Farm
fw Talk
' I Jerry Webb
r '
How does science fiction
become science nonfiction?
In agriculture, that transi
tion occurs in the
laboratories of researchers
who take those wild dreams
and turn them into
something farmers can use.
For instancy:
Hybrid crops that grow
from their own seed;
A herd of identical animals
developed from individual
cells of a single, perfect
-'•arot;
new plant
species created by blending
the best features of entirely
different crops;
Com and cereal grain that
make their own fertilizer;
Machines that produce
food sugar, much the way
green plants, do, but in
places where plants won’t
grow.
Maybe all of those things
are science fiction now, but
that’s not to say agricultural
researchers aren’t at work
in the laboratories of the
land-grant colleges and in
other places, trying to find
the breakthroughs that will
lead to these developments.
It may be years before some
of these possibilities become
realities, and some may
never happen.
But creative, questioning,
dedicated agricultural scien
tists are looking at some of
Nature’s most complex
'secrets, and maj be they will
discover a super plant or
some other breakthrough
that will revolutionize food
production."
' Photosynthesis is the basis
for all agriculture and that’s
where a lot of effort m
agricultural research starts.
Photosynthesis is the pro
cess through which green
plants convert sunlight, car
bon dioxide and water into
food sugars and oxygen.
It accounts for up to 95 per
cent of the dry weights of
Swiss
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expensive tax on luxury
items, like television.
' With the Bank of The World
located in Switzerland, high
finance is one of the key
industries, along with a
highly developed insurance
industry. Fine craft
smanship has also made the
Swiss noted for watches,
chocolate, and cheese. Even
the rocky jagged mountains
are harnessed, with elec
tricity generated from the
rivers spawned by the ever
present snowmelt.
Like citizens everywhere,
Steve has one minor
criticism of his country:
“We have to many lawyers
and doctor’s.” It’s a com
plaint with a familiar ring.
When he boards the
commuter train that takes
him ten miles away to his
classes in a matter of only
eight minutes, Steve joins
:>he thousands that take
advantage of the country’s
highly developed rail
system. Train travel is far
more commonplace and
efficient than in the United
crop plants and all grain.
And yet scientists say the
most photo-efficient plants,
including com and sugar
cane, use only three to four
percent of the available
solar energy.
Photosynthesis in soy
beans and cereal grains is no
more than half as efficient as
it is in com. So scientists are
trying to unlock the secrets
as to why this happens.
One group of researchers
looking at this process has
found that high concentra
tions of carbon dioxide allow
soybean plants to be more ef
ficient, making betteruse of
the sun's energy.
They’re raising soybeans
in an atmosphere containing
three to five tunes the nor
mal amount of carbon diox
ide and they’re getting yield
increases of up to 50 per
cent.
Other scientists are trying
to improve photosynthesis
by using growth regulators.
Most plants start to die and
photosynthesis drops off
rapidly just when sugars and
starches are most needed to
fill seeds.
Scientists are experimen
ting with a group of powerful
growth regulating chemicals
that prolong plant life and
allow photosynthesis to con
tinue much longer. Another
group of scientists is trying
to figure out why a growth
regulating alcohol found in
alflafa stimulates yield in
crease up to 24 percent in
some vegetable, crops, and
causes rice plants to grow in
the dark.
Rising nitrogen costs and
the likelihood of shortages
have triggered efforts in
nitrogen fixation research.
If alfalfa plants, for in
stance, were improved
enough to fix just 50 pounds
more nitrogen per acre each
year, the annual return in
extra forage and fertilizer
IFYE
States, perhaps because
acquiring a driver’s license
and a car are major
economic obstacles. Young
people may not begin driving
until they are 18, and the cost
of a license is $6OO. In
surance, says Steve, is very
expensive also, and the costs
prevent most students from
getting them own “wheels.”
On the other hand, however,
there is no age limit on the
consumption of alcoholic
beverages.
Switzerland has main
tained the national policial
policy of neutrality for many
years. Nevertheless, there is
a national conscription, and
at age 20, every individual
must serve the country for 17
weeks. After that basic
training period, a three
week service period is
served each year. So while
his American counterparts
debate the merits of military
draft, Steve already knows
that in just a few years he’ll
take his position in training
for brief service to his
country.
Wood fuel fad may hurt timber stands
HARRISBURG - The
current use of wood for fuel
will help reduce our
would'be nearly two billion
dollars-a goal well worth
seeking.
Some scientists think they
may be able to develop
nitrogen-fixing varieties of
non-legume plants, such as
corn and wheat.
Then there’s always clon
ing and tissue culture that
could make science fiction a
reality much sooner, diming
is already fairly common in
agriculture. Nurseries and
houseplant producers have
been cloning for years. If
you’ve ever raised potatoes
from eyes, you’ve done some
cloning also.
A clone, according to the
scientists, is simply a group
of genetically identical in
dividuals, derived from a
single parent without normal
sexual reproduction. Tissue
culture is a form of cloning
in which a small piece of
plant tissue is grown in a
nutrient medium to form a
blob of identical cells.
If the right hormones are
supplied in the growing
medium, this blob differen
tiates into stem and root
tissue to form a new plant,
just like the original parent^
Of course, this technique is
valuable in developing
plants with desirable traits.
Each culture produces
millions of cells and poten
tially each one is an identical
plant.
This helps Feseachers
speed up their efforts by giv
ing them lots of identical
material to be tested through
such things as toxins,
chemicals, temperature
stress, and so on.
Mutated cells that survive
these challenges are then
cultured in an effort to ob
tain whole plants with new
desirable charateristics.
When it works, tissue
culture is years faster than
conventional plant breeding.
Scientists have also learn
ed recently how to remove
the walls from single cells of
entirely unrelated plants,
then fuse them together.
They’ve used this technique
to combine soybeans with
barley, soybeans with com,
peas with carrots, and
rapeseed with soybeans.
They haven’t been able to
grow whole plants from
these cells yet, but that’s
their goal.
Eventually, it may be
possible to produce whole
new plants of economic im
portance from this kind of
hybridization.
Maybe the most far-out
food production idea now
under study in the
laboratories is the concept of
cell-free agriculture. This is
a kind of no-plant farming,
where solar powered reac
tors convert carbon dioxide
and watefmto food sugar. .
Scientists have made this
work on a small scale, and
although it doesn’t sound as
tasteful as what we now con
sume, some scientists thmk
it may be the only way to
feed the world in the future.
There are about four
billion people on earth now
and that number is projected
at six to seven billion by the
turn of the century, and it
could reach 12 to 16 billion by
the year 2100. Conventional
agriculture just may not be
up to the challenge. .
That’s why science fiction
research is so important
now, so that it can be nonfic
tion when it’s really needed.
dependency on imported oil,
but may create future ad
verse environmental effects,
according to a Soil Con
servation Service woodland
specialist. •
“There are many inex
perienced people cutting the
wrong trees for firewood,”
reports Paxton Wolfe,
woodland conservationist.
“The result is the quality of
our forests is being
reduced.”
Wolfe added that trees are
this country’s second most
valuable renewable
resource. Our soil is the most
important source but it is
renewable over a much
longer period of time when
properly managed.
Pennsylvania presently
has an adequate supply of
wood products since nearly
60 percent of the State is
covered with woodlands.
Growth rates currently
exceed wood crop harvest
rates.
The major problem, ac
cording to Wolfe, is that
lumber and veneer quality
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 23,1980—83
trees are being cut for
firewood. This will result in a
low quality forest for future
generations.
“It is best to use the poorer
quality trees and culls for
firewood,” reports Wolfe.
“Most of Pennsylvania’s
forests are in need of
woodland improvement
cuttings through thinning
and removal of culls and low
value species. These are the
trees which should be used
for firewood. Firewood can
also be cut from the tops and
culls left after a sawtimber
or pulpwood harvest. Our
forest wildlife would ap
Northumberland meeting held
NORTHUMBERLAND -
A Farm tax information
meeting was held at Line
Mountain High School on
Jan. 29. About a dozen
farmers and some of their
wives, from Nor
thumberland County at
tended. Mr. Vernon Brose of
the county’s extension office
predate leaving at least one
den tree per acre.” A den
tree is older, usually hollow,
tree which is the home of
small creatures, like
squirrels.
Wolfe encourages land
users to obtain the services
of a professional forester
before cutting firewood. This
will assure maintaining and
improving the quality of
your woodlot while providing
an adequate fuel supply.
The names of professional
foresters can be obtained
from your local conservation
district or district forester.
gave pointers on filling out
Hie farm tax forms and
pointed out the changes in
this year’s forms. In ad
dition, Mr. Brose told those
present some ways in which
they might plan for next
year m order to obtain the
most savings.