From anilg@iimahd.ernet.in Sat Sep 2 05:05:16 2000 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.05/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id FAA45958 for ; Sat, 2 Sep 2000 05:05:15 -0700 Received: from iimahd.iimahd.ernet.in (iimahd.ernet.in [202.41.76.254]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.02/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id FAA24660 for ; Sat, 2 Sep 2000 05:05:11 -0700 Received: from iimahd.ernet.in (anilg [202.41.76.127]) by iimahd.iimahd.ernet.in (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id RAA07173; Sat, 2 Sep 2000 17:43:18 +0530 Message-ID: <39B0EB24.FAF92A7@iimahd.ernet.in> Date: Sat, 02 Sep 2000 17:27:24 +0530 From: "Prof. Anil Gupta" X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Isidor F. Ruderfer" CC: Indigenous Knowledge Listserve Subject: Re: intervariety trials References: <200008220816.DAA06892@hortus.ots.ac.cr> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I had promised soem time ago to post information about the inetr-variety trials done by the scientists to add value to farmers' traditional knowledge will be happy to send any other information anil 1. Mandal, S; Tapaswi, P. K.; Banerjee, R. N., Brahmachary, R. L. 1996. "Inhibitory and Stimulatory Effects of Root Exudates in Two Varieties of Rice. "Annals of Tropical Research. pp 25-34. 2. Tapaswi, P K. 1990. "Rice-Mixing and Spacing. "International Agricultural Development. (July/August). pp.18. 3. Tapaswi, P K; Banerjee, R. N.; Bagchi, D. K.; Adhikary, S., Brahmachary, R. L. 1991. "Interaction of Two Varieties of Rice- A Study of Intervarietal Interaction. "Indian Biologist. Vol. 23, No-2. 1-2. 4. Tapaswi, P K; Mitra, N.; Banerjee, R. N., Bagchi, D. K. 1991. "Intraspecific Interaction in Two Varieties of Wheat. "Indian Agriculturist. Vol. 35, No-3. pp 135-142. 5. Tapaswi, P K; Mitra, N.; Bagchi, D. K.; Banerjee, R. N.; Adhikary, S., Sasmal, B. C. 1992. "Interaction of Two Varieties of Wheat at Different Spacings Mediated by Diffusing Root Exudates- A Field Experimental Study. "Indian Biologist. Vol. 24, No-2. pp.32-41. "Isidor F. Ruderfer" wrote: > Hello again IndKnow-L : > > It looks like the "polyculture is good" story is hitting the big > time. It is now a full-fledged article in the NYTimes Science > Section [1] which will appear on people's doorsteps Tuesday > morning. The article I sent to you all last time [2] was merely > an Associated Press piece and probably did *not* appear in the > paper version of the NYTimes. > > This new article is longer, goes into greater depth, interviews > more experts, but the basic framework remains the same: The > successes of polyculture are presented as a discovery of modern > academic science (though known/assumed/suspected by scientists > for a long time) and are conceptually related to the ecological > studies exploring the relationship between species diversity and > ecosystem stability. These are all good things, and the study's > scale and dramatic results, are absolutely astonishing. But most > people who read the article will never realize that polyculture > has been around for a *long* *long* time. [3] > > I think that this is a wonderful opportunity to take the > indigenous/traditional ag story to the wider public. I am > guessing that a letter to the editor would be a good way to do > this, but I could be wrong. One high-name-recognition/social- > capital person (the innocent/guilty shall remain unnamed ;) > responded to my last message saying that there was no point in > writing a letter to Nature because they are too arrogant and > wouldn't pay any attention. That is a depressing notion, but most > likely correct. However, the New York Times might be more likely > to accept a well-crafted letter. (Are they more or less arrogant > than Nature?) > > If I provide a skeleton, will someone(s) out there provide some > fleshing-out and, most importantly, some canonical references, > and maybe someone to sign it in the end? Or is this a silly > exercise in futility?... > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~draft 0.01~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > To the Editors: > > In reference to your article "Simple Method Found to Vastly > Increase Crop Yields" of August 22, in which description of article here to help those who didn't read the > original article>. It is wonderful to see modern science catching > up with and validating the intensive polyculture agricultural > systems as practiced for centuries (and centuries ago) by the > > prior NYTimes articles. I know for a fact that they had an > article on Tihuanaco ag, but it wasn't *specifically* about > polyculture.> > > * Mayans - crops? > * Incas, present day Quechua, Aymara - tubers > * Tihuanaco - crops? > * Amuesha (Peruvian Upper Amazon) - cassava > * Hopi - maize? > * Chinese (heck, they have their own long history of these > systems prior to this "discovery") > * other Asian examples? > * African examples? > > > > We can only hope that academia will continue paying such close > attention to the lessons of these centuries-old systems in the > attempt to find ways of reducing our dependencies on fossil fuels > and biocides. > > Sincerely > > Someone "Important" (defined as broadly as necessary) > Somewhere "Important" > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > A potentially interesting/ironic twist: > > The article depicts the "traditional/conventional" system as one > of rice monoculture [4]. However, the "News and Views" commentary > piece in Nature [5] points out: "This [polyculture] approach is a > calculated reversal of the extreme monoculture that is spreading > throughout agriculture, pushed by new developments in plant > genetics." I would guess that the grandparents (?) of the farmers > in the study planted rice in polyculture, and that they switched > to the present "typical" monoculture system sometime within the > last half-century. (Can anyone corroborate/falsify this?) While > the commentary piece shows some awareness of the irony of a shift > back to polyculture, the NYTimes article doesn't get much beyond > the whiz-bangery of this "latest discovery". > > ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: > > The original study in Nature is actually available on the web in > full-text form for free (!), as is the "News and Views" > commentary piece and associated article. Here is more info about > them: > > >From _Nature_; "Focus of the week"(20000817): > > http://www.nature.com/nature/fow/000817.html > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Mixed rice > > ... > > In this week's issue of Nature Zhu et al [6] provide evidence for > the success of mixed rice varieties in resisting infection by the > pathogen rice blast. In a large scale experiment covering 3,342 > hectares of rice fields in the Yunnan Province of China, they > show that rice planted in mixed varieties has a 89% greater > yield, and that rice blast was 94% less severe. The scale of this > experiment allowed the researchers to study in greater depth the > outcome of planting mixed varieties, and to study and explain in > their paper the reasons for this outcome. > > In an accompanying News and Views article [5], Martin Wolfe > explains the implications of this research for agriculture and > for the environment. A variety of related papers covering rice > cultivation, its pathogens, and its effect on the environment, > are also planted within this week's high-yield web feature.[sic] > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > The list of related articles included these two: > > (a) The greening of the green revolution [7] > DAVID TILMAN > 19 November 1998 > > In comparison with conventional, high-intensity agricultural > methods, 'organic' alternatives can improve soil fertility > and have fewer detrimental effects on the environment. These > alternatives can also produce equivalent crop yields to > conventional methods. > > (b) Much food, many problems [8] > ANTHONY TREWAVAS > 18 November 1999 > > A new agriculture, combining genetic modification technology > with sustainable farming, is our best hope for the future. > > :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: > > Ok. Enough ranting and raving from me. Please send me your > comments, suggestions, ridicule, or, preferably, your own > drafts/examples etc for the letter. > > Regards > > Isidor > > [1] > Simple Method Found to Vastly Increase Crop Yields > By CAROL KAESUK YOON > August 22, 2000 > http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/082200sci-gm- > rice.html > > (Note: I am not including the full-text of the article in this > message because I don't want to waste everybody's network > resources. If you want a copy and can't get it yourself from the > website, just let me know and I'll send it to you. Same thing for > any of the other links.) > > [2] > Study Finds Mixing Rice Varieties Produces Larger Harvest > By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS > August 17, 2000 > http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/081700sci-gm- > rice.html > > [3] > I suspect that most of the scientists involved/interviewed know a > lot about the long history of intercropping. My guess is that the > indigenous/traditional part of the story is missing because the > journalists don't know about it, so they can't know to ask about > it, so they don't ask about it, and the scientists assume > everyone knows about it so *they* don't bring it up...and > voila...it disappears. But perhaps I'm giving the scientists too > much credit and the journalists too little? > > [4] > "Instead of planting the large stands of a single type of rice, > as they *typically* have done, the farmers planted a mixture of > two different rices." (emphasis mine) > > [5] > Crop strength through diversity > (News and Views) > MARTIN S. WOLFE > http://www.nature.com/cgi- > taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v406/n6797/full/406681a0_fs.html > > [6] > Genetic diversity and disease control in rice > YOUYONG ZHU, et al. > http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/406718a0_fs.html > > [7] > http://www.nature.com/cgi- > taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v396/n6708/full/396211a0_fs.html > > [8] > http://www.nature.com/cgi- > taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v402/n6759/full/402231a0_fs.html > > > ================================================================= > Isidor F. Ruderfer / Consrvtn.Ecology & Sustnbl.Devlpmnt.Prgrm > Inst. of Ecol.; U.of Georgia / ***currently:Las Cruces Biological > Station;Sn Vito;Coto Brus;COSTA RICA / phone:506.773.4004 > fax:506.773.3665 / **Personal Fax --> email#: 815.377.3028 (USA) > **Please reply to: ruderfer@iname.com > ================================================================= > "Igneous rocks + acid volatiles = sedimentary rocks + salty oceans" > Siever 74 in Schlesinger 97 -- Prof Anil K Gupta Professor, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad 380015, India and Coordinator SRISTI and Editor, Honey Bee anilg@iimahd.ernet.in http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~anilg/ http://csf.colorado.edu/sristi/ anilg@sristi.org Please mark our new numbers: Fax 91 79 6306896,6307341 Phone (O) 91 79 6307241, 6308357, (R) 91 79 6304979 Telefax: 91 79 6307341 .