In general, I am an opponent of genetically modified foods, believing that too little is known about the subtle connections of ecology to be tinkering heavy-handedly with any component of it, but there has been one novel change under development for a few years that might prove to be a good idea, walking back some of the undesired consequences of ages of genetic advancement and alteration of what we eat that’s come to us at a more acceptable pace, through countless generations of husbandry and farming, which has brought us from weeds and feral animals to refinement and breeding in the crops that we have today.
Environ-mentalists and scientists have proposed (and there are on-going discussions as to the feasibility and ramifications) altering standard food crops, like maize, corn, sugar-cane and anything else that grows above ground, to conduce individual plants to take up a lasting residence, transforming from annuals to perennials, in order to mitigate the need for seasonal replanting and plowing. Tilling the soil, especially in a shallow and repeated fashion, releases a significant amount of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere that would otherwise remain sequestered in the ground. It seems like a lot to ask of a dandelion to turn into a tulip, but it's no joke and apparently could be done. I suppose there is not so much a profit-motivation to create fields that don't need minding. Not having to replant would save labour as well, since field would just return by their own accord. The extensive system of roots established by permanent colonies of crops would also help to prevent erosion and might allow a monoculture environment to diversify, more tolerant to nature’s encroachment than traditional agriculture. Aside from orchards and vineyards, man seems to have picked high-maintenance sources of food and I wonder if that was a necessary choice or if farming can be rehabilitated with some more sophisticated and rapid evolution.
Environ-mentalists and scientists have proposed (and there are on-going discussions as to the feasibility and ramifications) altering standard food crops, like maize, corn, sugar-cane and anything else that grows above ground, to conduce individual plants to take up a lasting residence, transforming from annuals to perennials, in order to mitigate the need for seasonal replanting and plowing. Tilling the soil, especially in a shallow and repeated fashion, releases a significant amount of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere that would otherwise remain sequestered in the ground. It seems like a lot to ask of a dandelion to turn into a tulip, but it's no joke and apparently could be done. I suppose there is not so much a profit-motivation to create fields that don't need minding. Not having to replant would save labour as well, since field would just return by their own accord. The extensive system of roots established by permanent colonies of crops would also help to prevent erosion and might allow a monoculture environment to diversify, more tolerant to nature’s encroachment than traditional agriculture. Aside from orchards and vineyards, man seems to have picked high-maintenance sources of food and I wonder if that was a necessary choice or if farming can be rehabilitated with some more sophisticated and rapid evolution.
