耐旱小麥的未來近在咫尺

I have seen the future of wheat and it’s in Argentina.

或者至少有一個版本對像我這樣的澳大利亞農民大有裨益.

讓我解釋. 兩年前, 我有機會在與我所在的南澳大利亞州非常相似的低降雨量地區訪問阿根廷. 那是初春, 對於南半球的我們來說，這意味著距離收穫只有三四個月的時間了.

我們澳洲農民團在南美農場考察, 渴望學習新方法, 我們可以帶回我們自己的農場的技術和想法.

布宜諾斯艾利斯以外, 我們檢查了小麥試驗 訂購莫達非在線藥房. 這些試驗看起來幾乎與任何其他低降雨量小麥試驗相似, 但在這種情況下，我對農作物很感興趣，因為它們是轉基因的.

多年前, 科學家們了解到向日葵中的 HB4 基因賦予耐旱性. 他們將這種特性發展到其他作物中, such as corn and soybeans—and also wheat, 使它們具有耐旱性，並允許作物在乾旱時期更高效地生長，而不會在更好的季節造成任何生產損失 Propecia 出售.

我有沒有羨慕農民? You bet!!

這些欣欣向榮的 HB4 小麥試驗產生了 25 percent more than non-GM varieties in drought conditions and in good moisture conditions yielded the same or marginally better than the conventional varieties. They illustrated a potential future for those of us producing food in challenging environments.

I’d love to grow GM drought-tolerant wheat on my farm in Buckleboo where we receive an average 12 年降雨量英寸. 在這個地區, 水是一種寶貴的商品. 我們的免耕方法幫助我們保持土壤水分，我們選擇適合這種生長季節短的環境的作物.

然而，即使是最好的可用品種在乾旱中也表現不佳.

這種耐寒的 HB4 小麥作物非常有前途，阿根廷正處於商業化的邊緣. 不久, 轉基因小麥可能會像轉基因玉米和大豆一樣普遍. In Argentina—as well as Brazil, 加拿大, 美國, and other countries—GM corn and soybeans are so typical that the non-GM varieties are downright unconventional.

Australia is currently working closely with Argentina and other South American countries to increase collaboration across agriculture. This coupled with the close relationship that already exist between organizations like Australia’s peak research and development body, CSIRO, å’Œ Bioceres 在阿根廷意味著我們有能力在澳大利亞引進耐旱小麥方面取得重大進展.

可悲的是, 我所在的南澳大利亞州禁止僅基於市場的轉基因作物. 它剝奪了農民獲得安全的機會, proven technologies that support sustainable agriculture. Farmers who seek to produce more with less inputs—and grow more food on less land—need the choice to access innovative and proven tools like GM technology, 根據我們的農藝和氣候需求, 支持這些目標.

Yet we don’t have GMs here, 儘管澳大利亞其他州和其他國家的農民認為他們是理所當然的. Maybe even more concerning is the significant impact on the scientific community with South Australia’s loss of some brilliant crop scientists over the years as they leave to work in places friendlier to innovation. This is a sad and irreparable loss of expertise and opportunity for our state and industry.

I’ve never supported South Australia’s restriction on GM crops, but I’ll agree that when it was imposed 15 幾年前, 我們對 GM 的了解比現在少. 今天, 幾乎一代人之後, millions of farmers have grown billions of acres of GMs and they’ve become the ingredients in perhaps trillions of meals.

The science always has told us they’re safe. 現在經驗也一樣.

The good news is that more people in South Australia are acknowledging these facts. A change of government and some significant reviews will hopefully give the moratoria significant scrutiny and provide the impetus for change.

時機對了. 澳大利亞大部分地區目前正遭受嚴重干旱, 部分地區連續幾年. 更重要的是, 我們將從具有耐霜性等其他關鍵特性的作物中受益, 耐鹽性和作為幫助適應氣候變化和預測氣溫升高的工具.

Technology can help us in so many ways. It’s hard enough when farmers have to endure droughts and other natural disasters. It’s even worse when we have to struggle through the manmade ones.

Access to GM varieties like HB4 drought-tolerant wheat can’t come soon enough.