Tag Archives: Asia

Biofortified GM bananas

Posted on June 22, 2014 by argylesock

James Dale is a scientist at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia). His lab has developed a genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) banana (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in ‘pro-vitamin A’. Here’s the QUT report. This is the ‘super banana’ … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, banana, banana Cavendish, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, breeding, carotenoid, child, conservation, cotton, crop diversity, crop variety, development, East African cooking banana, food security, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, gene, gene gun, genetic modification, iron, land grab, local variety, marker assisted backcrossing, micronutrient, Monsanto, nutrition, patent, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, pro-vitamin A, Provit Banana, research, rice, Scuba rice, seed, soya, staple food, super banana, tissue culture, trade, Vitamin A | 2 Comments

Comparison of agriculture in North America and Europe raises questions about the value of GM

Posted on June 22, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on AgScience:
Researchers led by Canterbury University Professor Jack Heinemann have announced further findings that challenge the benefits of genetic modification. This time their analysis deals with agricultural productivity. They report finding (see here) that the biotechnologies used…

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer | Tagged America, Asia, biotechnology, crop, development, Europe, food security, genetic modification, law, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, staple food, trade, Walport_Mark, yield | 3 Comments

Genetic control mechanism developed to deal with major livestock pest

Posted on June 21, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on AgScience:
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a technique to control populations of the Australian sheep blowfly – a major livestock pest in Australia and New Zealand – by making female flies dependent on a…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged America, antibiotic, antibiotic dependence, arboriculture, arthropod, Asia, Australian sheep blowfly, biotechnology, blowfly, dipteran, Drosophila melanogaster, fruit, fruitfly, genetic modification, insect, invertebrate, lab animal, livestock, mammal, New World screwworm, pest, pest control, plant_dicot, research, sheep, tetracycline, tree, vertebrate | Leave a comment

Steve Marsh to appeal GM canola contamination case

Posted on June 20, 2014 by argylesock

Steve Marsh is a Western Australian farmer who sued his neighbour Michael Baxter for ‘reckless’ harvesting of GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) canola (oilseed rape, rapeseed, Brassica napus). Some GM canola seeds ended up on Mr Marsh’s land. Mr Marsh … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture | Tagged Asia, biotechnology, brassica, canola, crop, escaping transgene, farmer, genetic modification, law, Marsh_Steve, Monsanto, oilseed, organic, plant_dicot, rapeseed, Roundup Ready crop, seed | Leave a comment

The new scramble for Africa (part 1)

Posted on June 20, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on ECO-opia:
. With the African continent home to the majority of the world’s fastest-growing economies, urban consumer markets and a wealth of natural resources, it’s perhaps not surprising that some of the world’s largest corporations, from Monsanto…

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged Africa, aid, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Asia, breeding, development, DuPont, Europe, farmer, fertiliser, finance, food security, food sovereignty, G8, history, knowledge, local variety, Monsanto, New Alliance, nutrition, pesticide, politics, prosperity, seed, smallholder, Syngenta, trade, tradition, World Development Movement, Yara | Leave a comment

Special bananas: Africa’s answer to Golden Rice?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by argylesock

Oluwabusayo Sotunde (writing as Busayo in Ventures Africa) tells us about a ‘special banana’ (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. After eating those carotenes, the body converts them to Vitamin A. So they’re ‘provitamins’. This new genetically modified … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, banana, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, child, development, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, Green Revolution, nutrition, plantain, plant_monocot, Provit Banana, research, rice, staple food, tree, Vitamin A, woman | 6 Comments

Roundup weedkiller and Roundup Ready crops

Posted on June 9, 2014 by argylesock

The world’s most popular weedkiller is called Roundup. It’s used in gardens, on farms and in public places. Many of the world’s most popular genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) crops are called Roundup Ready. You can spray these crops with … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, bacterium, Bayer, biotechnology, crop, Europe, farm, garden, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, Monsanto, patent, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, Syngenta, trade, weed | 12 Comments

Contamination Matters – Why GM crops can’t be managed at a national level

Posted on June 5, 2014 by argylesock

Rob White at GM Freeze in Manchester, England, tells us that GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) crops can’t be managed at a national level. As you know I’m quite discouraged about this biotech. Is the GM crops war over? I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture | Tagged academia, America, Asia, biodiversity, biotechnology, Bt crop, crop, escaping transgene, Europe, flax, flax Triffid, food, genetic modification, grain, herbicide resistance, insecticide, law, oilseed, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, research, rice, rice Bt63, rice LL601, rice LL62, textile, trade, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership | 9 Comments

Invest More in Agriculture Not Industries

Posted on June 4, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Foundation for Young Farmers:
A very appropriate theme when Africa is rising, was one of my first thoughts. Participants were researchers, academics, policymakers from the UN, AU, governments and NGOs as well as people like me who…

Posted in agriculture | Tagged Africa, Asia, city, development, Green Revolution, land grab, politics, poverty, prosperity, rural, smallholder, young person | Leave a comment

Is organic farming out of date?

Posted on June 2, 2014 by argylesock

There’s evidence that organic methods can be very productive, as I’ll discuss in this blog when I get around to that. I grow food on an allotment here in Britain. There, like many modern allotmenteers, I use organic methods. I … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture | Tagged allotment, America, Asia, biotechnology, Europe, farmer, gardener, genetic modification, grocery, law, Marsh_Steve, Monsanto, organic, patent, pesticide | 17 Comments