Tag Archives: rice

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

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

What is biodiverse food?

Posted on June 13, 2014 by argylesock

Ann Tutwiler of Bioversity International tells us why in the 21st century, we need biodiverse food. And she tells us what that could mean. Ms Tutwiler doesn’t mince her words, saying that a need for dramatically increased food production is … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged amaranth, banana, barley, biodiversity, biotechnology, cacao, cassava, climate, commodity, corn, crop, development, fertiliser, food, food security, food sovereignty, fossil fuel, foxtail millet, genetic diversity, grain, grass, Green Revolution, grocery, knowledge, maize, neglected crop, oats, pearl millet, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, pollution, potato, poverty, prosperity, public_private partnership, quinoa, research, rice, rye, small millet, smallholder, soil, sorghum, staple food, supermarket, sustainable, teff, trade, water, wheat, wild rice | 3 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

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

Real impact of neonicotinoid seed dressings stays buried

Posted on May 14, 2014 by argylesock

A temporary European ban on three insect-killing chemicals called neonicotinoids has been in force since December 2013. These neonics are called clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. They’re used as seed dressings and soil treatments, among other things. Just after this ban … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology | Tagged arthropod, barley, clothianidin, crop, Europe, flower, grain, honeybee, hymenopteran, imidacloprid, insect, insecticide, law, millet, neonicotinoid, oats, plant_monocot, pollination, pollution, rice, rye, seed, seed dressing, soil, sorghum, sowing, staple food, thiamethoxam, triticale, waterway, wheat, wild bee | 8 Comments

Breast milk, indigenous food: A mother’s recipe for healthy children

Posted on May 12, 2014 by argylesock

Here’s Velvet Escario Roxas, a Filipino mother, telling us that children in the Philippines need breast milk and indigenous foods, not Golden Rice. Mrs Roxas says that Filipino women should breastfeed as she did. After weaning, she says these women … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Asia, biotechnology, child, crop diversity, food availability, food sovereignty, fruit, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, leaf, local variety, mango, milk, moringa, nutrition, papaya, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, rice, sweet potato, tradition, vegetable, Vitamin A, woman | 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