Picture: Vavilov's Centers of Origin of Cultivated Plants (1) X Human Development Index (UNDP - 2014) (2) - evident disparity
What are the differences between GMOs / Synthetic Monoculture and Classical Breeding / Sustainable Production? #2- Plant production Pedro Nahoum, botanist and CEO of BOTANICA POP Ltd. pedronahoum@gmail.com
"We shall go into the pyre, we shall burn‌ But we shall not abandon our convictions" Nikolai Vavilov
Plant production: Polyculture X Monoculture Horticulture > Agriculture is a historic direction in plant production by the Homo sapiens. Many terrestrial mammals and bird species are seed and pollen dispersers, and H. sapiens have been doing it too, since the first fruit eaten. Organic deposits are found in places where human groups stay for even a short period (1), so there were always seed germination processes next to the human dwellings. Our species probably had a slow and gradual transition between natural seeds dispersed from feeding to the plants germination learning. To observe seed germination, to see different young plant stages and to understand that seedlings were babies under the canopy of mature tree specimens were not a big cognitive challenge. Plant production is much older than agriculture – on June 8th, 2017 an article was published featuring fossil records of H. sapiens presence with fire around 315,000 years B.P., in Morocco (3) (4), while agriculture, as an incipient monoculture practice, has around 23,000 years B.P. (5). There is over 200,000 years of sustainable plant cultivation by our species before agriculture started.
"The emergence of agriculture in the Neolithic era was a decisive step in the civilization process, when the human species ceased to be nomadic because it had another source of food besides hunting and collecting: growing plants". Monoculture brought evident opportunities of population concentration and growth, but increased the emergence of diseases, and plant production in monoculture of grains has caused the impoverishment and changes in human nutrition that have led to the current obesity epidemic - a global problem that currently affects more people than the world's hunger (6). "But it can be said that the earliest form of land use and plant cultivation is more similar to the current agroforestry systems than to agricultural monocultures (7). Polyculture systems emerged independently in different regions of the planet, with the earliest records of prehistory, in the monsoon region of Asia, where the production of fruits, nuts, herbs and other perennial plants occurred in a sustainable manner, interfering in the composition of the original vegetation - including the introduction of exotic species (8) (9). This activity is called 'forest gardening', and refers to the ancestral religious concept of the Garden of Eden (10), biblical reference to the place of anthropic nature where mankind was created, also existing in the mythology of other peoples. The establishment of the ‘huertos familiares (family orchards)’ that have gathered great diversity of species in Central America for many centuries, as well as the formation of 'terra preta de Ăndio (black Indian soil)' in the Amazon Basin (11), were events related to this practice. This diversity of species at the beginning of the cultivation of the plants by the Homo sapiens is more linked to the concept of horticulture than to agriculture with extensive monocultures. The term horticulture comes from the Latin 'hortus' (garden) and 'culture' (cultivation) (12), while the term agriculture comes from the Latin 'ager' (field) and 'culture' (cultivation). Horticulture usually has a smaller scale, with a higher concentration of inputs, labor and information than agriculture; In addition, horticulture can encompass a wide range of varieties in the same area, including fruit trees and herbaceous plants, while in agriculture the usual concentration is in a single variety each time. With the secular status of 'the art of plant cultivation' (13), horticulture currently comprises science, technology and business related to the intensive cultivation of plants for human use, and encompasses important and diversified economic activities, such as forestry, the production of greenhouse vegetables and the cultivation of vines, as well as floriculture and landscaping, etymologically referenced. Historical affinities approach edible and medicinal plants of the ornamental plants, since the processes of domestication occurred
together for several vegetable groups in areas close to the dwellings of the ancestral peoples. In these places the cultural practices were similar, and the spaces simultaneously covered gardens and orchards, where aromatic plants, natural fibers and dyes were also kept. These cultural practices started to provide inputs (water, organic matter and nutrients) and services (mainly the protection of crops against sunlight, the herbivores and the invasive plants), and made possible the selection of characteristics of human interest, such as fast growth and the organ growth. Leaves, fruits, seeds and edible roots larger than those found in wild species were selected on the fertile soils of the organic dumps of these ancestral communities (1)"(14). So, the original plant production was not the monoculture of wheat and grains in the crescent fertile of Mesopotamia 9,000 years BC, as many thinks. The original cultivation comes from the forest gardening, much older and more related with permaculture (15), with a horticultural approach and much higher biodiversity indexes (16).
Biodiversity and agrobiodiversity losses, the genetic erosion process, impedes adaptive responses to stressful environments (17), like deforested and semi-arid areas, and the whole planet Earth affected by the climatic changes. Very low biodiversity indexes in monocultures with synthetic inputs use is an important argument against GMOs, genetic engineered cultivars and synthetic growing for extensive areas, as have been occurring in South America and is starting in Africa now. Also, each area unity converted in monocultures is related with genetic erosion of natural biodiversity (genetic diversity inside well spread species and extinction of endemic species) or human historically created agrobiodiversity. In Brazil, monoculture of soybeans, corn and cotton are rotated and breaking records of productivity - but with GMOs cultivars and synthetic fertilizers inputs use, in areas where the Amazon tropical forests or the Cerrado savannah with high biodiversity indexes have been destroyed. And the high productivity is now attracting more and more people (including US, European and Chinese citizens) to buy new areas. Most of the still cheap forested farms have at first wood ilegal exploration, them are burned and receive grass seed to keep the cattle during 4 or 5 years - after that the owner can use tractors to prepare the land for soybeans, what makes the value of the land sometimes 50 times higher than the cost of forested areas.
Photo: Brazilian Environmental Agency - IBAMA new oversight trucks were burned in outrage occurred in the state of Parå on July 7th (2017) in retaliation of illegal loggers operating in the Menkragnoti Indigenous Land (18) The trinomial industrial agricultural business (Monocultures + GMOs / genetic engineered cultivars + synthetic fertilizers) is quickly stimulating the destruction of native vegetation in Brazilian Amazonian and Savannah (Cerrado) biomes - and this commodities exportation is nowadays the main income of dollars for the Brazilian government. Humanity needs grains and meat, there are hungry people and population growth. But the synthetic agriculture is not the best solution - there are the natural megadiversity and the salvageable old agrobiodiversity to be extensively used by traditional breeding and permaculture practices – and those are great opportunities for the future. New genetically modified / genetic engineered cultivars are promoting the loss of old cultivars and traditional knowledge, beyond the destruction of natural vegetation for monocultures, as it promotes the genetic homogenization around the world. New synthetic cultivars demand too much synthetic fertilizers (they are selected for high yields with massive fertilization), forcing traditional farmer communities to exchange their old varieties (which, when well managed may have a greater value in niche markets and even get the Geographic Identification and
others labels), through complete packages of "solutions" that include the mandatory purchase of GMOs and synthetic inputs (agrochemicals and fertilizers) for the production of internationally priced agricultural commodities. A focus on monoculture as a panacea for increasing productivity and food supply is questionable (19), and genetic and cultural diversity is exterminated in this process. Monoculture requires less knowledge and capital than polyculture, there are guaranteed markets for mono crops (commodities), but has many unsustainable externalities - and most of these externalities are social costs rather than private costs. Also, monoculture creates higher yields at the beginning, but studies show decreased crop yields and decreased revenues after a time period (20). Modern agricultural communities, governments and investors must look for the original plant production concepts, with higher genetic diversity indexes, and their opportunities for the future market of the new generations. Also, polycultures and sustainable production are an opportunity to give a new labor to the great number of people that will be unemployed in the next decades (21). There are too many abandoned areas in Brazil and in the others commodities export countries, and the opportunity to use drones and the new agricultural technologies make feasible the production of old cultivars that have full marketing nowadays, training workers with a beautiful sustainable history traceable. Pedro Nahoum, botanist - CEO of BOTANICA POP Ltd.
References (1) VAVILOV, N. I. (1937). Los centros geneĚ tico-geograĚ ficos de las plantas cultivadas, Revista de la Facultad de AgronomiĚ a, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, Buenos Aires, 23: 65-94 (2) HDI - Human Development Index (UNDP-2014) Actualitix - World Atlas - Statistics by Country. On line https://en.actualitix.com/country/wld/human-development-index-by-country.php
(3) SNIR, A. et al. (2015) The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming. PLOS ONE 10 (7): e0131422 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131422 (4) HUBLIN, J. et al. (2017). New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens. Nature 546, 289–292 (5) RICHTER, D. et al. (2017). The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age. Nature 546, 293–296 (6) HARARI, Y. N. (2014). Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. Harvill Secker Publishing (7) HART, R.A. (1996). Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green (8) DOUGLAS, J.M. (1992). The Forest-Garden Farms of Kandy, Sri Lanka. Rome : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (9) DOUGLAS, J.M. (2003). The Forest Farms of Kandy: And Other Gardens of Complete Design. Exeter, UK: Ashgate studies in environmental policy and practice (10) BELL, G. (2005). The Permaculture Garden. London: Chelsea Green Publishing (11) GLASER, B. et al. (2002). Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal - a review, 35 Biology and Fertility of Soils 219, 220 (12) BAILEY, L.H. (1904). Cyclopedia of American Horticulture. New York: The MacMillan company (13) TUKEY S.N. & H.B. (1962). The role of horticulture in science and society. Keynote address to the XVIth International Horticultural Congress, Brussels (14) NAHOUM, P. et al. (2015). Recursos Fitogenéticos: A base da agricultura sustentável no Brasil, 40th chapter (translated by the author). Editors: Renato Ferraz de Arruda Veiga & Manoel Abílio de Queiróz. Viçosa:
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283463113_Recursos_Fitogeneticos_A_base_da_agricultura_suste ntavel_no_Brasil (15) MOLLISON, B. and HOLMGREN, D. (1978) Permaculture One, Corgi Publishing
(16) NAHOUM, P. (2017) Agriculture under biodiversity's perspective and the monoculture's losses to humanity. Published on ISSUU, May 9, 2017 https://issuu.com/botanicapop/docs/agriculture_under_biodiversity_s_pe (17) BIJLSMA, R. & LOESCHCKE, V. (2012). Genetic erosion impedes adaptive responses to stressful environments. Evolutionary Applications 5(2):117-29 (18) IBAMA (2017). On line: http://www.ibama.gov.br/noticias/422-2017/1131-ibama-bloqueia-serrariasno-sudoeste-do-pa-apos-atentado-na-br-163 (19) IGBOZURIKE, U. M. (1978). Polyculture and Monoculture: contrast and analysis. GeoJournal 2(5): 443449 (20) GUYTON, A. (2008). Monoculture vs. Polyculture - Economics of agricultural practices. ECON 4410 https://pt.slideshare.net/tchykita/monoculture-vs-polyculture-economics-of-agricultural-practices/9 (21) BLOOMBERG & NEW AMERICA (2017). Shift: The commission on work, workers, and technology. Report of findings https://docsend.com/view/4wizcjb _______________________________________________________________________________________ This article was written in honor of Nikolai Vavilov (1887-1943), a prominent Russian botanist and geneticist that studied plants domestication, originally identified the centers of origin of cultivated plants and created the genetic resources scientific theme. Vavilov devoted his life to the study and improvement of wheat, corn and other cereal crops. _______________________________________________________________________________________
"What are the differences between GMOs / Synthetic Monoculture and Classical Breeding / Sustainable Production?" is a series of ten small articles wrote to help who wants to get more informed about the food that we eat - and the planet that the kids will live in the future! (It must be shared, with copyright to Pedro Nahoum - BOTANICA POP Ltd.).