Imagine this: there is a disease spreading across the country and there have been outbreaks of this disease in your home town.  It’s deadly and the few that survive are never the same once infected.  To protect yourself and your family you wear protective suits and ventilators.  Your entire family takes dozens of pills a day to prevent infection.  You then discover that you are expecting a new baby and through the miracles of modern science you have an option never available before: the doctors can make your baby resistant to the deadly disease by altering her DNA.  Would you do it or doom your child to a life of living in a bubble?

This extreme example represents a debate that rages right now.  Vaccinations for common diseases are hardly comparable to gene manipulation, yet every year thousands of people oppose them.  Yet if there was a mass pandemic of flu or a new version of polio or tuberculosis these same people would be screaming for a cure.

So what the heck does this have to do with eggplants?  Be patient, we’re getting there.

There have been headlines recently over India’s delay on approving a new type of aubergine (aka. Eggplant) over safety concerns despite nearly a decade’s worth of scientific trial data.  The government wants to study it further and certainly, if a government is taking action to protect public safety it should be applauded for doing so.

One tweet I read recently was a declaration not for the thoroughness of the cautious government authority but – and I quote – “India kicks Monsanto right in the eggplants! [link withheld]”.  Many eco-lovers are also Monsanto-haters so I guess I understand the sentiment.  But stepping back for a moment you can see the motivation behind the development of this new GMO crop.

If you want to grow a field of a certain type of crop, like eggplants, then you’re bound to attract certain types of pests.  In the case of eggplants there are pesticides that have been applied to protect them safely since the time your grandparents were babies.  A bunch of scientists came up with a way to build this protection into the genetic code of the eggplant, which eliminates or reduces the amount of pesticide required.

Keep in mind that the reasons pesticides exist is to protect plants from pests.  More often than not if there is an outbreak and no pesticide is used to protect the plant then the crop is lost.  But still we, as consumers, don’t like the idea of chemicals being sprayed on our food.  But we’re consumers and – particularly in the West – we’re stupid consumers.  We think the choice is always between a “conventional” eggplant and an “organic” one.  We never stop to think that maybe the choice is between a “conventional” eggplant and no eggplant at all!

That’s where the biotechnology comes in.  The big idea is to build the protection into the seed itself so the plant is protected no matter what.

I’m not saying these biotech eggplants don’t require further study – I’m no scientist – but reading the press on this incident I’m reading protesters and policital ministers quoted as if they are scientists.  Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but it is irresponsible to quote that opinion as scientific fact.

I hope they do run further tests on these eggplants and it’ll be interesting to see what the results are.  As long as the methods are scientifically sound, India and the rest of the world should have nothing to worry about.

» Veg Paradise

Just the other day I published a post called Thinking About Water that... well, it got me thinking about water.  In that post I talked a little bit about water scarcity and the strain that indutries such as agriculture can place on a water supply.  And this got me thinking about India, let me tell you why.

About two years ago I attended a 3-day water management and irrigation conference that featured some very interesting guest speakers.  Whether the person presenting was an engineer, a university prof or a bureaucrat, they continually made references to India's irrigation and water management.  I wasn't aware of it prior to the conference, but apparently India is like the case study for how to mismanage a water supply and completely screw things up.  At the conference the consensus amongst these experts seemed to be that poor engineering and regulation of the country's irrigation systems was primarily to blame for India's water woes.

It is pretty tragic when you think about it.  A country with a massive population, many of them poor farmers, that makes the news alternately for either being flooded or being in drought.  That massive population has a massive requirement not just for clean water, but for food as well.  India does indeed face a water crisis, but it's not that there isn't enough water but that it needs to be managed better than it has been in the past.

A little over a month ago, Prince Charles made international headlines when he made some controversial statements that were at odds with the British government.  He doesn't blame water management for India's woes, but seeds and big corporations.  He may have overstated his case:

"...if they think it's somehow going to work because they are going to have one form of clever genetic engineering after another, then again, count me out, because that will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time."

"I have been to the Punjab, where you have seen the disasters that have taken place as result of the over-demand on irrigation because of the hybrid seeds and grains that have been produced, which demand huge amounts of water."

So could the water experts at that conference have been wrong?  Is Prince Charles right, are hybrid seeds putting a strain on India's resources that could be fixed by growing conventional crops?  According to P.K. Joshi, the director of the National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, in a recent interview with Newsweek he has a very different opinion on hybrid seeds than the Prince of Wales:

Newsweek: Should India be doing more to encourage farmers to use hybrids?
P.K. Joshi: Yes, definitely. If we are speaking particularly about rice, then I would say that in rice, the hybrids have very high potential. There's a difference between high yielding varieties and hybrids. A hybrid is a cross between two different male and female plants, but the varieties are self-pollinating, so the hybrid has higher potential.

Newsweek: The introduction of genetically modified crops has been a controversial topic in India. Why are Indian farmers and activists concerned about GM foods?
P.K. Joshi: Among activists, the apprehension is that [GM crops] may adversely affect [human] health. There's no evidence so far, globally, that it will. But activists [worry about] playing with nature and using genes from other organisms to change another species. The proponents feel that the future lies with these genetically modified crops, because the [cultivation] area is shrinking for crops, and you have to increase production. Production can be increased only by increasing productivity.

Even during the green revolution period, when high-yielding varieties came, there was a lot of apprehension. I still remember in 1967-1968 activists saying that it would create [stomach ulcers and that] the taste is not good. From the health point of view, the nutritional point of view, there was no negative effect during the green revolution. So may be the case with genetically modified commodities.

So in India, even back in the 1960's their efforts to increase crop output resulted in controvery and health concerns.  And here we are forty years later and the same protests and arguments are being made against these seeds, with fingers being pointed at big corporations.  I'm sure Prince Charles means well, but the problems in India likely have nothing to do with genetically engineered seeds.  I can think of a few other factors that contribute the the problem:

1. India has one-sixth of Earth's human population.  That's over 1.1 billion mouths to feed with 70% of the population living in poor, rural areas.  India has to maximize it's efficiency and agricultural output  just to prevent it's population from starving to death.  India needs to curb it's population growth significantly and immediately to avoid severe consequences in the near future.

2. Over a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line.  Oh, and did I mention that the government-specified poverty line is equivalent to about 40 cents a day?  Looking back at my previous point, you can imagine that birth control is the last thing on the minds of these 300 million desperately poor people.  Add to this that many of India's working poor are farmers, who simply do not have the education or the resources to apply modern agricultural practices.  One thing that the 'green revolution' gave India in the 60's and 70's was a way of compensating for these inefficiencies with better varieties of crops.

3. India's irrigation systems are grossly mismanaged.  Water management issues in a country with a monsoon climate is a very tricky issue that requires advanced engineering.  But apparently politics and posturing continually get in the way of revision and further development of the nations water management systems.  Or as stated in the abstract for this report from the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, India:

Indian state has taken over total responsibility of planning, decision - making, finance, construction, operation and maintenance of existing and future irrigation projects of practically all sizes. To put it in most charitable way, propensity to use these projects for receiving and widening electoral support has greatly aggravated the decision making process for optimal, appropriate, sustainable, cost effective and equitable irrigation projects. Taking all these factors into account for assessing out of available irrigation options is thus essential.

*emphasis ours

The reality is that big issues without fast solutions such as overpopulation, poverty and the management of natural resources don't get headlines.  It's easier to point the finger at big companies and cry 'foul' over the unproven fear that genetially modified seeds are going to cause some kind of health crisis.  Let's say that Prince Charles' wish came true and genetically engineered crops were banned throughout India.  What then?  You're still left with an overpopulated and poor nation with inadequate water management... but now you've diminished the food supply and will likely cause mass starvation.  Doesn't sound like a good plan to me.

India has some big issues without convenient solutions.  Sensationalist news headlines can't disguise the fact that too-simple solutions con't solve these problems.  I encourage you to do some research on your own.  Type in the name of your state into Google and add "irrigation" to it, like "Nevada Irrigation".  You might be surprised by what you learn.

» Newsweek

Have you ever heard of Bajaj Auto, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eicher Motors or Tata Motors?  No?  These are the names of some of the biggest players in India's auto industry and they recently joined together to develop hydrogen-blended compressed natural gas vehicles (that's HCNG for short).

Right now new vehicles running various hydrogen blends are still in the testing stages, but by mid-2008 the test results will be in and these manufacturers will be ready to roll-out new, cleaner vehicles.

Now you might think, "This is in India, what the heck does this have to do with me here in my cushy loft overlooking the bay?"

Well, for one it's an astonishing example of cooperation that we will never see in America.  America's "Big 3" continue to lobby the government to prevent stricter emissions standards and the only thing they can agree on is that cars have 4 wheels.  Meanwhile, over in India their biggest auto manufacturers have banded together and are working with the India Oil Company and the government to bring alternative fuel vehicles to market as quickly as possible.

Is HCNG the perfect fuel?  Probably not, but if it can fasttrack emissions reductions in India while other technologies are being developed then it's certainly better than continuing to use the same old fuel as before!

» India Times