Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered crops
November 30, 2008 By ELAINE KURTENBACH , Associated Press Writer
A worker uses a machine to cut rice on a test field sewn with different rice varieties in the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwestern China's Yunnan province, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008. In a mountainous place like Yunnan, and in many other parts of the developing world, such advantages can tip the balance between hunger and a decent living. After years of research in places like Yunnan and others, China is now on the verge of putting crops with such attributes on the market, experts say. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
(AP) -- Zeng Yawen's outdoor laboratory in the terraced hills of southern China is a trove of genetic potential - rice that thrives in unusually cool temperatures, high altitudes or in dry soil; rice rich in calcium, vitamins or iron.
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There's already enough frickin' food. Profit driven distribution problems and dysfunctional governments and battling ethnic groups is what drives starvation. Future generations will look back on this age in horror, and genetically modified life for humans to eat will top the list of reasons why.
There isn't any commercial crop (or animal) that has not been genetically modified by man. Look at the difference between maize and the corn you by in the store.
The only bad things happening now is companies like Monsanto exploiting farmers, but China and other countries seem to be circumventing this by producing their own varieties without the prices Monsanto charges.
Welcome tasty, healthy and abundant food..
Hunger and nutritiondeficiency, be gone!
(PS. maybe I'm too big a idealist, and too little a realist)
You've got it backwards, the third world is who the overpriviliged first world luddites desire to starve.
Well, the deep greens have been very active in trying to misinform the public and especially in trying to force Africa to use all organic, unmechanised subsistence farming. Even to the extent that they've managed to convince Zambia not accept food aid during a famine because it was genetically modified corn.
They're terrified that we could have another United States or Europe.
The old hippies from the 60's had balls; many of them actually went out and lived the lifestyle they were preaching. Todays deep greens are just genocidal hypocrites.
That's incorrect, reserves plus reserve base of phosphorus is some ~3 centuries at present rate. That's only what has been discovered and is economical to extract with current technology. If the price of phosphorus increases or the cost of mining is reduced by improved technology you can mine more marginal resources and the amount of phosphorus ultimately recoverable is increased.
There's more than enough phosphorus available for mining companies for the forseeable future so mining companies do not have an incentive to spend significant sums exploring for additional reserves.
If phosphorus recovery technology becomes more economical(e.g. from sewage treatment plants or farm run-off) you don't need as much new phosphorus.
Conventional farming is free to use any method available wherever it make sense; "organic" farming is just a set of largely arbitrary restrictions on which methods you may use.