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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Small farmers hold the key to seed diversity: researchers

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  • From: John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Small farmers hold the key to seed diversity: researchers
  • Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 19:47:32 +0000

People have been trained to comply to any hare brained scheme for many years Paul. Most have gotten very good at jumping through hoops.
In the last ten years there has been an enormous push here from the government to get rid of any natural vegetation and even wild birds and other animals. The department wants to see rye grass and nothing but rye grass. Some inspectors even frown upon seeing clover in fields. The effect is that farmers have gotten rid of most trees and shrubs by burning them off with the help of a gallon of petrol. And they spray and fertilise and plough and re-seed. Very expensive and making farming the most dangerous profession.

I have refused to go that way and got a penalty of over 3,000 euro last year that I refuse to pay.. Incarceration is a possibility but more likely they will be looking for a way to extract that money from me some way or another.There are many unhappy people in the country at the moment but those are mainly towns people who resist Irish water being privatised and made very expensive. Farmers have been trained too well over too many years to stand up together.

Reminds me of an adventure I had in 1979 when I was working in the laboratory of Antwerp Zoo. One day two male, adult lions were brought in a cage on a low transport trolley. To get them in their quarantine cage we had about twenty people to manhandle the transport cage so that the two sliding doors lined up. This could only be done by having the transport cage hang over the trolley. The moment the doors were opened the lions took a fright and jumped to the back of the cage so that this tumbled off the trolley. And there I found myself eye to eye with two big lions on my own. Most of the others had stampeded for the exit, 3 people had sought refuge on top of a cage of kangaroos squeezed between this and the ceiling. They only came down after I had manoeuvred the lions with the help of a chair into their new quarters.
It was not quite as bad as it looks at first sight. I knew the history of those lions. They had been reared as pets and were donated to the zoo because they became too expensive not because they were vicious. And since they had been obviously afraid of a door opening I did not think they were going to eat me. But all the 19 others knew this as well and ran.
The moral of the story is simple : when things get a bit hot do not count on anybody but yourself.
John

On 18/02/15 01:48, herb farmer wrote:

I'm not sure how many growers they could incarcerate, but it would be too many if they showed that kind of backbone

On 2/17/2015 5:09 PM, John D'hondt wrote:
I am a bit far away from Africa to do anything much practical about that there happening.
But they better don't be stupid enough to stop me saving and improving seeds. Some things are worth dying for and I don't intend to die like a sheep.
John

On 17/02/15 23:37, herb farmer wrote:

Again, As Frederick Douglas pointed out 100 yrs ago, it depends on how much people are willing to put up with

On 2/17/2015 3:38 PM, John D'hondt wrote:
True but for how much longer. Saving your own seed is being made illegal in Europe.
John

On 17/02/15 14:25, herb farmer wrote:

Small farmers hold the key to seed diversity: researchers
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/small-farmers-hold-the-ke/1663520.html

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Up to 75 percent of the seeds needed to produce the world's diverse food crops are held by small farmers, researchers said following a review of international census data.

Growers with farms of less than seven acres preserve diversity through "networks of seed and knowledge exchanges", Karl Zimmerer, a Penn State University geography professor who led the research, told a conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.

Some 75 percent of the world's plant genetic diversity has been lost since the 1900s, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported, as farmers shift from local varieties to genetically uniform, high-yielding crop breeds.

About 75 percent of the world's food is generated from only 12 plants and five animal species, the FAO has said.

Unlike large plantations which are monocultures, small farmers often plant several different species of staple crops, like potatoes, improving the resilience of their food and increasing its diversity.

While less efficient for some large farms, planting a variety of seeds can help food systems build resilience to pests or climate change, growers said.

"How many resources are going to monocultures and how many are going to diversifying food production systems?" Nicaraguan indigenous activist Myrna Cunningham asked during a U.N. conference on Monday.

"If we (start to) base food production on the richness of our diverse societies, we can improve the situation."

Small farmers are often the first to face hunger or displacement, but their role in preserving varied types of seeds is crucial, activists said.

The new research from 11 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America underlines the importance of supporting small farmers, particularly women, who are leading the way in preserving diversity in their use of seeds, they said.

The 25 percent of seeds for food crops not held by small farmers are preserved in gene banks, researchers said.

"As a society, we are increasingly exposed to shocks and risks (in our food systems)," Adolfo Brizzi, director of policy for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), told the U.N. conference.

"We need diversity as a base in case something goes wrong."


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