World According to Monsanto, pt. 1

by Natasha Chart · 2009-06-17 13:20:00 UTC
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At Monsanto's Genuity (TM) site, they say of their upcoming brand of corn that ...

... The drought-tolerance gene works by mitigating the impact of low soil-moisture content on the plant's physiology—enabling the corn plant to maintain metabolism for a longer period of time during drought stress.

Drought tolerant technology has the potential to improve on-farm productivity around the world. And it's coming soon.

They've even launched a water utilization learning center to talk about how their new trait is going to revolutionize farming. Or has the potential to revolutionize farming. Maybe. By about 6-10 percent.

From Joel K. Bourne Jr. writing in National Geographic, May 2009:

... So far, genetic breakthroughs that would free green revolution crops from their heavy dependence on irrigation and fertilizer have proved elusive. Engineering plants that can fix their own nitrogen or are resistant to drought "has proven a lot harder than they thought," says Pollan. Monsanto's Fraley predicts his company will have drought-tolerant corn in the U.S. market by 2012. But the increased yields promised during drought years are only 6 to 10 percent above those of standard drought-hammered crops.

And so a shift has already begun to small, underfunded projects scattered across Africa and Asia. Some call it agroecology, others sustainable agriculture, but the underlying idea is revolutionary: that we must stop focusing on simply maximizing grain yields at any cost and consider the environmental and social impacts of food production.

... Ackim Mhone's story is typical. By incorporating legumes into his rotation, he's doubled his corn yield on his small plot of land while cutting his fertilizer use in half. "That was enough to change the life of my family," Mhone says, and to enable him to improve his house and buy livestock. ...

Doubled yields from inexpensive ecological agriculture practices vs. 6-10% increases in yield during drought years from expensive, needy seeds that come with technology fees and end-user licensing agreements attached. It's a choice between making your soil naturally fertile and stripping its fertility through monocropping, then adding fertilizer back in.

Gosh, what a tough decision.

Natasha Chart
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