THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 291, December 18, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
A NEW STRATEGY TO FEED THE WORLD
By Dennis T. Avery
THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE: CAN WE SUCCESSFULLY GROW MORE PLANTS PER ACRE AS A FUTURE STRATEGY FOR INCREASING OUR CROP YIELDS?
THE WORLD WILL NEED TWICE AS MUCH FOOD IN 2050, & WE WILL NEED TO TRIPLE THE CROP YIELDS ON THE BEST LAND. FOR THIS STRATEGY TO BE A SUCCESS,
THE FIELDS WILL NEED CONSISTENT RAINS, IRRIGATION, OR SUPPLEMENTAL IRRIGATION IN WELL-WATERED REGIONS. OTHER NEEDS: PROBABLY,
DROUGHT-TOLERANT SEEDS & SOME ACTUAL RE-DESIGN OF PLANT LEAVES IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF HEAT THE PLANTS INTERCEPT FROM
THE SUN, LOTS OF NITROGEN FERTILIZER, CAREFUL MANAGEMENT TO PREVENT THE EXTRA NITROGEN FROM LEACHING INTO STREAMS, & GOOD EROSION
CONTROL TO PREVENT THE SOIL FROM SLIPPING AWAY DURING STORMS. THE FARMERS ARE FACING THEIR BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN HISTORY.
FULL STORY:
Can we successfully grow more plants per acre as a future strategy for increasing our crop yields and food production? Sixty thousand corn plants per acre —
twice Iowa’s current average — could be one route to higher productivity. The world will need twice as much food in 2050, and we’ll need to triple the crop yields
on the best land. Doubling would be a very good start.
Otherwise, we’ll see one of two bad things: Either lots of people will starve, or we’ll plow down all the wildlife for low-yield crops. The stakes are high. But the
basic ways to raise yields over the past half-century — cross-breeding plants, irrigation, pesticides, and lots of nitrogen fertilizer — are already widely used.
Another three-fold yield increase will be tough.
The Stine Seed Company of Adel, Iowa, says it’s ready to lead the charge. This year, it had a test plot with 75,000 plants per acre. It was supposed to be 60,000,
but the planter malfunctioned. “It can be done,” says the company’s Myron Stine, as he checks an ear from the densely populated field. The ear looks normal,
with kernels filled almost to the tip. An ear to be proud of. As a start, however, seed companies are urging their growers to ramp up to 40,000 plants per acre en
route to the bigger goal.
Growing more plants per acre seems an obvious potential strategy, but it won’t be easy. The fields will need consistent rains, irrigation, or supplemental irrigation
in well-watered regions. We may need drought-tolerant seeds, which we don’t yet have. We’ll need lots of nitrogen fertilizer, and careful management to prevent
the extra nitrogen from leaching into streams. Some actual re-design of the corn plant leaves, to maximize the amount of heat the plants intercept from the sun,
could be on the menu to success. We’ll need good erosion control, such as no-till, to prevent the soil from slipping away during storms.
Stine is unusual — an independent seed company that can take the best of what it sees from the whole range of high-science seed companies. Stine’s premier
seed now is labeled 9806. It’s “triple stacked” with Stine germplasm, plus Monsanto’s herbicide tolerance trait, and a bred-in Bt pesticide. Other technology is
licensed from Syngenta and Dow Agrosciences.
Stine also licenses LibertyLink from Bayer Crop Sciences — a direct competitor for Monsanto’s Roundup (glyphosate) herbicide. One factor in Iowa’s continuing
yield gains has been the use of genetically engineered herbicide and pesticide bred into the plants; it’s a more direct delivery system than spraying. However,
huge amounts of Roundup herbicide have been used in Monsanto’s Roundup-Ready corn and soybean seeds in recent decades. Some weeds are beginning to
show signs of resistance to Roundup. Fortunately, LibertyLink is already available, so farmers will be able to rotate their weed control systems.
Farmers used to get their technology from public sources such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the land-grant university experiment stations. After the
1960s Green Revolution, however, the public began to fear “overpopulation” more than they feared hunger for poor people. Now we know that human birth rates
are tied to death rates. As high-yield crops and modern medicine have cut death rates, birth rates are also plummeting in both rich and emerging countries.
More food won’t produce more human numbers in the years ahead, just better-fed people. But the public farm research institutions have been focused lately on
growing crops without pesticides rather than trying for higher yields. The private sector has expanded to fill the gap, along with such prominent donors to
high-yield farming research funders as Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Buffett’s son, Howard, has his own major foundation, also dedicated to
high-yield farming research.
The farmers are facing their biggest challenge in history. They’ll need help — and public approval — to raise their yields high enough to meet that test.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Agriculture, the Economy, & Human Health & Welfare:
Policy Issues Relating to Food Production & Consumption
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Dennis T. Avery, a senior fellow for the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., is an environmental economist. He was formerly a senior analyst for the U.S.
Department of State. He is co-author, with S. Fred Singer, of Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1500 Years. Readers may write to him at PO Box 202;
Churchville, Virginia, 2442; or send email to him at cgfi@hughes.net; or visit our website at www.cgfi.org
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XIII, 2011
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity