industryterm:food crop

  • #OGM - Mensonges et vérités

    La #controverse entre pro-OGM (organismes génétiquement modifiés) et anti-OGM rend le débat passionnel et parfois incompréhensible. Ce tour d’horizon mondial démêle le vrai du faux, preuves scientifiques à l’appui.

    Depuis plus de vingt ans, les OGM (organismes génétiquement modifiés), en particulier les plantes, ne cessent de s’étendre sur la planète, dans le but d’améliorer les rendements de soja, maïs, coton, colza, riz, etc. Dix pays, sur les vingt-huit qui en cultivent, représentent, à eux seuls, 98 % de la superficie mondiale des cultures transgéniques – soit 11 % des terres cultivées –, essentiellement sur le continent américain, le sous-continent indien et en Chine. Aux États-Unis, où les premières plantations de soja transgénique ont été introduites en 1996, les OGM représentent environ 90 % des cultures de soja, de maïs et de coton. Selon leurs défenseurs, ils sont indispensables pour répondre aux besoins d’une population en forte croissance. C’est l’argument du géant du secteur, le semencier américain Monsanto, qui produit aussi le célèbre Roundup, un herbicide total dont la substance active, le glyphosate, épargne les plantes OGM.


    https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/057483-000-A/ogm-mensonges-et-verites

    #film #documentaire #reportage #vidéo
    #BT #maïs_BT #rentabilité #TH #soja #Roundup #USA #Etats-Unis #monoculture #agriculture #élevage #Argentine #Monsanto #pommes_De_terre #risques #génie_génétique #toxine_BT #pesticides #industrie_agro-alimentaire #glyphosate #herbicide #super_mauvaises_herbes #darwinisme #soja_roundup_ready #atrazin #business #santé #cancer #Mexique #propriété_intellectuelle #brevets #Percy_Schmeiser #sécurité_alimentaire #Ghana #malformation_congénitale #justice #biodiversité

    #USAID (qui lie #aide_au_développement et utilisation de OGM dans le pays qui va recevoir l’aide)

    #Gates_Foundation (qui finance des tests de plantes OGM au Ghana)

    #biotechnologie_agricole #coton #Bukina_Faso #coton_BT #Sofitex #rendements #Geocoton #Roundup_Ready_Flex_Cotton #néo-colonialisme

    #MON810 #maïs_MON810 #riz_doré #riz #Philippines #golden_rice #Syngenta #technologie #dengue #oxitec #moustiques_transgéniques #AGM #animaux_génétiquement_modifiés

    • Une ONG présentée dans le film, au Ghana :
      #Food_sovereignty_ghana

      Food Sovereignty Ghana is a grass-roots movement of Ghanaians, home and abroad, dedicated to the promotion of food sovereignty in Ghana. Our group believes in the collective control over our collective resources, rather than the control of our resources by multinational corporations and other foreign entities. This movement is a product of Special Brainstorming Session meeting on the 21st of March, 2013, at the Accra Freedom Centre. The meeting was in response to several calls by individuals who have been discussing, writing, or tweeting, about the increasing phenomenon of land grabs, the right to water and sanitation as a fundamental human right, water privatization issues, deforestation, climate change, carbon trading and Africa’s atmospheric space, and in particular, the urgent issue of the introduction of GM food technology into our agriculture, particularly, its implications on food sovereignty, sustainable development, biodiversity, and the integrity of our food and water resources, human and animal health, and our very existence as a politically independent people. These calls insisted that these issues need to be comprehensively addressed in a systematic and an organized manner.

      Foremost in these calls was the need for a comprehensive agricultural policy that respects the multi-functional roles played by agriculture in our daily lives, and resists the avaricious calculations behind the proposition that food is just another commodity or component for international agribusiness. The trade in futures or speculation involving food have pushed food prices beyond the reach of almost a billion of people in the world who go to bed, each day, hungry. Even though we have have doubled the amount of food to feed everybody in the world today, people still don’t have access to food. The primary cause of this is the neo-liberal agenda of the imperialists, such as the SAP, EPA, AGOA, TRIPS, AoA, AFSNA, AGRA, which have the focus on marginalising the small family farm agriculture that continues to feed over 80% of Africa and replacing them with governance structures, agreements and practices that depend on and promote unsustainable and inequitable international trade and give power to remote and unaccountable corporations.

      We came together in order to help turn a new leaf. We see a concerted effort, over the years, to distort our agriculture to such an extent that today, our very survival as a free and independent people crucially depend on how fast we are able to apply the breaks, and to rather urgently promote policies that focus on food for people, and value our local food providers, the arduous role of the resilient small family farm for thousands of years. We need to resist imperialist policies such as the Structural Adjustment Programmes of the World Bank and the IMF which rolled away 30 years of gains towards food sovereignty in the 1970s and 80s. Those African countries that graduated from the SAP were subsequently slammed with HIPIC. In all these years, the imperialist countries fortified their agricultural production with heavy government subsidies, as Africa saw the imposition of stringent conditionality removing all government subsidies on our own agriculture. The effect has been a destruction of our local food production capacity and a dependence on corporations for our daily food needs. This has had a devastating effect on Africa’s agriculture, and our ability to feed ourselves.

      We believe that a proper analysis of the food crisis is a matter that cannot be left with trade negotiators, investment experts, or agricultural engineers. It is essentially a matter of political economy. As Jean Ziegler succinctly puts it, “Every child who dies of hunger in today’s world has been murdered.” Our Food Under Our Control! is determined to make sure that such a crime becomes impossible in Ghana. Our number one mission is to switch the language from food security to food sovereignty as the goal, to repeat the words food sovereignty at every opportunity and say we don’t want food security, that can still be dependence, we want food sovereignty, we need food sovereignty. This is not the same as “food security”. A country can have food security through food imports. Dependence on food imports is precarious and prone to multiple risks — from price risks, to supply risks, to conditionality risks (policy conditions that come with food imports). Food sovereignty, on the other hand, implies ensuring domestic production and supply of food. It means that the nationals of the country (or at the very least nationals within the region) must primarily be responsible for ensuring that the nation and the region are first and foremost dependent on their own efforts and resources to grow their basic foods.

      Aims and objectives:

      1. To help promote the people’s right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and to generally ensure the priority of domestic food crops produced by small farms over export crops.

      2. To help create mass awareness about the political, economic, health and environmental impacts of genetically modified food technology and defend the right of the people to define their own food and agricultural systems.

      3. To help ensure small farms are sustained by state provision and facilitation of necessary infrastructure: Security of land tenure, Water, Financial credit, Energy, Fertilizers, Transport, Storage, Extension service, Marketing, Technology and Equipment for production, harvesting, storage and transport, and Insurance against crop failures due to climate changes, or other unforeseen circumstances.

      4. To help resist the theft, destruction, and loss of the Commons, our natural and indigenous resources, by means of laws, commercial contracts and intellectual property rights regimes, and to generally serve as the watch-dog over all aspects of agricultural sustainability in Ghana.

      5. To help protect and preserve public access to and ownership of the Commons: Water, Land, Air, Seeds, Energy, Plants, Animals, and work closely with like-minded local, national, and international organisations in the realization of the foregoing objectives.


      http://foodsovereigntyghana.org

    • Un chercheur, #Damián_Verzeñassi de l’#université_de_Rosario, mentionné il y a une année dans un article de Mediapart :

      Argentine : soja transgénique voisine avec maladies

      Avia Terai, ville de 10 000 habitants, est exposée aux pulvérisations incessantes sur ses champs de soja et de coton de glyphosate, le composant de base de l’herbicide de Monsanto. Un pesticide que l’Organisation mondiale pour la santé a étiqueté cancérogène en 2015. Ici, des enfants naissent avec des malformations, des troubles neurologiques sévères et le taux de cancer est trois fois plus élevé que la moyenne nationale, selon l’étude du docteur argentin Damián Verzeñassi de l’université de Rosario. De son côté, Monsanto nie catégoriquement l’authenticité de ces études et considère que la #toxicité de son produit phare Roundup n’a pas encore été prouvée.

      https://www.mediapart.fr/studio/portfolios/argentine-soja-transgenique-voisine-avec-maladies

      Le chercheur a fait une étude dans laquelle il montrait un lien entre le glyphosate et le développement de cancer :
      “Hay una incidencia del glifosato en los nuevos casos de cáncer”

      Desde 2010 se hicieron relevamientos en 32 localidades de la región pampeana y se relevaron más de 110 mil personas. Según Verzeñassi, si se encontró en estas localidades, donde se aplicó el modelo productivo con transgénicos a base de agrotóxicos, un pico muy importante de casos de cáncer, hipotiroidismo y abortos espontáneos.


      https://rosarionuestro.com/hemos-encontrado-un-incremento-en-la-incidencia-del-glifosato-en-los

    • #Red_de_Médicos_de_Pueblos_Fumigados (Argentine)

      La Red Universitaria de Ambiente y Salud (REDUAS) es una coordinación entre profesionales universitarios, académicos, científicos, miembros de equipos de salud humana en sus distintos niveles y demás estudiosos, preocupados por los efectos deletéreos de la salud humana que genera el ambiente degradado a consecuencias de la actividad productiva humana, especialmente cuando esta se da a gran escala y sustentada en una visión extractivista.

      La REDUAS surge como una de las decisiones tomadas en el 1º Encuentro de Médicos de Pueblos Fumigados, realizado en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba y organizado por el Modulo de Determinantes Sociales de la Salud de la Cátedra de Pediatría y por la Cátedra de Medicina I de dicha Facultad; concretado el 26 y 27 de agosto de 2010

      La REDUAS se construye para unir, coordinar y potenciar el trabajo de investigación científica, asistencia sanitaria, análisis epidemiológico y divulgación ,difusión y defensa del derecho a la salud colectiva, que realizan equipos que desarrollan este tipo de actividades en 10 provincias distintas de la Republica Argentina y que se encuentran activados por el problema del daño a la salud que ocasiona la fumigación o aspersión, sistemática de más de 300 millones de litros de plaguicidas sobre casi 12 millones de personas que conviven con los sembradíos de cultivos agroindustriales.

      Para avanzar en ese sentido se propone aportar al debate público por la necesidad de construir prácticas productivas que permitan una supervivencia feliz de la especie humana en la superficie terrestre y de la responsabilidad publica, privada, colectiva e individual en el resguardo de esas condiciones ecológicas.

      Considerando al derecho a la salud, como uno de los valores sociales que debemos tratar de privilegiar en el análisis de las decisiones políticas y económicas que se toman en nuestra sociedad, creemos necesario ampliar la difusión del conocimiento de los datos científicos que se dispone, y que muchas veces se invisibilizan; aportar a la generación de nuevos datos e informaciones experimentales y observacionales – poblacionales; y potenciar la voz de los equipos de salud, investigadores y pobladores en general afectados en sus derechos por agresiones ambiéntales generadas por practicas productivas ecológicamente agresivas.


      http://reduas.com.ar
      #résistance

    • #Madres_de_Ituzaingo_Anexo-Cordoba
      http://madresdeituzaingoanexo.blogspot.fr

      Madres de #Ituzaingó: 15 años de pelea por el ambiente

      En marzo de 2002 salieron a la calle por primera vez para reclamar atención sanitaria ante la cantidad de enfermos en el barrio.Lograron mejorar la zona y alejar las fumigaciones, nuevas normas ambientales y un juicio inédito. Dicen que la lucha continúa. Un juicio histórico


      http://www.lavoz.com.ar/ciudadanos/madres-de-ituzaingo-15-anos-de-pelea-por-el-ambiente
      #Sofia_Gatica

    • Transgenic DNA introgressed into traditional maize landraces in #Oaxaca, Mexico

      Concerns have been raised about the potential effects of transgenic introductions on the genetic diversity of crop landraces and wild relatives in areas of crop origin and diversification, as this diversity is considered essential for global food security. Direct effects on non-target species1,2, and the possibility of unintentionally transferring traits of ecological relevance onto landraces and wild relatives have also been sources of concern3,4. The degree of genetic connectivity between industrial crops and their progenitors in landraces and wild relatives is a principal determinant of the evolutionary history of crops and agroecosystems throughout the world5,6. Recent introductions of transgenic DNA constructs into agricultural fields provide unique markers to measure such connectivity. For these reasons, the detection of transgenic DNA in crop landraces is of critical importance. Here we report the presence of introgressed transgenic DNA constructs in native maize landraces grown in remote mountains in Oaxaca, Mexico, part of the Mesoamerican centre of origin and diversification of this crop7,8,9.

      https://www.nature.com/articles/35107068

    • #Gilles-Éric_Séralini

      Gilles-Éric Séralini, né le 23 août 1960 à Bône en Algérie1, est un biologiste français, professeur de biologie moléculaire à l’université de Caen2. Il est cofondateur, administrateur et membre du conseil scientifique du CRIIGEN3, parrain de l’association Générations Cobayes4 et lanceur d’alerte5. Il est aussi membre du conseil scientifique de The Organic Center6, une association dépendant de l’Organic Trade Association (en)7, « le principal porte-parole du business bio aux États-Unis »8, et parrain de la Fondation d’entreprise Ekibio9.

      Il s’est fait notamment connaître du grand public pour ses études sur les OGM et les pesticides, et en particulier en septembre 2012 pour une étude toxicologique portée par le CRIIGEN mettant en doute l’innocuité du maïs génétiquement modifié NK 603 et du Roundup sur la santé de rats10,11. Cette étude, ainsi que les méthodes utilisées pour la médiatiser, ont été l’objet d’importantes controverses, les auteurs étant accusés d’instrumentaliser de la science, ou même suspectés de fraude scientifique12,13. En réalité, les agences de santé européennes et américaines réagissent sur le tard, indiquant les lacunes et faiblesses méthodologiques rédhibitoires de la publication (notamment un groupe de contrôle comportant un nombre d’individus ridiculement bas). Certains dénoncent aussi un manque de déontologie pour s’assurer d’un « coup de communication ». La revue Food and Chemical Toxicology retire l’étude en novembre 2013.


      https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles-%C3%89ric_S%C3%A9ralini

      Dans le documentaire on parle notamment d’un article qu’il a publié dans la revue « Food and chemical toxicology », que j’ai cherché sur internet... et... suprise suprise... je l’ai trouvé, mais le site de Elsevier dit... « RETRACTED »
      Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize
      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691512005637

      Il est par contre dispo sur sci-hub !
      http://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2012.08.005

      voici la conclusion :

      In conclusion, it was previously known that glyphosate con- sumption in water above authorized limits may provoke hepatic and kidney failures ( EPA ). The results of the study presented here clearly demonstrate that lower levels of complete agricultural gly- phosate herbicide formulations, at concentrations well below offi- cially set safety limits, induce severe hormone-dependent mammary, hepatic and kidney disturbances. Similarly, disruption of biosynthetic pathways that may result from overexpression of the EPSPS transgene in the GM NK603 maize can give rise to com- parable pathologies that may be linked to abnormal or unbalanced phenolic acids metabolites, or related compounds. Other muta- genic and metabolic effects of the edible GMO cannot be excluded. This will be the subject of future studies, including transgene and glyphosate presence in rat tissues. Reproductive and multigenera- tional studies will also provide novel insights into these problems. This study represents the first detailed documentation of long- term deleterious effects arising from the consumption of a GM R- tolerant maize and of R, the most used herbicide worldwide. Altogether, the significant biochemical disturbances and physi- ological failures documented in this work confirm the pathological effects of these GMO and R treatments in both sexes, with different amplitudes. We propose that agricultural edible GMOs and formu- lated pesticides must be evaluated very carefully by long term studies to measure their potential toxic effects.

    • #RiskOGM

      RiskOGM constitue depuis 2010 l’action de recherche du ministère en charge de l’Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie pour soutenir la structuration d’une communauté scientifique et le développement de connaissances, de méthodes et de pratiques scientifiques utiles à la définition et à la mise en œuvre des politiques publiques sur les OGM.

      Le programme s’appuie sur un Conseil Scientifique et sur un Comité d’Orientation qui réunit des parties prenantes.

      Les axes de recherche prioritaires identifiés portent sur les plans de surveillance générale des OGM, la coexistence des cultures, la gouvernance, les aspects économiques, éthiques et sociaux ou encore la démarche globale d’analyse de la sécurité des aliments contenant des produits transgéniques,

      3 projets en cours ont été soutenus après un 1er appel à proposition fin 2010. Fin 2013, suite à un deuxième appel, le projet (#PGM / #GMO90plus) a été sélectionné et soutenu à hauteur de 2,5 M€. Il vise à une meilleure connaissance des effets potentiels sur la santé de la consommation sur une longue durée de produits issus des plantes génétiquement modifiées.

      http://recherche-riskogm.fr/fr
      #programme_de_recherche

      Un projet dont fait partie #Bernard_Salles, rattaché à l’INRA, interviewé dans le documentaire.
      Lui, semble clean, contrairement au personnage que je vais un peu après, Pablo Steinberg

    • Projet #G-Twyst :

      G-TwYST is the acronym for Genetically modified plants Two Year Safety Testing. The project duration is from 21 April 2014 – 20 April 2018.

      The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has developed guidance for the risk assessment of food and feed containing, consisting or produced from genetically modified (GM) plants as well as guidance on conducting repeated-dose 90-day oral toxicity study in rodents on whole food/feed. Nonetheless, the long-term safety assessment of genetically modified (GM) food/feed is a long-standing controversial topic in the European Union. At the present time there are no standardized protocols to study the potential short-, medium- and/or long-term toxicity of GM plants and derived products. Against this backdrop the main objective of the G-TwYST project is to provide guidance on long-term animal feeding studies for GMO risk assessment while at the same time responding to uncertainties raised through the outcomes and reports from recent (long-term) rodent feeding studies with whole GM food/feed.

      In order to achieve this, G-TwYST:

      Performs rat feeding studies for up to two years with GM maize NK603. This includes 90 day studies for subchronic toxicity, 1 year studies for chronic toxicity as well as 2 year studies for carcinogenicity. The studies will be based on OECD Test Guidelines and executed according to EFSA considerations
      Reviews recent and ongoing research relevant to the scope of G-TwYST
      Engages with related research projects such as GRACE and GMO90plus
      Develops criteria to evaluate the scientific quality of long-term feeding studies
      Develops recommendations on the added value of long-term feeding trials in the context of the GMO risk assessment process.
      As a complementary activity - investigates into the broader societal issues linked to the controversy on animal studies in GMO risk assessment.
      Allows for stakeholder engagement in all key steps of the project in an inclusive and responsive manner.
      Provides for utmost transparency of what is done and by whom it is done.

      G-TwYST is a Collaborative Project of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities. The proposal for G-TwYST was established in reponse to a call for proposals on a two-year carcinogenicity rat feeding study with maize NK603 that was launched by he European Commission in June 2013 (KBBE.2013.3.5-03).

      https://www.g-twyst.eu

      Attention : ce projet semble être sous forte influence des lobbys de l’OGM...

      Fait partie de ce projet #Pablo_Steinberg, interviewé dans le documentaire.

      Pablo Steinberg est d’origine argentine, il est également le toxicologue du projet « #GRACE : GMO Risk Assessment and communication evidence », financé par l’UE :

      GRACE was a project funded under the EU Framework 7 programme and undertaken by a consortium of EU research institutes from June 2012 - November 2015. The project had two key objectives:

      I) To provide systematic reviews of the evidence on the health, environmental and socio-economic impacts of GM plants – considering both risks and possible benefits. The results are accessible to the public via an open access database and other channels.

      II) GRACE also reconsidered the design, execution and interpretation of results from various types of animal feeding trials and alternative in vitro methods for assessing the safety of GM food and feed.

      The Biosafety Group was involved in the construction of the central portal and database (CADIMA; Central Access Database for Impact Assessment of Crop Genetic Improvement Technologies) that managed the information gathered in the pursuit of the two objectives and in the dissemination of information.

      http://biosafety.icgeb.org/projects/grace

      La conférence finale de présentation du projet GRACE a été organisée à Potsdam... un 9 novembre... date-anniversaire de la chute du mur...
      Voici ce que #Joachim_Schiemann, coordinateur du projet, dit à cette occasion (je transcris les mots prononcés par Schiemann dans le reportage) :

      « Nous aussi, avec nos activités, nous essayons d’abattre certains murs et de faire bouger certaines positions qui sont bloquées. Je trouve que c’est très symbolique d’avoir organisé cette conférence à Potsdam, à proximité de Berlin et des vestiges du mur »

    • Prof. Potrykus on #Golden_Rice

      #Ingo_Potrykus, Professor emeritus at the Institute of Plant Sciences, ETH Zurich, is one of the world’s most renowned personalities in the fields of agricultural, environmental, and industrial biotechnology, and invented Golden Rice with Peter Beyer. In contrast to usual rice, this one has an increased nutritional value by providing provitamin A. According to WHO, 127 millions of pre-school children worldwide suffer from vitamine A deficiency, causing some 500,000 cases of irreversible blindness every year. This deficiency is responsible for 600,000 deaths among children under the age of 5.

      https://blog.psiram.com/2013/09/prof-potrykus-on-golden-rice
      Ce riz, enrichi de #bêtacarotène pour pallier aux carences de #provitamine_A, a valu, à Monsieur #Potrykus, la couverture du Time, une première pour un botaniste :

    • Golden Illusion. The broken promise of GE ’Golden’ rice

      GE ’Golden’ rice is a genetically engineered (GE, also called genetically modified, GM) rice variety developed by the biotech industry to produce pro-vitamin A (beta-carotene). Proponents portray GE ’Golden’ rice as a technical, quick-fix solution to Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), a health problem in many developing countries. However, not only is GE ’Golden’ rice an ineffective tool to combat VAD it is also environmentally irresponsible, poses risks to human health, and compromises food security.

      https://www.greenpeace.org/archive-international/en/publications/Campaign-reports/Genetic-engineering/Golden-Illusion
      #rapport

    • #MASIPAG (#Philippines)

      MASIPAG a constaté que les paysans qui pratiquent la production agricole biologique gagnent en moyenne environ 100 euros par an de plus que les autres paysans, parce qu’ils ne dépensent pas d’argent dans des fertilisants et pesticides chimiques. Dans le contexte local, cela représente une économie importante. En plus, l’agriculture biologique contribue à un milieu plus sain et à une réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Malgré cela, le gouvernement philippin poursuit une politique ambiguë. En 2010, il a adopté une loi sur la promotion de l’agriculture biologique, mais en même temps il continue à promouvoir les cultures génétiquement modifiées et hybrides nécessitant le recours aux intrants chimiques. La loi actuelle insiste également sur une certification couteuse des produits bio par les tiers, ce qui empêche les #petits_paysans de certifier leurs produits.

      http://astm.lu/projets-de-solidarite/asie/philipinnes/masipag
      #paysannerie #agriculture_biologique

    • #AquAdvantage

      Le saumon AquAdvantage (#AquAdvantage_salmon® pour les anglophones, parfois résumé en « #AA_Salmon » ou « #AAS ») est le nom commercial d’un saumon transgénique et triploïde1.

      Il s’agit d’un saumon atlantique modifié, créé par l’entreprise AquaBounty Technologies (en)2 qui est devenu en mai 2016 le premier poisson génétiquement modifié par transgenèse commercialisé pour des fins alimentaires. Il a obtenu à cette date une autorisation de commercialisation (après son évaluation3) au Canada. En juillet 2017, l’entreprise a annoncé avoir vendu 4,5 tonnes de saumon AquAdvantage à des clients Canadiens qui ont à ce jour gardés leur anonymat4. L’entreprise prévoit de demander des autorisations pour des truites5, des tilapias 5 et de l’omble arctique génétiquement modifiés6.

      Selon les dossiers produits par AquaBounty à la FDA, deux gènes de saumons Chinook et deux séquences provenant d’une autre espèce (loquette d’Amérique) ont été introduits7, (information reprise par un article du New-York Times8 et un article scientifique évoquent aussi un gène provenant d’un autre poisson (loquette d’Amérique9). En 2010, AquaBounty, produirait déjà au Canada sur l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard les œufs de poissons destinés à des élevages en bassins enclavés à terre au Panama10 pour des poissons à exporter (alors que l’étiquetage n’est toujours pas obligatoire aux États-Unis)10.

      Ce poisson est controversé. Des préoccupations scientifiques et environnementalistes portent sur les risques d’impacts environnementaux à moyen et long terme, plus que sur le risque alimentaire. La FDA a considéré que la modification était équivalente à l’utilisation d’un médicament vétérinaire (hormone de croissance et modification transgénique)11 et a donc utilisé son processus (dit « NADA12 ») d’évaluation vétérinaire. Dans ce cadre, la FDA a conclu que ce poisson ne présentait a priori pas de risques pour la santé, et pouvait être cultivé de manière sûre. Mais en 2013, l’opportunité d’élever un tel poisson reste très contestée13 notamment depuis au moins 1986 concernant les risques qu’il pourrait poser à l’égard de l’environnement14, l’autorisation de mise sur le marché pourrait être à nouveau repoussée15.


      https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/AquAdvantage
      #saumon #saumon_transgénique #AquaBounty_Technologies

      Aussi appelé...
      #FrankenFish

  • FACTBOX-Why are large land deals in Africa under scrutiny?
    http://news.trust.org/item/20171128120956-jd5kf/?cid=social_20171128_74859427&adbid=935520496996687872&adbpl=tw&adbpr=15

    Here are some facts about large land deals in Africa:

    More than 117 large-scale land deals totalling about 22 million hectares, an area the size of the U.S. state of Utah, have been recorded in 21 African countries in the last 12 years.

    The land areas range from 1,000 hectares to 10 million hectares.

    East Africa accounts for 45 percent of these deals, with Ethiopia making up about 27 percent of all deals.

    About 45 percent of investors are Western and North American companies; Asian firms make up 26 percent of investors.

    Lease prices range from $1-$13.80 per hectare per year.

    Lands are primarily used for food crops, industrial crops including biofuels, and for carbon sinks and carbon trading.

    * Following conflicts, Tanzania has announced ceilings on the size of land deals – up to 5,000 hectares for rice and 10,000 hectares for sugarcane.

    Sources: Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the Oakland Institute, GRAIN.

    http://news.trust.org/item/20171128120855-guttc
    #terres #Afrique

  • Potato Late Blight, Plant Diseases Chapter 1 Introduction

    http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/Pages/PotatoLateBlightPlantDiseasesIntro.aspx

    Une histoire très intéressante, on en parle dans ma réunion ce matin, je partage.

    http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/PublishingImages/1998%20Features/March/PotatoLateBlightPD1-10.JPG

    The Irish Potato Famine and the Birth of Plant Pathology
    An Illustrated chapter
    from Plant Diseases: Their Biology and Social Impact
    by Gail L. Schumann

    Introduction

    In the early summer of 1845, the days were sunny and the potato crop was growing well. There was no warning of the disaster that would strike, causing misery, suffering, and death. Then, the weather turned overcast and rainy for weeks, and the potato plants rotted as the Irish peasants watched helplessly. The horrors of the Irish potato famine are still remembered—one more wedge between the English and Irish, contributing to political conflicts that continue to this day.

    The story of this disaster is an important one. It introduces many of the ideas to be presented in this text, including the political aspects of food supply, the risks of genetic uniformity and dependence on only a few food crops, and the distribution of new crops from their origins throughout the world. But these same concepts could be derived from nearly any agricultural failure. The Irish potato famine is of specific importance because the debate surrounding the study of the stinking mass of rotted potatoes gave birth to the science of plant pathology. Infectious microorganisms were finally to be accepted as causes of disease rather than its result, predating even Pasteur’s work with bacteria. The theory of spontaneous generation of microorganisms from decaying tissues was soon to be replaced with the germ theory.

  • Beyond Monsanto’s GMO Cotton: Why Consumers Need to Care What We Wear
    http://ronnie.organicconsumers.org/beyond-monsantos-gmo-cotton-why-consumers-need-to-care-what

    3. GMO and toxic cotton: You’re eating it. Keep in mind that most of the world’s highly contaminated cotton seeds and cotton gin trash end up in animal feed (especially non-organic dairy) and in low-grade vegetable cooking oils, purchased by consumers or used in fast food restaurants and school cafeterias. Non-organic cotton is one of the most toxic crops on the planet.

    Government regulatory agencies, prompted by large cotton farmers and the garment industry, falsely claim that cotton is not a “food crop,” (in spite of the fact that 60 percent of what is harvested by weight ends up in the food chain). This means that super-toxic pesticides and herbicides are allowed to be sprayed, in copious quantities, on the cotton plant. So-called cotton by-products—cotton seeds, cotton seed oil and cotton gin trash—end up being sold and consumed as ingredients in both animal feed and human food. The pesticide residues in cottonseed accumulates in the fatty tissues of dairy cows, and are passed on in the milk and dairy products consumed by humans. Cottonseed oil is routinely laced into a variety of food products, from vitamins to potato chips, and is often addes to olive oil without being labeled. This means that GMOs and pesticide residues from cotton crops find their way into a wide range of non-organic food products, triggering health issues including food allergies, cancer and liver, kidney and immune system damage.

    [...]

    7. Chemical-intensive clothing poses dangers to human health. Skin is the body’s largest organ. One of its major jobs is to protect internal systems. But skin also acts as a conduit, a way of entering the bloodstream through absorption. Chemicals and #pesticides from synthetic materials and non-organic cotton make their way into human bodies through our skin. If you care about what you put in your body, you must also care what you put on your body. Health issues from such toxic chemical exposure range from headache to asthma to cancer.

    #OGM #santé #coton

  • Papuans still unhappy over Merauke food and oil palm project | Radio New Zealand News
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/323368/papuans-still-unhappy-over-merauke-food-and-oil-palm-project

    Jakarta has thrown high level support behind the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate, or MIFEE, a project in the far south east of Papua province

    Eventually expected to cover 1.6 million hectares, MIFEE has attracted dozens of investors, looking to grow food crops and palm oil.

    Billed as a project to address food security concerns for parts of the country, local Papuan communities have complained that MIFEE is alienating them from their land.

    A member of the video-based advocacy organisation Papuan Voices, Wensi Fatubun, said young Papuans in Merauke have begun using video to convey their opposition.

    “We try to empower the community to do how they can protect their own land, their own rights, from the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate project.”

    However, the government said MIFEE was aimed at helping create improved living standards for Papuan communities.

    #Indonésie #Papouasie #terres #industrie_palmiste #développement

  • Pace of climate change too hot for crops

    http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=2beb33bc46&e=08052803c8

    C’est un peu comme annoncer la fin du monde...

    Pace of climate change
    too hot for crops

    New study shows that the speed of climate change is now much too great for grassland species of vital food crops to adapt and survive.

    By Tim Radford

    LONDON, 5 October, 2016 – Climate change is happening faster than many species can adapt to − and climate is changing between 3,000 and 20,000 times faster than many grassland species can respond.

    Since the grass family includes wheat, corn, rice, sorghum, oats, rye, barley and many other plants that underwrite human survival, this is serious news.

    Although the new research by scientists in the US does not directly address the future of food in a globally warming world, the researchers say their finding has “troubling” implications.

    #climat #agriculture #adaptation #fin_du_monde

  • Rising CO2 is reducing nutritional value of food, impacting ecosystems
    https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/rising-co2-is-reducing-nutritional-value-of-food-impacting-ecosystems/?n3wsletter

    As CO2 levels rise, so do carbohydrates in plants, increasing food’s sugar content. While carbon-enriched plants grow bigger, scientists are finding that they contain proportionately less protein and nutrients such as zinc, magnesium and calcium.
    A meta-analysis of 7,761 observations of 130 plant species found that overall mineral concentrations in plants declined by about 8 percent in response to elevated CO2 levels — 25 minerals decreased, including iron, zinc, potassium and magnesium.
    New research found that as atmospheric CO2 rose from preindustrial to near current levels, the protein content in goldenrod pollen fell by 30 percent. Bees and other pollinators rely heavily on goldenrod as protein-rich food for overwintering. The loss of pollinators could devastate many of the world’s food crops.
    Research into the correlation between CO2 concentrations and the nutrient content of food is in its early stages. More study is urgently needed to determine how crops and ecosystems will be altered as fossil fuels are burned, plus mitigation strategies.

    #climat #nutriment #plante #alimentation #pollinisateurs #agro-industrie

  • This is why cities can’t grow all their own food - Conservation
    http://conservationmagazine.org/2016/01/this-is-why-cities-cant-grow-all-their-own-food

    If every homeowner in Seattle ripped up their lawn and replaced it with edible plants, the resulting crop production would be enough to feed just one percent of the city’s residents, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington.
    [...]

    They chose nine crops that are well suited to Seattle’s climate – beets, squash, potatoes, carrots, dry beans, barley, kale, hazelnuts, and apples – and calculated the amount of each that would supply the proper amount of calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, and micronutrients.
    [...]

    If all of Seattle’s land in full sun were planted out with crops, it would produce just over 21 percent of the food necessary. But this would require installing gardens on every rooftop, as well as ripping up streets and other impervious surfaces to plant vegetables. And at a certain point, a city without a functioning street grid isn’t really a city anymore.
    [...]

    If grassy areas throughout Seattle (not just in residential zones) were converted to agriculture, this would yield four percent of the city’s food needs. The tradeoffs here aren’t trivial – where would the kids play soccer? – but the authors say that this number represents a reasonable estimate of Seattle’s maximum food crop production capacity (MFCPC).
    [...]

    Amid growing interest in urban agriculture and concern about “food miles” traveled from farm to plate, the study is, at first glance, sobering. One to four percent – that’s it? But even if city-grown food can’t supply all nutritional needs, vegetables like kale, spinach, chard, and lettuce have lots of nutrients, can be grown in small spaces, tolerate partial shade, and could increase access to fresh produce in “food deserts” where its availability is currently limited.

    Donc l’#agriculture_urbaine des jardins/pelouses privées de Seattle pourrait produire 1% des besoins alimentaires (calories, protéines ?), et ça monte à 4% si on y met les surfaces cultivables publiques (parcs, terrains de foot ?)

    Ca serait intéressant de croiser les surfaces trouvées avec de la #biointensive ou le scénario « One circle diet »

    #jardinage
    cc @koldobika

  • Algae next great renewable energy source - Business Insider
    http://www.businessinsider.com/algae-next-great-renewable-energy-source-2015-8

    One of the newest, and seemingly most viable forms of clean energy, could be poised to outperform all of the existing options, including solar: algae biofuel.

    Algae are found throughout the Earth’s oceans, where they employ photosynthetic processes to create energy using sunlight. Some types of algae produce oils that they use to store energy, which means that certain algae can be grown and then harvested to produce biofuel: a net carbon-neutral process.

    Although other crops, such as corn and soybeans, have been used to produce biofuel in the past, algae offer several advantages over them. According to the US Department of Energy, algae yields are between 10 and 100 times as high as those of traditional biofuels. What’s more, algae can grow in marginal or brackish agricultural areas, meaning that production can be ramped up significantly without competing with food crops for land and other resources.

    The global market for biofuel was estimated at about $100 billion in 2013. Many believe that the size of this market could almost double within the next few decades. According to scientist and entrepreneur Craig Venter, it would take a land area three times the size of the United States to replace all the fuel used in transportation in the U.S. with corn-derived biofuel. By contrast, it would only take an area the size of Maryland to do so using algae.

    The U.S. Department of Energy is pouring money into efforts to promote the viability and efficiency of using algae as a fuel. It has announced $18 million in funding towards this end, and Just Energy in Ohio has pushed for more state level funding for research into methods to more efficiently grow, process and extract the oils from algae. Efforts are underway throughout many other countries as well.

    #algues #énergie

  • Executive Summary: Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2014 - ISAAA Brief 49-2014 | ISAAA.org
    http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/49/executivesummary/default.asp

    Remarkably, in 2014 global biotech crop hectarage continued to grow for the 19th consecutive year of commercialization; 18 million farmers in 28 countries planted more than 181 million hectares in 2014, up from 175 million in 27 countries in 2013. Notably, Bangladesh, a small poor country approved Bt brinjal/eggplant for the first time on 30 October 2013, and in record time ‒ less than 100 days after approval ‒ small farmers commercialized Bt brinjal on 22 January 2014. Innate™ potato, another food crop, was approved in the US in November 2014. It has lower levels of acrylamide, a potential carcinogen in humans, and suffers less wastage from bruising; potato is the fourth most important food staple in the world. A safer product and decreased wastage in a vegetatively propagated and perishable crop, can contribute to higher productivity and food security. Also in November 2014, a new biotech alfalfa (event KK179) with up to 22% less lignin, which leads to higher digestibility and productivity, was approved for planting in the US. The first biotech drought tolerant maize, planted in the US in 2013 on 50,000 hectares increased over 5 fold to 275,000 hectares in 2014 reflecting high acceptance by US farmers. Importantly, a new 2014 comprehensive global meta-analysis, on 147 published biotech crop studies over the last 20 years worldwide confirmed the significant and multiple benefits that biotech crops have generated over the past 20 years, 1995 to 2014; on average GM technology adoption has reduced chemical pesticide use by 37%, increased crop yields by 22%, and increased farmer profits by 68%. These findings corroborate earlier and consistent results from other annual global studies which estimated increases in crop productivity valued at US$133.3 billion for the period 1996-2013.


    #ogm #cartographie #soja #maïs #coton

  • The Tao of Vegetable Gardening by Carol Deppe - Chelsea Green
    http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_tao_of_vegetable_gardening

    The Tao of Vegetable Gardening explores the practical methods as well as the deeper essence of gardening. In her latest book, groundbreaking garden writer Carol Deppe The Resilient Gardener, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties focuses on some of the most popular home garden vegetables—tomatoes, green beans, peas, and leafy greens—and through them illustrates the key principles and practices that gardeners need to know to successfully plant and grow just about any food crop.

    Deppe’s work has long been inspired and informed by the philosophy and wisdom of Tao Te Ching, the 2,500-­year-­old work attributed to Chinese sage Lao Tzu and the most translated book in the world after the Bible. The Tao of Vegetable Gardening is organized into chapters that echo fundamental Taoist concepts: Balance, Flexibility, Honoring the Essential Nature (your own and that of your plants), Effortless Effort, Non-Doing, and even Non-­Knowing. Yet the book also offers a wealth of specific and valuable garden advice on topics as diverse as:

    The Eat­-All Greens Garden, a labor­ and space­-efficient way to provide all the greens a family can eat, freeze, and dry—all on a tiny piece of land suitable for small­-scale and urban gardeners.
    The growing problem of late blight and the future of heirloom tomatoes—and what gardeners can do to avoid problems, and even create new resistant varieties.
    Establishing a Do­-It-­Yourself Seed Bank, including information on preparing seeds for long­-term storage and how to “dehybridize” hybrids.
    Twenty-­four good places to not plant a tree, and thirty­-seven good reasons for not planting various vegetables.

    Designed for gardeners of all levels, from beginners to experienced growers, The Tao of Vegetable Gardening provides a unique frame of reference: a window to the world of nature, in the garden and in ourselves.

    #hiiiiiiiii #jardinage cc @koldobika

    • Table des matières, pour saliver un peu

      Introduction

      1. Honoring the Land

      Gardening in Nature’s Image—But Which Nature and Which

      Image? | Has Nature Thought of Everything? | On Being

      a Member of a Keystone Species. | Organic and Beyond.

      2. Honoring the Essential Nature of the Plants

      Sun, Earth, Air, Water, Warmth. | What Can We Grow? |

      Expected First and Last Frost Dates. | Sun and Shade

      Tolerance. | Some Like It Hot; Some Like It Cold. | When

      to Plant Everything. | Planting Guide.

      3. Honoring Your Own Essential Nature

      Discovering Your Inner Gardener. | Planning Versus

      Spontaneity. | Structure, Labor, and Freedom.

      4. Flexibility

      Choosing Gardening Styles and Methods. | Getting the

      Most from the Small Garden. | Volunteers. | How to Eat a

      a Weed—Dandelions, Lambsquarters, Purslane. | The

      Prepper’s Garden.

      5. Balance

      Grand Versus Prosaic. | How Much Garden? | Limiting

      Factors.| Too Much Tilling. | Too Much Watering. | Too

      Much Fertilizer. | Too Many Pests. | Knowing When to

      Stop.

      6. Non-Doing

      Daring to Not Do. | On Not Tilling, Digging, Mowing, or

      Tending Absolutely Everything. | Twenty-Four Good

      Places Not to Plant a Tree. | Seven Reasons Not to Chop

      Down a Tree. | Thirty-Seven Reasons for Not Planting

      Various Vegetables. | On Not Planting Purple Flowers in

      Front of an Orange Brick House. | Flower-Patterned

      Shirts Attract Bees. | A Weed by Any Other Name Is

      Usually Still a Weed.

      7. Beginning—Tomatoes

      Begin with Something You Really Love. | Tomato Kinds

      and Colors. | Flavor Favorites. | Thirty Interesting

      Open-Pollinated TomatoVarieties. | Starting Tomatoes

      from Seed–Growing Transplants. | Potting Soil for

      Germinating Seeds and Starting Transplants. | Preparing

      the Ground. | Hardening Off and Planting Transplants.

      | Do Carrots Really Love Tomatoes?—Garden Woman

      Adventures. | Polycultures. | Supporting and Nurturing.

      | Watering and Mulching. | Why It Will Soon Be

      Impossible to Grow Our Current Generation of Heirloom

      Tomatoes and What to Do About It–Late Blight |

      Dealing with Late Blight. | Late Blight Resistant Hybrid

      Tomato Varieties. | Late Blight Resistant Heirloom and

      Open-Pollinated Varieties. | Why the Best-Flavored

      Tomato May Not Be the One That Is Picked Vine-Ripe.

      | Using Green Tomatoes.

      8. Nurturing—Weeding

      Avoid, Delay, Remove. | Garden Woman Meets Pigweed

      with Attitude. | The American Square Hoe. | Buying,

      Using, and Sharpening the Peasant Hoe. | Buying, Using,

      and Sharpening the Coleman Hoe. | Stirrup Hoes. |

      Wheel Hoes. | Electric Wheel Hoe and Electric Tiller.

      9. Non-Knowing—Squash

      Adventures in Ignorance. | The Perfect

      Polyculture—Squash and Overwintering Kale. |

      ‘Candystick Dessert Delicata’ Squash. |‘Lofthouse

      Landrace Moschata’ Squash. | Apologizing to a Squash.

      | Butternut Squash Cookery. | Planting by the Moon.

      | Talking to Your Plants. | True Understanding.

      10. Effortless Effort—The Eat-All Greens Garden

      The No-Labor Garden—Just Sow and Harvest. | The

      Nutritionally Most Important Home Garden Crop. |

      Leaves Versus Heads or Stems. | The Essential Role of

      Cooking. | Using Greens in Soups and Stews. | The

      Mess o’ Greens. | Harvesting and Handling Eat-All

      Greens. | Freezing Eat-All Greens. | Dried Greens and

      Herbal Teas. | Lactofermenting Greens. | Growing

      Eat-All Greens. | Eleven Great Eat-All Greens Varieties.

      11. Peas and Beans

      Nitrogen Fixing and Legumes. | Dry Seeds Versus Edible

      Pods Versus Green Seeds. | Pea Vine Types and

      Support. | Shelling Peas. | Edible-Podded Peas. |

      Growing Peas. | Presoaking Legume Seed Without

      Suffocating It. | Keep Peas and Beans Picked. |

      Harvesting and Using Edible-Podded Peas. | Kinds

      of Bean Varieties—Green, Dry, Shelly. | Pole Versus

      Bush Green Beans. | Seed Color and Green Bean Flavor.

      | Supporting Pole Beans. | Growing Beans. | Growing

      Pole Beans on Corn. | Harvesting and Using Green Beans.

      12. Joy

      Jumping for Joy. | On Carrying Vegetables. | Weeding

      Meditation. | Noticing. | Simple Pleasures. | Sunset.

      13. Completion—Seeds

      Cycles and Circles. | The Do-It-Yourself Seed Bank. |

      You Will Not Fall Off the Edge of the Earth If You

      Don’t Save All Your Own Seed. | Preparing Seed for

      Long-Term Storage. | Containers for Storing Seed. |

      Eight Seed-Saving Myths. | Creating Your Own Modern

      Landraces. | Rejuvenating Heirloom Varieties. | Breeding

      Crops for Organic Systems. | Dehybridizing

      Hybrids—Disease-Resistant Tomatoes. | Tomato

      Genes and Genetics. | Breeding the Heirloom Tomatoes

      of Tomorrow.

    • http://bountifulgardens.net/inspiring-new-book-the-tao-of-gardening

      When we got wind of a new Carol Deppe book, the staff started to jockey to see who could take home the review copy first. Carol’s specialty is figuring out fun, cheap ways to overcome obstacles that would stop most people. No land? Bad back? Drought? New killer tomato diseases? Gluten intolerant? Short season? No Money? With her unique combination of humor, innovation, down-to-earth observation, and learning (she has a PhD in genetics), she shows us how she has found ways around them all. And Carol never takes anything, including the stuff “everybody knows” for granted.

      The theme of Tao of Gardening is cultivating Joy and Serenity along with your garden. But in Carol’s world, joy and serenity are directly tied to working efficiently, discovering new techniques, and preparing for unprecedented future challenges. So along the way, we learn about her new “eat-all garden” technique. We learn about preparing for the new strains of late blight that threaten heirloom tomatoes (and why it is so important never to put store-bought tomatoes in your compost). And we get a generous helping of recipes and labor-saving tips. You don’t want to miss “Thirty-seven reasons for not planting various vegetables,” which is a useful antidote to going crazy with you seed order!

      La dernière phrase sent le vécu :-)

    • J’ai repensé à ce “Thirty-seven reasons for not planting various vegetables” cet après-midi en voyant mes amaranthes : c’est une super plante avec une richesse en minéraux et vitamines incroyable, une protéine super équilibrée en acides aminées dont les graines en contiennent je ne sais quel super pourcentage, mais par contre :
      – si t’es à la bourre dans tes plantations de printemps ça commence à fleurir alors que c’est encore dans le godet, et une fois transplanté ça grandit moins bien que les plants mis en terre plus tôt, car une fois en mode floraison ça change pas d’avis même si tu as mis un bon compost à la plantation, même si t’arroses bien et même si coupes les fleurs pour stimuler la croissance foliaire.
      – ça a besoin de tuteurs (quand t’as déjà 50 pieds de tomate t’as que ça a foutre)
      – les feuilles des variétés à fleurs jaunes ont un goût assez amer, du coup on en mange pas beaucoup, et on aurait un meilleur apport en vitamines et minéraux en optant pour des légumes feuilles qui en sont moins concentrés mais dont du coup on mangerait plus facilement.
      – j’ai de l’amaranthe rétroflexe parmi mes "mauvaises" herbes d’été, ça pousse tout seul c’est sûrement aussi riche et ça a un goût plus doux

      Je me suis aussi souvenu pourquoi ça faisait 8 ans que j’avais pas cultivé d’amaranthe à grains :
      – s’il pleut en septembre les panicules moisissent, et les graines avec
      – si t’arrives à récolter les panicules sans qu’ils aient versé ou moisi, il faut les faire sécher puis les battre dans un vieux drap pour extraire les graines, puis faire sauter les graines dans le vent pour séparer les pétales
      – il reste toujours quelques pétales fanés qui laissent un sale goût aux graines quand tu les cuisines
      – tout ce boulot pour ça, ça fait quand même un peu chier.

      Bref, l’an prochain à la place je fais du sorgho et des bettes.

    • non il faudrait vraiment un piquet par plante. À 50 cm ça commence à verser à la première entrée maritime. Ou alors il faudrait que je les plante en une seule ligne mais avec quand même des piquets intercalaires tous les 3-4 plants.

      le sorgho c’est beaucoup plus flexible, c’est tolérant à la chaleur et à la sécheresse mais si c’est arrosé ça dit pas non :-) en fait en conditions humides le maïs donne plus que le sorgho (mais utilise moins bien l’azote du sol donc il faut apporter plus de compost), en revanche en conditions sèches le sorgho tient bon et le maïs flanche.

    • voir http://www.ehlgbai.org/sites/default/files/media/colloque-eau-2006.pdf pages 37-39

      Le sorgho est capable d’extraire l’azote du sol d’une manière beaucoup plus efficace que le maïs ; c’est un avantage loin d’être négligeable sur un plan économique (coût réduit en fertilisant) et sur un plan environnemental compte tenu de sa capacité à prélever l’azote dans le sol. La capacité de repousse du sorgho en automne (après ensilage), lui permet de prélever les reliquats d’azote et de diminuer ainsi les risques de pollution de la ressource en eau.

  • Field study shows why food quality will suffer with rising carbon dioxide
    http://phys.org/news/2014-04-field-food-quality-carbon-dioxide.html

    For the first time, a field test has demonstrated that elevated levels of carbon dioxide inhibit plants’ assimilation of nitrate into proteins, indicating that the nutritional quality of food crops is at risk as climate change intensifies.

    Findings from this wheat field-test study, led by a UC Davis plant scientist, will be reported online April 6 in the journal Nature Climate Change.

    “Food quality is declining under the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide that we are experiencing,” said lead author Arnold Bloom, a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.

    “Several explanations for this decline have been put forward, but this is the first study to demonstrate that elevated carbon dioxide inhibits the conversion of nitrate into protein in a field-grown crop,” he said.

    The assimilation, or processing, of nitrogen plays a key role in the plant’s growth and productivity. In food crops, it is especially important because plants use nitrogen to produce the proteins that are vital for human nutrition. Wheat, in particular, provides nearly one-fourth of all protein in the global human diet.

    (...)

    While heavy nitrogen fertilization could partially compensate for this decline in food quality, it would also have negative consequences including higher costs, more nitrate leaching into groundwater and increased emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, he said.

    #climat #aliments #nutrition

  • Brazil develops ’superfoods’ to combat hidden hunger | Global development | guardian.co.uk
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jul/18/brazil-superfoods-hunger

    Biofortification uses conventional plant-breeding methods to enhance the concentration of micronutrients in food crops through a combination of laboratory and agricultural techniques.

    The goal is to combat micronutrient deficiencies, which can cause severe health problems such as anaemia, blindness, impaired immune response and development delays. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, micronutrient malnutrition affects 2 billion people globally.

    Paradoxal pour un pays dont l’économie est largement fondée sur l’agriculture ! Ah oui mais avant de nourrir sa population, il faut nourrir le bétail voué à l’exportation et produire des agrocarburants, voilà.
    #faim #alimentation #Brésil

  • GRAIN releases data set with over 400 global land grabs
    http://www.grain.org/fr/article/entries/4479-grain-releases-data-set-with-over-400-global-land-grabs

    Today GRAIN is making available a new data set documenting 416 recent, large-scale land grabs by foreign investors for the production of food crops. The cases cover nearly 35 million hectares of land in 66 countries.

    This is not an exhaustive list of all land deals. It focuses only on those deals that:

    were initiated after 2006,
    have not been cancelled,
    are led by foreign investors,
    are for the production of food crops, and
    involve large areas of land.

    Deals for sugar cane and palm oil production were included but not those for crops like jatropha or cotton.

    The collection of deals provides a stark snapshot of how agribusiness has been rapidly expanding across the globe since the food and financial crises of 2008 and how this is taking food production out of the hands of farmers and local communities.

    It confirms that Africa is the primary target of the land grabs, but it also underlines the importance of Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, demonstrating that this is a global phenomenon.

    #terres #rapport

  • GM crops promote superweeds, food insecurity and pesticides, say NGOs | Environment | The Guardian
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/19/gm-crops-insecurity-superweeds-pesticides

    Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of “superweeds”, according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people.

    #OGM #alimentation #agribusiness #érosion