Food And Ag Final Flashcards
(12 cards)
Define agrobiodiversity. What are some features of it? FAO 2004 for agrobiodiversity and the “Biodiversity explanation”
Agrobiodiversity is the variety and variability of animals, plants, and micro-organisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and ag including crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries. It comprises the diversity of genetic resources and species used for food, fuel and pharmaceuticals. It also includes the diversity of non-harvested species that support production and those in the wider environment that support agroecosystems as well as the diversity of the Agroecosystems.
- in Burkina Faso, rural women collect fruit, leaves and roots of native plants such as baobab tree and red sorrel leaves for use in diet
- “biodiversity explanation “ - the variety of all forms of life from genes to species, through to the broad scale of ecosystems; deals with the # of species, evolutionary closeness and phylogenetic trees
Coffee: describe species, primary differences between 2 commodity species, major exporter and importer countries (relevant year/decade), approx quantities in global trade, differences in plantations to harvesting (Brazil and Vietnam vs Colombia and Ethiopia)
Species: coffea arabica (arabica), coffea canephora (robusta), coffea Liberica (liberica)
Arabica accounts for 60-70% if world production, more prone to disease, less acidic, better aroma, more expensive
robusta makes up 30-40% of world production, more hardyplant, less insects and disease resistant, cheaper, yields more, 2.7% caffeine, grows 30ft, most likely organic, added/blended, relatively bitter, soft beverage
2013- top exporters Brazil (1.7 m tons), Vietnam (1.3m); top importers: USA (1.4m tons), Germany (1.1). Approx quantities in global trade in 2017 at 159 million bags (60kilos)
Plantations in Brazil: majority less than 10 hectares, raise seedlings in shaded nurseries, trees in full bearing at 6-8 years, all berries are stripped at one time into ground clothes from April to June
In Vietnam: coffee is lifeblood, harvest season October to December after the rainy season. Berries are dried in sun, sometimes artificial heat used
Sugarcane vs sugar wet: describe species, primary differences between 2 commodity species, major producing countries, biotech traits , more?
Cane- Saccharum officinarum. Domesticated in highlands of New Guinea 6000bc , perennial grass life form, stems used for extraction of sugar. Sugar stores well- easy to transport. 2014- top producer was Brazil
Beet- easier to purify, most grown where needed so white sugar is made in one stage. Higher production costs, grown in temperate zones of northern hemisphere. Beta Vulgaris, France is top producer 2014, biotech- roundup ready
Explain EU system- protected designation origin and lost five unique food items with a PDO label
Part of the Protected Geographical Status in EU. Designed to protect integrity of European food and drink. PDO labels specify that food must be produced entirely in a specific region and in a particular way.
- Salama da Sugo intera precotta
- Legumi d’alta Murgia Lenticchie
- Zaccaria amilo riso S.Andrea
- Gros sel Guerande
- Olio extra vergine di oliva sabina dop
Compare similarities and differences between the biotech papaya and herbicide resistant maize (table)
Papaya ringspot virus infected plants can’t recover once affected, first appeared in 1992. Rainbow , a transgenic virus-resistant variety, released in 1998. SunUp and rainbow biotech cultivars. Transgenic papaya helps economical production of non transgenic papaya
Herbicide resistance maize- liberty from Bayer, facilitates low to no tillage cultural practices unlike papaya, biodiversity increased with the use of herbicide tolerant maize. Liberty herbicide, liberty linkcorn weeds go down and yield goes up.
With herbicide resistant crops , farmers can manage weeds without turning to some of the more environmentally suspect types of herbicides
Outstanding weed control, longer application window and symptoms of weed death
From the discovery of herbicides and use of defoliants in warfare, to the biotech herbicide resistant trait: state some of the key passages related to research in usage.
Some herbicidal weapons during ww2. First used in Malayan emergency by Britain first to employ use of herbicides and defoliants to destroy bushes, trees to deprive insurgents of cover and target food crops (research at u of chicago on effects on cereal grains)
- use in Vietnam war agent orange
- USA communities near agent orange manufacturing or storage sites continue to report dioxin levels above recommended safety standards.
- in 2012, Monsanto reaches settlement w US residents who claimed to be poisoned by chemicals used nearby to produce chemical weapon agent orange at a Monsanto plant in West Virginia
- GM crops, herbicide resistant=corn, soy , cotton regulated by usda, epa, and fda to oversee specific aspects of crops in US
- future= nutritional enhancement, stress tolerance, disease resistance
Describe major changes in the global agrochemical industry just in the 2010s
- rising prominence of the agrochemical industry globally
- very recent agrochemical mergers: chemchina and syngenta , bayer and Monsanto
- drawbacks of mergers= anti competitive business practices , when farmers buy HT seeds they are required to purchase the companies’ brand of herbicides, few options
- non biotech choices are increasingly ignored
5 breeding aims of GMO crops (20th century) versus recent traits (isaaa excerpt, biotech crops in pipeline)
20th cent- herbicide, insect, drought, disease, and stress resistant
Recent- non- browning apples, late blight resistant potato (reduced black spot bruising and lowered reducing sugars), citrus greening resistant citrus, improved oil content canola, low lignin and digestible alfalfa
Bacillus thuringiensis (it’s importance or food crops) the “bt” concept
A protein, insect resistance
- Bt makes 100s of proteins, one of the proteins makes it toxic to insects - by species , not toxic to humans. Bt trait copied genes put into the maize so when insect is in corn it dies.
- Bt trait specific to one pest
- there are different toxins that are Cry proteins , target different insect species, however insects can become resistant so a refuge area of maize , plant non Bt corn so non resistant trait can be passed down
Fusarium Wilt, Cavendish, and Gros Michel - what is the connection amongst all 3?
Genetics- cavendish the variety for intl trade (economies of scale) prior to the gros Michel .
Cavendish banana found on western supermarket shelves has been under attack in some Asian countries by a new strain of fusarium wilt known as Panama Disease:
- FW is a soil borne fungus that attacks roots and blocks the vascular system in banana so it wilts. Leaves turn yellow, dry up and collapse. No effective control - spread on infected suckers and in ground water
- cavendish remains resistant to fusarium strain in Central America. One strain found in Asia
- introduced to our hemisphere in late 19th cent Gros Michel was almost immediately hit by a blight that wiped it out by 1960. Cavendish was adopted last minute by Chiquita and Dole bc it was resistant to that blight. Panama disease bit now cavendish does not appear to be safe from this new strain of FW
Biotic pollinators (define, list type/species of pollinators, domesticate vs wild pollinators, examples of crops (those directly requiring domesticate and or wild pollinators) relevant to which crops, anything else)
Wind pollinated- abiotic
Insect pollinated- biotic which requires pollinators- organisms that carry or move the pollen grains from the anther to pistil. Various flower traits that attract pollinators are known as pollination syndromes- bees, wasps, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera
- accidental pollination by birds and bats
Pollination by animals mostly bees for melons, squash, apples, berries, almonds- domesticate
Honeybee = most common domesticate
Hand pollination is necessary for vanilla, each flower opens for just 6hr a year , hand pollinated for one bean.
- indirectly dependent on crops = alfalfa , sugar beet, asparagus- require pollinators to create seeds but not the crop itself
CCD - discovery , causation, focus on 2007-2016
During 2006, an alarming # of honeybees colonies began to die across US.
Colony Collapse Disorder- threatens pollination industry and production of commercial honey in US
- large # of disease organisms present in dying colonies with most being “stress related” diseases
- low in 2008 with 2.3 million managed honey bee colonies
2007- research, bees diets , weakening immune systems
2008- FAO statistics provide no evidence that pollinator declines have yet translated into decreases in food production
2009- role of pathogens and roles explored in ccd
2010- found small rna bee viruses and microsporidia
2012- research on ccd and neonicotinoid insectisides high exposure for bees
2013- diets of high fructose corn syrup concern
Look up 2016
