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  • From: Thamnophis <thamnophis AT gmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn
  • Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:11:47 -0500

As in most cases, there is not a single, broad answer that is correct in all cases. There are areas, crops and circumstances that would best benefit from organic and/or non-GMO approaches, but as the gene manipulation improves there will be many areas and circumstances where GMO solutions will save thousands of lives.

One of our biggest looming problems both nationally and globally is water availability. Drought resistant GMO crops can help alleviate that potentially destabilizing problem. Other GMO crops are being developed to address large scale vitamin deficiencies - see Golden Rice, for example.

When it comes to meeting the growing demand for food, we have only 2 choices - grow more on existing crop land or convert wildlands to ag lands. As GMOs can boost production, their use will save millions of acres of forests, etc.

I'm not thrilled with GMOs, but from where I sit, they have the potential for much good. I think their upside sometimes gets drowned out by critics.

Joe
Boone County, IA

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 8:28 AM, Etienne Goyer <etienne.goyer AT outlands.ca> wrote:
On 11-09-20 08:09 AM, Richard Stewart wrote:
> My experiences planting heirloom corn (Kruggs Yellow and Boone County white) and beans (Black Turtle) on three acres or more is that the yields are far less than conventional and much more highly prone to weather conditions, mainly because of weed and cultivation issues.

We are not debating organic vs. conventional here, we are discussing
GMO.  So the question is: do you get better yield by using GMO corn vs
using conventional hybrid corn?  If yes, would that yield increase
transfer to marginal growing condition in arid climate?  I doubt that
last bit.

Now, to discuss organic vs conventional (since you raised that), if you
where growing modern hybrid organically, would the yield still be "far
less" than if you where growing similar non-GMO hybrid conventionally?
IIRC, the yield of staple crop grown organically is reputedly within 15%
of the yield of the same crop grown conventionally (I'll dig up the
reference later, if you wish).  Do you observe the same on your farm?

Lastly, Richard, like many GMO proponent, if you fall into the trap of
thinking world hunger is an agronomic problem.  It's not.  It's an
economic problem.  It's not that we have a shortage of food (and hence
need to prop up production), it's that a portion of the human population
cannot afford to pay for food, however cheap it is.

And for the future, I am personally convinced that if we invested
collectively in improving yield (organically or not) the same amount
that is being invested in developing GMO, we would be able improve
agriculture sufficiently to cover future need.  But, while you can
patent and "productize" a GMO, you cannot profit from improving the crop
selection and growing techniques of the Third World.  So there.

In other word, it is all about resource allocation.
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