Wolfgang Korsus Dipl.-Ing. NT, Astrophysiker
Klingenberg 40
25451 Quickborn
Email: wkorsus@gmx.de
iPhone: 01625680456
FN: 04106 69295
Website: Wolfgang.korsus.net
Chapter 333/7
The honourable agriculture
Let me turn to a special factor…. is modern, globalized agriculture, because it is precisely this that is a serious factor contributing to the worldwide „loss of species“. Special habitats are being lost, certain animal and plant species are disappearing, agricultural breeds and varieties are being displaced.
Let’s place a bet:
How many times higher is the current rate of global species extinction than the assumed natural extinction rate?
…….Yes, by a factor of up to a thousand. …oh shock !!!
The loss of „biodiversity“ (biological diversity) not only causes enormous economic damage, but also poses a threat to food security. The industrialization of agriculture has led to an extreme depletion of crop species.
In the past 100 years, almost 75 percent of biodiversity has disappeared. Another extra, the United States is already at over 90 percent. In Asia, around 30,000 different rice varieties used to be cultivated. After the Green Revolution, just ten rice varieties now dominate three quarters of the land under cultivation. ( The Green Revolution is the term used to describe the yield increases achieved from the 1960s onwards as a result of the TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER of modern agricultural methods to various DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
The situation with livestock is similarly dramatic. There is a society for the preservation of old and endangered domestic breeds, called GEH. It announced a sad result, according to which one breed of farm animal dies out every week worldwide.
……….THAT IS DEVASTATING.
In the 19th century there were still 35 breeds of cattle in Bavaria (GE), today there are only five !!!! In its report on animal genetic resources, the FAO examined more than 7,500 pig, cattle, sheep, goat and poultry breeds. The result is also devastating: 20 percent of the breeds are on the verge of extinction, but two thirds of them are local breeds with high genetic adaptability. They could make an enormous contribution to food security – if they survived. ……..[ miserable carnivores ]
Listen….Listen !!!
Worldwide, only around „ten“ plant species and „five“ livestock breeds form the basis of the global food supply today. This loss of genetic material, or better, of adapted living beings, is simply fatal. Bear in mind that crops and livestock will have to adapt to changing environmental conditions ever more quickly in the future, precisely because of climate change. ….and that is difficult.
I can imagine that the necessary genetic resources will increasingly dry up. Damn, …that has a direct impact on the security of the world’s food supply.
The so-called food rivalries are also extremely fatal:
This is because land is increasingly being used to grow crops for energy production (biofuels).
The rising demand for meat and dairy products and the associated gigantic demand for feed to fatten animals is also exacerbating the problem.
Decades of intensive land management practices, i.e.:
land consolidation, pesticide use, monocultures, overfertilization, etc. have also caused enormous environmental damage (climate damage, loss of biodiversity, poisoning of soil, water and air) and risks to human health (pollutant residues, allergies, artificial ingredients).
As mentioned earlier, the amount of fertilizer applied to the world’s fields exceeds 250 million tons (as of 2015). In addition to the ecological challenges, the industrialization of agriculture and the food industry also has a socio-cultural dimension.
There is food culture, culinary skills and traditional knowledge. The loss of this knowledge is particularly serious in the so-called developing countries. This is because 95 percent of the world’s agricultural workers live in developing countries.
Self-cultivation, subsistence farming and nutritional education will be vital in the future, especially there. So the question is: how can food security be guaranteed in the 21st century under the given conditions? …..treat question, but I am desperately looking for the people in power ???
At the moment, politics and business are focusing on further mechanization, specialization and centralization of agriculture, which is characterized in particular by the increased use of biotechnological methods. However, research and the necessary technologies in this field are very expensive, and only a few industrial companies are able to produce such input-intensive agricultural goods. The consequences are increasing market monopolies and more and more patented seeds and breeding stock. Even today, less than a handful of companies hold more than 95 percent of seed patents. It is to be feared that global nutrition will be in the hands of a few agricultural and food corporations in the future. „If we leave everything to nature, we will soon no longer be here. Nobody has died from genetically modified products yet, but they have died from organic products.“ With this statement, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, President of the Nestlé food group, takes a clear stand in favor of the use of biotechnology and genetic engineering in agriculture. The agriculture and food industry is a lucrative business for companies such as Nestlé, Monsanto and Bayer. In 2010, crop protection products worth over 1.5 billion euros were sold in Germany alone. Added to this are fertilizers, seeds and breeding stock, machinery and other operating resources.
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering is of great interest to me, especially in the agricultural sector
What is genetic engineering?
This question „What is genetic engineering“ will probably become increasingly important in the future. The term genetic engineering refers to various methods for the targeted, artificially induced modification of an organism’s DNA. DNA is the carrier of genetic information and therefore fundamentally determines the metabolism, lifestyle, appearance and behavior of a living organism. Typical genetic engineering interventions include the insertion of genes from the same or a different species, the elimination of genes or modifications to gene regulation. Molecular genetic modifications can be carried out on plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms and serve different purposes. Well-known areas of application are plant breeding and human medicine.
Genetic engineering in agriculture
In agriculture, genetic engineering is used for the cultivation and breeding of crops. Biotechnologically produced varieties are intended to produce higher yields, thrive under difficult growing conditions or reduce the use of pesticides through pest and disease resistance.
Soybeans, maize, rapeseed, cotton and sugar beet are the main GMOs produced worldwide genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
for agricultural use. These plants are used, for example, as feed for livestock or as raw materials for the food and clothing industry. They are mainly cultivated in North and South America (Canada, USA, Argentina, Brazil) as well as in India and China. In 2014, 82% of global soybean production and 30% of global maize production came from GM plants.
In the EU, only two GMO varieties have been approved for commercial use: the so-called Bt maize MON 810 and the potato Amflora, which is intended for starch production. However, individual countries such as Germany can issue national cultivation bans, meaning that no genetically modified plants have been cultivated for commercial purposes in Germany since 2012.
Having said that, let’s take a look at plant breeding, where genetic engineering techniques are already being used on a large scale. Let’s start in the USA, where the proportion of genetically modified varieties in soy and sugar beet was over 90 percent in 2011, and slightly lower for maize and cotton. This is followed by a global view, where the area cultivated with genetically modified plants amounted to around 160 million hectares in 2011. In 2011, 29 countries were using genetically modified plants. In addition to the USA and Canada, it is primarily the developing and emerging countries of Brazil, Argentina, India and China. In ten countries, the area under cultivation exceeds one million hectares. According to the agro-biotech agency ISAAA, there are now 17 million farmers worldwide who are sowing genetically modified plants in their fields.
The following properties are said to make genetically modified plants so valuable:
– Drought resistance: plants that produce good yields even in drought.
– Fungal resistance: For example in bananas, wine, wheat or the pathogen that causes late blight. But here, too, the industry has been disappointed.
– Pest resistance: One example is the controversial Monsan-to-corn (Bt Mon810), which produces a toxin against the corn borer pest through targeted genetic modification. The ban on cultivation in Germany was confirmed once again.
– Herbicide resistance: For example, a sugar beet that is tolerant to herbicides. Sugar beet can hardly survive against other plants/weeds, which is why herbicides must be used on a large scale during cultivation. It is hoped that GM beet will allow herbicides to be used in a more targeted and cost-effective manner. Cultivation trials are underway in Germany and large-scale cultivation is already underway in the USA.
– [ ]
Contrary to the hopes and promises of the industry, the use of pesticides, especially broad-spectrum pesticides, is increasing in fields with genetically modified plants. So far, green genetic engineering has not been able to keep its promise of enabling more environmentally friendly production. A long-term study by the British Department of the Environment found devastating effects on the biodiversity of wild plants and animals. The much-vaunted increase in yield is probably one of the biggest disappointments: various studies indicate that the yields of genetically modified soy, rapeseed and sugar beet were in some cases up to ten percent lower than conventional cultivation methods.
The worst was the slump in transgenic Bt cotton in India: yields fell by up to 75 percent and the quality of the fibers was inferior. One consequence: the suicide rate among Indian farmers rose dramatically. Only a few manufacturers are able to produce genetically modified seeds at all. Research is expensive and time-consuming, and the farmers pay the costs through license fees. This is why genetically modified seeds are much more expensive than conventional seeds. Farmers have to buy new seed every year and are not allowed to save seed to sow again in the new year. This leads to a fatal dependency on the manufacturers. They usually also supply the pesticides at the same time, leading to an increasing monopolization of the market.