Tag Archives: crop variety

Séralini’s rat-feeding trial (part 5)

Posted on July 15, 2014 by argylesock

Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini is a French scientist researching pesticides and GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered, GE) crops. A research paper from his team was published in 2012, retracted (withdrawn) in 2013 and republished in 2014. Here it is. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer | Tagged academia, America, biotechnology, corn, crop variety, Europe, food safety, genetic modification, glyphosate, grain, herbicide, herbicide resistance, knowledge, lab animal, maize, maize NK603, mammal, Monsanto, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_monocot, rat, research, rodent, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, Séralini_Gilles-Eric, tumour, vertebrate | 1 Comment

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

No seeds, no future

Posted on June 8, 2014 by argylesock

Biowatch South Africa shows us a film about agroecology and food sovereignty. ‘We accept maize seeds from the Department of Agriculture, but we don’t plant those GM seeds. We feed them to chickens.’

Posted in agriculture, food | Tagged Africa, agroecology, biotechnology, bird, chicken, corn, crop, crop variety, development, family farm, feed, food, food sovereignty, genetic modification, grain, livestock, local variety, maize, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poultry, seed, seedbank, smallholder, subsistence, trade, tradition, vegetable, vegetable variety, vertebrate | 2 Comments

Soya to grow with 2,4-D

Posted on May 30, 2014 by argylesock

Crops genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) to resist Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup (glyphosate) aren’t the only GM crops designed to be grown with weedkiller. GRAIN tells us about a new such crop. It’s a soya (soybean, Glycine max) designed to be … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged 2 4-D, Africa, America, ammonium, Asia, auxin, biotechnology, brain, cancer, commodity crop, corn, cotton, crop variety, Dow, evolution, feed, food, Frontline, genetic modification, glufosinate, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, hormone, human, kidney, liver, maize, milk, Monsanto, muscle, neurotoxin, patent, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, poison, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, soya, soya DAS-44406-6, superweed, tree, vegetation, war, weed, woman | 3 Comments

Scuba rice: biotech crop on a fast track towards release

Posted on May 25, 2014 by argylesock

A new biotech rice variety called Scuba or Swarna-Sub1 is going through field trials in India. It’s a long-grained rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) designed to be ‘climate-ready’ or ‘climate-smart’. That is, it’s designed to grow well as climates … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer, weather and climate | Tagged Africa, Asia, backcrossing, biotechnology, breeding, climate, climate-ready crop, crop diversity, crop variety, Department for International Development, development, farmer, field trial, flood, gene, grain, International Rice Research Institute, marker assisted backcrossing, marker assisted selection, paddy field, plant_monocot, research, rice, rice Swarna, Scuba rice, seed, selective breeding, staple food, trade, weather | 6 Comments

Achievements and controversy surrounding rice, vitamins, and GM crops

Posted on May 22, 2014 by argylesock

Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the world’s great staple foods. I recommend Oryza for information about rice. For example, here’s an Oryza article about rice, vitamins, and GM crops.

Posted in food, knowledge transfer | Tagged beriberi, biotechnology, bird, breeding, brown rice, chicken, crop variety, development, disease, food processing, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, history, knowledge, lab animal, nutrition, plant_monocot, poultry, research, rice, staple food, vertebrate, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin E | Leave a comment

Rising levels of CO2 could exacerbate malnutrition

Posted on May 16, 2014 by argylesock

argylesock says… Climate change is happening. We humans caused it. Here’s yet another way that climate change threatens people, especially poor people. [Edit] I looked up the original paper (behind a paywall, but my University library has a subscription) and … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, weather and climate | Tagged America, Asia, biofortification, carbon dioxide, child, climate, corn, crop variety, field pea, food quality, grain, iron, legume, maize, nutrition, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, research, rice, selective breeding, sorghum, soya, staple food, vegetable, wheat, zinc | 2 Comments

The homogenisation and globalisation of diets

Posted on April 25, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?:
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that some 75% of the diversity of cultivated crops was lost during the 20th Century and, by 2050, we could lose…

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, human health, money and trade | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, cassava, city, climate, conservation, crop, crop diversity, crop variety, development, disease, Europe, Food and Agriculture Organization, food safety, genetic diversity, grain, human, iodine, iron, law, micronutrient, millet, neglected crop, nutrition, pest, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, potato, prosperity, research, rice, rye, seedbank, staple food, sugar beet, sugar cane, sweet potato, trade, tuber, Vitamin A, wheat | 6 Comments

Monsanto Admits: 1. We Don’t Need Genetic Engineering, 2. We Don’t Need Monsanto

Posted on March 26, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Volatility:
> Recently Wired magazine ran a Monsanto infomercial touting its alleged change of strategic course on vegetables. Monsanto, through its subsidiaries Seminis and others, is selling a line of high-end conventional vegetables dolled up as some kind of high-tech breakthrough. Contrary…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged allergy, America, Asia, biofortification, biotechnology, brassica, breeding, broccoli, Bt crop, commodity crop, corn, cotton, crop, crop variety, DNA, drought, Europe, evolution, farmer, feed, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, germplasm, glucoraphanin, glyphosate, Golden Rice, grain, grocery, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, human, insecticide, knowledge, label, lettuce, maize, marker assisted selection, melon, Monsanto, nitrogen, nutrition, onion, organic, pepper, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, potato, research, rice, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, salt, seed, selective breeding, Seminis, soya, tomato, trade, transport, vegetable, vegetable variety, watermelon, weed, wild vegetable | Leave a comment

What happens to European seeds now?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Passion in Food and Field:
Today (11th of March) the European Parliament voted for the rejection of the Commission proposal for a Regulation the production and marketing of Plant Reproductive Material. The Commission published the draft of…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, money and trade | Tagged crop, crop diversity, crop variety, Europe, farmer, fruit, fruit variety, gardener, genetic diversity, grain, law, local variety, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, rare variety, seed, trade, vegetable, vegetable variety | Leave a comment