of its technology.
>
>Also yesterday, Monsanto said it would donate $10 million over five years to 
>public-sector programs aimed at improving yields of wheat and rice, which 
>are not a primary focus of the company’s efforts. Much of the breeding of 
>those two food staples are performed by governments and universities.
>
>Monsanto’s stock was trading at $134.76 mid-morning Wednesday, up about 1 
>percent. The stock has more than doubled in the last year, in part because 
>of soaring crop prices. Besides being a leader in genetic engineering, 
>Monsanto is one of the largest suppliers of seeds in the world. It also 
>sells the widely used herbicide Roundup, use of which has grown with the 
>adoption of genetically engineered crops resistant to Roundup.