Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
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Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#2One of the members of this team - Jane Langdale - did a talk at Stewart Brand's Long Now Foundation.
Well worth a listen: http://longnow.org/seminars/02016/mar/14/radical-ag-c4-rice-...
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#3land that currently provides enough rice to feed 27 people will need to support 43 by 2050
if there were fewer mouths, you would need less rice. I realize it isn't an area the Gates Foundation is active in, but there is quite a bit of evidence that educating and empowering women reduces population growth[1]. In many parts of the world women are still treated like property, forced into marriage, and have no access to family planning or education.
1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-women-can-sav...
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#4We are using most of grown crops as feed in meat production. So we don't have to increase production to keep up with population growth, the other option is to cut down on conspicuous consumption in what we eat.
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#5land that currently provides enough rice to feed 27 people will need to support 43 by 2050 if there were fewer mouths, you would need less rice. I realize it isn't an area the Gates Foundation is active in, but there is quite a bit of evidence that educating and empowering women reduces population growth[1]. In many parts of the world women are still treated like property, forced into marriage, and have no access to…
And quite often also educating men:
> President Recep Tayyip Erdogan encourages women to have at least three children.
> "No matter how successful a woman is, a woman who denies her motherhood, who gives up on looking after the home is incomplete, is only half, is at risk of losing her uniqueness," Erdogan said Sunday during a speech to the Women and Democracy Association.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/09/europe/erdogan-turkey-mansplai...
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#6We are using most of grown crops as feed in meat production. So we don't have to increase production to keep up with population growth, the other option is to cut down on conspicuous consumption in what we eat.
Do you think that the majority of meat consumption is conspicuous consumption?
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#7land that currently provides enough rice to feed 27 people will need to support 43 by 2050 if there were fewer mouths, you would need less rice. I realize it isn't an area the Gates Foundation is active in, but there is quite a bit of evidence that educating and empowering women reduces population growth[1]. In many parts of the world women are still treated like property, forced into marriage, and have no access to…
Actually that is an area the Gates Foundation is active in: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development...
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#8We are using most of grown crops as feed in meat production. So we don't have to increase production to keep up with population growth, the other option is to cut down on conspicuous consumption in what we eat.
Do you think that the majority of meat consumption is conspicuous consumption?
I think a lot of it if force of habit combined with the externalities of meat production not being reflected in the price of meat, making it cheaper to buy than it is in terms of overall cost. Meat consumption is a cultural element as well as a dietary one.
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#9Rats consume a sizeable percentage of rice production. From an earlier story [1]:
The next call came from Australia in 2006. Biologists there
wanted an adaptation of Mouseopause for rats. Rats, they told
her, were eating 30% of the rice crop in Australia and
Indonesia. If she could reduce the rat population by even half,
they claimed, the crops that would be saved could feed millions
of people.
Agricultural output is always variable. The world needs more storage capacity [2], and to better support small farmers. There's the ancient parable about "seven years of abundance" preceding "seven years of famine". Only "old" grain should be fed to animals.
For the most part, genetic engineering has been used to sell pesticides. While this C3->C4 innovation might not be as harmful as Monsanto's, it would be better to deal with our other agricultural problems too. Getting rats' numbers under control, and other low-tech investments (such as was undertaken in Thailand starting in the 1960's [3]), would be just as effective as throwing new seeds at farmers...
Haiti demonstrates that politics is the most important factor for determining agricultural output. [4]
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_silo [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_production_in_Thailand [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12531999 - "Why Are Haiti's Coffee Trees So Tall?"
Re: Introduction of C4 traits into rice to increase photosynthetic efficiency
#10land that currently provides enough rice to feed 27 people will need to support 43 by 2050 if there were fewer mouths, you would need less rice. I realize it isn't an area the Gates Foundation is active in, but there is quite a bit of evidence that educating and empowering women reduces population growth[1]. In many parts of the world women are still treated like property, forced into marriage, and have no access to…
Actually that is an area the Gates Foundation is active in: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development...
From your link:
>> Invest in New Contraceptive Methods
>> Some women do not access or use contraceptives for a variety of reasons, even when they want to avoid pregnancy. They may have misconceptions about their risk of becoming pregnant, or be deterred by the cost, inconvenience, or concerns about side effects. ... "
The Gates Foundation is paying for "a reformulation of Pfizer’s Depo-Provera® (medroxyprogesterone acetate)" [1]. The usual side effect of this drug is gaining weight. Usually it's about 20 pounds. Some women gain 40+ pounds after a few rounds of this drug [2].
[1] http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2... [2] https://www.reddit.com/user/ihateyoudepo
I suspect that the Depo Provera injections at about age 20 is what turned my friend into a drug addict. Drug use caused her first psychotic episodes, and her first court-ordered psychiatrists weren't smart enough to make the connection between her previous use of a prescription endocrine disruptor (Provera) and the following depression that she self-treated with street drugs.
Anyone who uses Provera drug is ignorant of the harm it actually causes, or is malicious.
edit: fixed italics above edit2: changed txt above to 'endocrine disruptor'