
Techniques to Restore Our Damaged Food Industry
- foodfightadmin
- October 9, 2023
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Global Hunger
- rsc pages
- 0 Comments
In an unexpected twist, our attention has been captivated by the humble chickpea, all thanks to insightful encounters with Doug Cook, the esteemed director of the Chickpea Innovation Lab at the University of California, Davis.
Over years of meticulously traversing the rugged terrains of southeast Turkey, Cook, along with his dedicated research ensemble, has scoured for wild chickpea plants, gathering an astonishing pool of over 2,000 individual strains. Hiking trails were traced with the guiding hand of local shepherds and village chiefs, sharing their innate knowledge with the precision of GPS data aiding their journey.
The sundry of chickpea strains has introduced a spectrum of variants. Some boast a superior protein count in comparison to the commonly consumed types. Others display a sturdier resilience against drought conditions. A few even showcase an unmoved disposition towards pests that usually trouble the plant. The diversity becomes borderless when these strains are crossbred, a process that carries the potential to isolate and multiply some unique qualities of the chickpea.
This pursuit is not merely academic. Given the prominence of chickpeas as a chief protein provider in nations that house 20% of the global population, Cook’s discoveries could hold enormous implications for nourishing our burgeoning population.
This chickpea-centric investigation is a significant aspect of a broader study undertaken for the newly minted series, ‘Follow the Food’, to be featured on BBC World News and BBC Future. This expedition has moved around the globe, unveiling stories of farmers, scientists, and engineers expressing the same hope: to enhance the efficacy and sustainability of our food supply.
Most of us, particularly those in developed regions and distant from the nuances of food cultivation and distribution, rarely delve into the complexities of the global food system, leaving the grave challenges of worldwide food provision to remain largely abstract in our day to day existence.
Stepping out of this comfortable bubble reveals a rather disconcerting reality. The culinary abundance we enjoy is buoyed by a food system stretching its sustainable limits. The method of food production in vogue has gradually degraded the world’s topsoil, bedrock for agricultural productivity, in numerous regions. Some experts paint a grim future if we persist on this trajectory, foreseeing the exhaustion of usable topsoil within a mere 60 years. The prevalent use of pesticides, with 90% of these chemicals wandering off the crops and contaminating the soil and water pathways, has compounded this alarming ecological trend.
Looking forward, the crux that propels this series is a staggering projection: by 2050, we will be sharing our planet with an estimated 10 billion inhabitants. If our food practices remain unchanged, ensuring sustenance for such an immense population seems a daunting, if not impossible, task.
These facts indeed sound fearsome, yet they’re not the full picture. Glimmers of hope radiate from the tireless efforts of individuals like Cook who confront these challenges head on. They represent the cutting edge vanguard in the fight for food sustainability. Their progress thus far is commendable, and indications are they’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible.
More strategic interventions at every juncture from farm to table promise to augment efficiency, curtail waste, and alleviate environmental harm, preserving our precious planet while feeding its ever growing population.
Research is putting bee activity to our advantage, quite literally, in Georgia. Researchers are resorting to an innovative technique known as “bee vectoring” in combatting the overuse of pesticides. This sustainable approach leans on the natural foraging pattern of bees and their vital role in pollination as a means to effectively deliver beneficial bacteria and fungi to flowering plants, thereby offering organic protection against pests.
On a broader scale, scientists in Minnesota are employing satellite and drone imagery to provide real time insights into the state of farmlands. These high tech birds eye observers can rapidly diagnose potential issues that traditionally would have required weeks to detect on foot. Thanks to multi spectral sensors, valuable insights emerge from the images gathered, enabling farmers to pinpoint areas needing additional water, fertilizer, or pesticides.
Entering the international arena, Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, shed light on strategies involving financial aid to promote sustainable water management in developing nations, with the goal of minimizing water wastage. Every single narrative uncovers intriguing insights into the technologies, skills, and knowledge that are poised and ready to tackle urgent agricultural challenges.
However, one individual, Rattan Lal, the Nobel laureate and Professor of Soil Science at Ohio State University, paints a darker picture. Professor Lal has observed the global degradation of our soil as a result of unsustainable farming practices. He maintains that we’ve exploited our soil without due consideration, depleting more of its fertile resources such as nutrients, potassium, and nitrogen than we’ve restored. Carrying on this path promises a future with barren and unusable soil.
Lal stresses that soil is not an isolated component; it exists within a web of interconnected systems encompassing plants, animals, human beings, and entire ecosystems. His conversation is a riveting journey into history, weaving agricultural practices, human nature, and community around the key element – soil.
When queried about the main barrier to reversing the troubling degradation trend, Professor Lal offered a one word answer – “education”. The critical challenge lies in raising awareness and comprehension of these pressing issues. As he rightly points out, solutions already exist, but it’s imperative that global understanding evolves to acknowledge these issues as significant and urgent.