Soil Conditions Are A Key Issue In Global Food Crisis
Posted on: Friday, 9 May 2008, 11:25 CDT
Through biotechnology and crossbreeding, science has provided the kind of genetically engineered seeds to feed the world. Now the major problem is the soil they’re planted in.While seeds are improving, the world’s soil is getting worse and famine continues to spread. Some scientists believe that better dirt will be the key solution to the economically triggered global food crisis.
About one-fifth of the world’s cropland is considered damaged as soils around the world are deteriorating. According to a World Resources Institute study, poor soil quality has cut crop production by about one-sixth and some scientists are calling it a slow-motion disaster.
A report by a worldwide consortium of agricultural institutions said nearly 1 million square miles of cropland in sub-Saharan Africa have shown consistent significant decline.
Experts says the current global food crisis is mostly based on market forces, speculation and hoarding. But droughts and floods, plant diseases and pests, and often, poor soil contribute heavily.
Earth’s food production boomed a generation ago through better types of plants in what was then called the “green revolution”. Many thought this was the end of the global food shortage. However, the development of these super-seeds was only one part of the equation—fertile soil was also needed.
"The first thing to do is to have good soil," said Hans Herren, winner of the World Food Prize. "Even the best seeds can't do anything in sand and gravel."
Herren is co-chairman of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, a collection of scientists sponsored by the United Nations and World Bank . Last month, the group published a 2,500-page report emphasizing a need to improve the world’s soil.
Roger Leakey, a co-author of the international report and professor at James Cooke University in Australia, noted that genetic improvements in corn make it possible to grow up to 9,000 pounds of corn per acre in Africa. But Leakey said millions of poor African farmers only get about 500 pounds an acre.
“Over the years, their soils have become very infertile and they can't afford to purchase fertilizers," he said.
Ohio State University soil scientist Rattan Lal said soil and water issues have been taken for granted. "It is a problem that is not going to be solved. It's going to get worse before it gets better."
Herren said, in Africa, farmers are forced to use practices that rob nutrients from the soil, not put it back. “Fertilizer is a quick, short-term fix, but even that isn't being done,” he said.
Pedro Sanchez, Columbia University tropical agricultural director, believes the current crisis could have been avoided if the world had better promoted fertilizer in Africa.
“In that way, the problem with soil is a prime example of a larger failing of agriculture science. Scientists have the knowledge to feed the world right now, but that is not happening. It's very frustrating, especially when you see children dying," said Sanchez, who has won both the World Food Prize and a MacArthur genius grant.
The fruits of biotechnology and the staples of modern agricultural scientific techniques include irrigation, crop rotation, reduced tilling, use of fertilizer and improved seeds. Scientists say it's a way of farming differently instead of just using better seeds that requires extra money up-front that many African farmers don't have.
Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute in Manila, Philippines, said fixing soil just isn't "sexy" enough to interest governments or charities.
Last week, Zeigler's center planted its 133rd crop of rice in the same land since 1963. They wanted to pinpoint the right combination of nitrogen and fertilizer. Better seeds worked well. “But finding money for soil health is difficult and because of that, less work is accomplished,” he said.
Still, there have been successes, like in the small African country of Malawi. Three years ago, the country's new president invested 8 percent of Malawi's national budget in a subsidy program to get fertilizer and better seeds to small farmers. Two bags of fertilizer and 4 1/2 pounds of seeds were given to each farmer at less than half the cost.
Sanchez said one-third of Malawi was on food aid before the program started. The country wasn’t growing enough food for itself—it produced 1.2 million tons of maize in 2005 and a year later Malawi had more than doubled its production. By 2007 and 2008, the crop was up to 3.4 and 3.3 million tons. They are now exporting corn.
"In two years, the country has changed from a food aid recipient to a food aid donor and is self-sufficient. If Malawi can do it, richer countries like Nigeria, Kenya can do it," Sanchez said.
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On the Net:
International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
Tropical Agriculture Program at Columbia University
Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports
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