Ko hono fakaʻaongaʻi ʻo e tekinolosia ke fakasiʻisiʻi hotau vaʻe ngoue ki he ʻaho ʻo e ʻatakai ʻo mamani

Ê»Oku tui Ê»a e kau ngoue Ê»oku totonu ke Ê»i he Ê»aho kotoa pe Ê»a e Ê»atakai, koeÊ»uhi Ê»oku tau fakafalala ki he Ê»atakai ke maÊ»u e meÊ»akai Ê»oku fie maÊ»u Ê»e he mamani. Ê»Oku tau fie maÊ»u ha fanga kiÊ»i Ê»akau, kelekele lelei, mo e Ê»ea lelei. TaÊ»e Ê»i ai ha Ê»atakai lelei, we’re helpless.

That’s why we must take advantage of opportunities such as next week’s World Environment Day. Fakakaukau ki ai ko ha Ê»aho hono ua Ê»o e mamani. Ê»I Sune kotoa pÄ“ 5, Ê»Oku fakalele Ê»e he ngaahi puleÊ»anga fakatahataha Ê»a e. This year’s theme is “Think.Eat.Save.” Organizers have a specific request: “reduce your footprint.”

Ê»I heÊ»eku fāmá Ê»i Ê»Ulukuai, that’s what we do all year round, fakamalo ki he fakalakalaka Ê»i he tekinolosia.

Meimei ko ʻeku ngaahi faama fakafamili 6,000 hectares (meimei 15,000 ʻeka) ofi ki he kolo ko Mesetesi, ʻi Soriano. Ko ʻetau ngoue mahuʻinga taha ko e piini pini, ka ʻoku tau toe tupu foki ʻa e koane, sorghum, uite, Paʻale, canola, polisi, mo e ngaahi tengaʻi ʻakau mohuku. ʻOku kehekehe ʻa e ʻea ka ʻoku ʻikai ke tau sio ki he Sinou, ʻa ia ʻoku ne fakaʻata kitautolu ke tau to ki 12 mahina.

NaÊ»e kamata ke mau tupu Ê»a e ngoue GM 16 Ê»i he ngaahi taÊ»u kuohil. It became obvious immediately that they’re excellent for conservation.

Hange ko ia Ê»oku fakamahinoÊ»i mai Ê»e he uepisaiti ki he ngaahi meÊ»a Ê»oku fakamahinoÊ», ngaahi fakamatala Ê»i he ngoue maÊ»a e 80 percent of the world’s deforestation. Ko e ola Ê»eni Ê»o e teke malohi ke fakaului Ê»a e feituÊ»u maomaonganoa ki faama, ke hokohoko atu e ngaue mo ha kakai booming fakamamani lahi. Ke maluÊ»i e meÊ»a Ê»oku kei toe, we must produce more food on less land—and that’s exactly what biotechnology lets us do.

ʻI he ʻuluaki taʻu ne mau to ai ʻa e GM. pini ʻi heʻemau fama, 'i he 1997, Naʻa mau ʻahiʻahiʻi ia ʻi 30 hectares. Naʻe fakaofo hono ola. ʻI loto he taʻu ʻe ua, Naʻa mau fakaului kakato ki he GM. pini. ʻI he taimi ne biotechnology haʻu ai ki he koane ʻi 2004, Naʻa mau liliu fakavavevave foki ki ai. Naʻe ʻave ʻe he ngaahi meʻa tukufakaholo ʻa ʻetau tukulolo koeʻuhi he ʻoku fuʻu lelei ʻaupito ʻa e ngoue fakaʻofoʻofa ko ʻeni ʻi he tau mo e fanga kiʻi manu.

Our experience shows that science can help us produce more with less—the very definition of sustainable agriculture.

Ê»Oku Ê»i ai foki mo ha ngaahi lelei kehe. We’re now able to do a much better job of maintaining natural pastures for a combined crop-cattle operation. Ê»Oku tokoni Ê»eni ke tau fakatolonga biodiversity.

Lelei taha, Neongo ia, ʻOku ʻikai ko ʻetau founga ngoue. Ko e ʻuli ko ha faingataʻa lahi ia ki he kau ngoue ʻi he palanite, ka ʻoku fakalakalaka moʻoni hotau kelekele ʻi he taʻu kotoa pe. ʻOku pamu ʻe heʻetau ngoue ʻa e kaponi ki he kelekele, pea ʻe lava ke tau tauhi ia koeʻuhí he ʻoku ʻikai ke tau toe fie maʻu ke taʻaki ʻa e vaó ʻaki haʻanau ngāue ʻaki ʻa e ngaahi konga ʻakau ʻi he hili ʻo e ututaʻú. ʻI he fakaʻosinga ʻo e faʻahitaʻu tupulaki, ʻoku tau tuku pē ʻa e mohuku mōsí ʻi ʻolunga he kelekelé.

Ko haku kaungameÊ»a, Kalosi Crovetto Ê»o Silei, Ê»ai ke lelei: “Grains are for the people, straw and residues are for the soil.”

ʻOku ʻai ʻe he ngoue GM ke malava ʻeni.

Here’s another statistic from the WED website: Ê»Oku fatongia Ê»aki Ê»e he ngoue Ê»a e 30 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

And here’s another benefit of biotechnology: KoeÊ»uhi he Ê»oku tau to Ê»a e ngoue GM, kuo to malohi Ê»emau kohu fale fakailiÊ»anga Ê»akau. We’re doing our part to combat climate change.

Te u lava Ê»o to kotoa Ê»eku ngaahi ngoueÊ»anga Ê»aki ha palau lalahi Ê»e ua, ha malaÊ»e Ê»ea, ko ha planter, ko ha lotu lahi, pea Ê»oku fakatahaÊ»i Ê»a e toko ua. I’ve seen much smaller farms that use a lot more equipment, spewing Ê»a e kohu kaponi Ê»i ha tuÊ»unga maÊ»olunga ange Ê»i he meÊ»a Ê»oku tau fai.

ʻOku fakaʻata kitautolu ʻe he ngoue GM ke fakasiʻisiʻi ʻa e lahi ʻo e taimi kuo pau ke tau fakaʻuli ai ʻi heʻetau ngaahi ngoueʻanga, ʻa ia ko hono ʻuhinga, kuo tuʻu e vaʻe hotau ʻatakai.

It’s like we’ve reduced our shoe size. Ko e fÄ“ taimi Ê»e hoko aí?

Other advantages are harder to spot but they’re equally real. Fakakaukau ke tui e foÊ»i vaÊ»e. Te u lava Ê»o fakatau ha palau, fakaÊ»aongaÊ»i Ê»o kapau ko ha 8,000 ngaahi houa, fakatau Ê»aki ia e vaÊ»e tatau. Ê»Oku mahuÊ»inga Ê»eni he ko e lolo fokotuÊ»u ko ha konga mahuÊ»inga ia Ê»o e ngaohiÊ»anga vaÊ»e. Ko e lahi ange hono fakaÊ»aongaÊ»i te tau lava Ê»o hu ki tuÊ»a mei hotau vaÊ»e, the better—it’s good for my bottom line as well as for the environment.

MeÊ»apango, many nations resist biotech crops because they don’t understand the benefits. Kuo Ê»osi Ê»iloÊ»i Ê»e he kau ngoue hange ko au Ê»i Saute Ê»Amelika Ê»a e Ê»uhinga Ê»oku Ê»uhingamalie ai Ê»a e ngoue GM, Ê»o hangÄ“ ko e kau ngoue Ê»i he Ê»Iunaiteti Siteití, Kanata, mo ha ngaahi feituÊ»u kehe.

If we’re going to continue reducing footprints around the world, what we must do is spread the word—and on World Environment Day, Ê»Oku totonu ke tokoniÊ»i kitautolu Ê»e he ngaahi puleÊ»anga fakatahataha.

Ko e faama ʻa Kepaleli Carballal mo ʻene tamai ʻi Mesetesi, ʻUlukuai, tupu ʻa e piini pini, koane, uite, Paʻale, canola, polisi, ngaahi tengaʻi ʻakau mohuku, sorghum and raise beef. Gabriel is a member of the Truth About Trade & Netiueka fakatekinolosia fakaemamani lahi (www.truthabouttrade.org). Follow us: @TruthAboutTrade ʻi he Twitter | Moʻoni fekauʻaki mo e fakafetongi & Tekinolosia ʻi he Facebook.