Remembering Bhopal

[plantsnobin]

With all the nonsense being spewed by big agribusiness about how we are all going to starve without pesticides and GMO's, you would think there would be more talk of past disasters. BBC is the only place I have seen this morning even mentioning it. Last night they had a more in depth story, there are around 600,000 people who have been affected by this tragedy. Even though many people survived, their children have many birth defects. The Union Carbide plant was abandoned and is rusting down, still poluting ground water. They took water samples back to England and it had 100 times more of I can't remember what it was, than is considered safe. The government sends in water, but not all can get to it so they are drinking this stuff. They interviewed the Health Minister, he denies there is anything still coming out of the plant, even though they had filmed clear evidence. Just said it wasn't true, end of discussion. There are small groups of survivers trying to protest and demand justice for what they have suffered, but watching their small groups of mostly women it seemed very sad, and unlikely that they will ever get anywhere. Union Carbide, Monsanto, Syngenta, it goes on and on. As long as it is happening 'over there', wherever that happens to be, no one much seems to notice.
I think it is very important now to prove that we can grow plenty of food without polluting. For the breeders among us, tell the world what you have accomplished. Tom made a good start, but this information needs to reach a much broader audience.

[silverseeds]

GO KAREN...

I agree totally. Remeber that link I posted about the CONVENTIONAL breeding of wild rice and regular eating types? The result was a rice plant which grew these shoots to beat floods. they said the rice growing areas of the world could grow 40 percent more rice on the same lands rice is grown now....... This barely made thenews and only in a obscure place.....

Some GM copany I saw on news on many sources awhile back said the WANT to genetically alter rice to resist not beat drought, and that yields could go up by 10 percent not 40..... the news acted like this would be the biggest break through ever. but conventional breeding already proved we can do much better in this instance, yet it barely made the news??

Tim peters work with these perennial grains amaze me as well. Much better for the soils, and other grains have that potential if they are ever given the attention, theres also the possibility for perrennial squash as well, and eggplant and some others. stepping stones to better things.....

we CAN beat them, on the field and are even with the sparce nature of the projects and lack of funding...... Its the informational side which causes the most issues.....

[silverseeds]

Have you all heard the story of the "mircle barleys" from kusa?

a breeder from india bred them. drought resistant, grows with very limited inputs, on soils other grains do not grow on..... some with very high potein some with high lysine(for barley anyway)

but after he did it, they were destroyed by their gov..... only ones which survive were sent to kusa before the destruction

I belive long ago, befor eI was as interested in such things, I read something similar from china with rice as well......