Can genetically modified corn save the midwest from drought? As a record-breaking drought ravages much of the U s. farmland,
The agriculture biotechnology company has been testing out drought-resistant corn seeds. The genetically modified corn takes up water more gradually from the soil
so it needs less of the wet stuff overall. Select farmers have tested the experimental strain this year,
though they claim their seeds are hybrids that take advantage of natural corn traits rather than genetic engineering.
and new product materials such as soy, corn and mushrooms. Moderator Lance Hosey, president and CEO of Greenblue (a nonprofit focused on sustainable design and production in business and industry) started off the discussion by telling us that we produce some 300 billion pounds of plastic a year
Corn-based, cellulose-based, soy based, sugar based. Polyethylene is one of the greener plastics;
and wheat in a 2500 sq meter patch of land. Å So now I dont have to use urea or chemical fertilizers,
such as pulp made from sugar cane and those based on some rice bioproducts. Overall, the company's goal is to reduce packaging volume by 10 percent by 2012.
A subsequent major development was the development of disease-resistant strains of wheat that could handle artificial fertilizer and produce higher yields.
We can make butanol from corn, but we've decided to avoid that route. Corn is expensive
so it's hard to make money. A second reason: corn is used for food. So we're using cellulosic biomass waste streams--corn cobs, treetops and limbs, dead pine trees from pine beetles.
We cannot convert municipal solid waste. That's a bit of too much of a challenge right now.
A tree is actually sugar. You need to do a bit of chemistry to get the sugar out.
The emerging trends are corn cobs--that's what Dupont, Denisco and Verenium are using.
Corn cobs are easy to break down into sugar. But that's not a solution to the cellulosic fuel problem.
Our initial efforts will focus on the sustainable sourcing of sugarcane, oranges and corn. More evidence that water conservation technology in the field is a smart corporate sustainability investment
Corn's second act: biobutanolyour fuel tank could be filled entirely by a corn product within a few years.
A new drop in biofuel replacement for gasoline, backed by BP and Dupont, is set to begin commercial production in 2014.
There is more corn grown in the United states used for ethanol fuel production than for livestock feed.
It might sound like king corn is in trouble, but the reality is ethanol will live on.
it will have the capacity to generate 30 million gallons annually of cellulosic biofuel produced from corn stover residues,
a non-food feedstock consisting of corn stalks and leaves. Using corn stover instead of corn alleviates two problems:
criticism over using food crops for fuel and ridding farmers of leftover stover, which can interfere with planting.
cellulosic, sugarcane, grain (mostly corn from the U s.)600 more plants are needed in next decade.
a patent-pending technology that uses a growing organism and byproducts from food production (oat hulls from New york, cotton hulls from Texas and rice hulls from Arkansas) to create a strong composite material.
The biodegradable products can be made from corn starch, soy starch or potato starch. People put a lot of thought into some of these products,
White Castle and other chains say that corn-based biofuels are driving up food prices.
--U s. chain restaurants and a group of congressmen are launching an assault against biofuels on the grounds that fuel produced from crops like corn are pushing up food prices.
which is produced from corn, a crop that has fed long the cattle that the food industry turns into burgers and steaks that groups like White Castle and Wendy's sell.
The federal RFS mandate drastically manipulates the corn marketplace and increases commodity and food costs across the supply chain ââ oe from farmers and chain restaurants to consumers and diners.
and other alternatives to corn: Sydney to London on the Plastic Fantastic powered flight Move over graphene:
My husband got me a single malt by a company called Suntory, which is a Japanese whiskey brand,
but with organic barley instead of grapes. I said,'Look, I think it's beautiful, this is exactly what I've been looking for.
'It would be the first single malt French whiskey to be imported to the U s. Before she gave the whiskey the Brenne label it now holds,
Fuel producer Honeywell UOP says that camelina grows on fallow wheat fields and improves yields in the fields subsequent wheat-growing years.
Foe claims that the jatropha in Neste s Lufthansa mix comes from Mozambique, and that it signals a land grab there and in other African countries.
Salt said rice plants could be modified with the gene to store arsenic in the roots of plants-instead of rice grains-in contaminated paddies.
I think I'll pass on that rice, at least with the first few harvests. In fact, the botanists speculate that one possible explanation for the fern's arsenic storage ability is to discourage animals from dining on fern salad.
Rice or not, genetically modifying organisms might also be problematic even if certain plants moss, lycophytes, gymnosperms,
which already manufactures plastic from corn, potatoes, tapioca and wheat, says algae-based plastic could replace up to 50 percent of petroleum content found in traditional plastic resin.
That's a big deal, since more than 15 billion pounds of plastic film are manufactured each year in the U s. alone,
which is made partially of  corn-based bioplastic. More stories about algae and alternative fuels on Smartplanet:
Black beans and pinto beans, rice and amaranth, soups and dressings, milk, yogurt, cheese and coffee, sweets and jams:
The enormous amount of food grain production in the state has been made possible due to irrigation, chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The staples of corn, wheat, and rice are pollinated all by wind. However, Rabobank's analyst Ruben Verwijs said in a statement:
Around 90 agricultural crops-representing one third of global food production volume-are dependent to some extent on animal pollination.
which include papayas, corn, bananas, ginger, sugar cane, lettuce and tomatoes. The farm is edged almost entirely by a babbling brook,
 Of that, 15 billion gallons must be conventional biofuels--aka corn-based ethanol --and 16 billion gallons must be produced cellulosic biofuels from wood,
grasses or non-edible plant parts including corn stalks and wheat straw. The remaining amount includes 1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel fuel
In other words, it can t compete against corn-based ethanol prices or gasoline, for that matter. It's why so much research centers on finding a technological breakthrough that will make biofuels cheaper to make.
and the need to use more farmland to produce feedstocks like switchgrass and corn stovers.
Now the city uses the sludge as fertilizer on its 1, 340 acres of city-owned corn and soybean fields.
Kansas city-owned farm turns human waste into revenue Kansas city Star h/t Grist Photo: Flickr/pasa47
Reade pulled out a chunk of koji barley inoculated with fuzzy green Aspergillus oryzae, the same fungus used in sake and soy sauce.
and make the barley sweet, and hydrolizes the proteins into simple amino acids with a rich umami flavor.
makgeolli, a traditional rice brew undergoing a remarkable renaissance. In Noksapyeong the tipples bubbling into clear glasses are brown, black and white:
artisanal ales, porters and wheat beers. Â These craft brews, and the bars which serve them,
For decades, booze choices nationwide were restricted largely to soju, the local grain-based firewater; bland, mass-market lagers;
Usually mistranslated as Å rice wine, Â makgeolli is categorically a beer. It is brewed not fermented;
is made from cereals not fruits; and is quaffed, not sipped. Â New trends have placed a traditional brew, makgeolli,
20-something marketer drinking corn-infused makgeolli in Sanchez. Å Nowadays, with the economy better, people prefer lighter drinks.
This is seen as the first step to implementing a law that will allow 800 million Indians to buy food grain at incredibly low prices--the world's biggest food subsidy program.
The proposed law promises five kilograms of food grains oe-rice, wheat and millet oe-at the price of one to three rupees (two cents to five cents) per kilogram to close to 75
In case it fails to provide subsidized food grains, the government will give cash instead. Poor children between the ages of six months to 14 years will be provided with free lunch.
calculated the number of beneficiaries based on its food grain production. An expert committee convened for this purpose recommended that less than 30 per cent of India s food grain production should be procured publicly
so as not to distort food grain prices. Based on this 30 percent (equivalent to 57 million tons of food grain), 800 million number of beneficiaries would be eligible.
Biraj Patnaik, an adviser to a commission appointed by the Supreme court of India to oversee existing public food distribution schemes,
thinks that the legislation should be extended to cover every citizen in the country. Patnaik acknowledges that theoretically even the wealthy may be able to benefit by this scheme,
which provides subsidized food grains to its population of 72 million, only about 80 percent of its people access it.
Patnaik also told Smartplanet that the proposed food grain entitlement should be increased from 25kg to 35 kg.
India currently distributes subsidized food grains and kerosene through Fair Priced Shops under a scheme called the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Å The bill only provides cereals which does not ensure that the targeted population will get adequate nutrition.
and give him food grains instead. Å I would prefer cash as it adds to my household income,
Wheat (process fuel not specified) â oe 64g Wheat (as process fuel natural gas used in CHP) â oe 47g Corn (Maize) â oe 43g Sugar cane â oe
36g Sugar beet â oe 34g Wheat (straw as process fuel in CHP plants) â oe 35g 2g Ethanol (land-using) â oe 32g 2g Biodiesel (land-using) â
and corn-based sugar. Some of these specific programs date from the Great depression. Because current market incentives, imposed by the government
Because we subsidize exports of grain, sugar and protein, African, Asian and South american markets can't develop.
Take the price supports off mass produced grain and feed, give them to small local truck farms and sustainable production methods.
Per kilo of beef produced, cattle on grass produce at least 50%more methane than cattle fed grain
For example, 92 percent of soybeans and 85 percent of corn uses Monsanto technology, leaving them helpless when Mother Nature strikes back.
While corn-based ethanol production has increased, the development of so-called next-gen biofuels made from non-food crops
In other words, it can't compete against corn-based ethanol prices or gasoline, for that matter. Mushroom power Enter the heat-loving fungi.
As such, a polycrystal made of nanotwin domains is a bit like a slab of plywood where the wood grain reverses direction in each successive layer.
Previous attempts have managed to reduce grain sizes to 14 nanometers. Those samples had measured a hardness of up to 108 gigapascals.
And nearly all of it will come from corn-and sugarcane-based ethanol. Meanwhile,  less than one-tenth of 1 percent of renewable fuels produced next year will come  from cellulosic ethanol-- the transportation fuel panacea expected to wean the U s. off of foreign oil
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and end the use of food crops like corn for fuel.
-and corn-based ethanol to meet the national mandate for renewable fuels in 2012. Unfortunately, this annual ritual of missing mandated production targets is likely to continue.
The Gates Foundation brought in 50 gallons of fake feces made from soybeans and rice for the demonstrations,
and feedstock costs enough to make their product competitive with corn-based ethanol and ultimately fossil fuels.
The so-called Cellic CTEC3 enzyme--like other enzymes on the market--is used to break down biomass pulp--from corn husks
wheat straw, switchgrass and other nonfood crops--into sugar which can then be fermented into fuels, feed and chemicals.
  This efficiency improvement is enough to bring the cost of cellulosic ethanol in line with gasoline and corn-based ethanol.
aluminum-tainted dumplings and cadmium-laced rice is enough to make anyone wary of what they're eating.
orange juice for our Tropicana brand and oats for Quaker oats. There has been a risk assessment at a high level
In the U k. alone, it's the largest purchaser of domestic potatoes and a top buyer of local oats and apples.
and license its cellulosic ethanol made from corn cob and crop residue. Â The joint venture, called POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels LLC, is scheduled to start production in the second half of 2013.
it partnered with Dupont to find cost effective ways to bring corn stover-ethanol to market.
The new venture will convert corn cobs and crop residue into ethanol in a multistep process.
which is being constructed adjacent to the company's existing corn ethanol plant. The initial capacity is expected to be 20 million gallons in the first year
and license the tech to additional plants to be built at Poet's 26 other corn ethanol facilities,
I love that cereal! was made it by one of 36 companies that funded the opposition to GMO labeling in California?
so we use a protein source from rice that is minimally allergenic. We're trying to make it as broad spectrum as possible.
All the corn, rice and wheat we grow to feed ourselves. That is a huge change compared to only a third of the Earth surface was covered by ice at the end of the Pleistocene and the shift into the Holocene,
New lunch standards included reducing fat and sodium content, increasing whole grain foods and doubling fruit and vegetables.
the plant was able to grow crops like barley and salad rocket (arugula), along with useful desert plants around the seawater greenhouse.
home to the nation fourth-largest farming area and has supported long itself through the production of rice, fruits, vegetables, tobacco and silk,
Since the meltdown, Fukushima has dropped from the nation fourth-largest rice producer to its seventh
a rice farmer in Iidate and former systems engineer who has emerged as a widely cited grassroots expert on decontamination.
If rice and produce are hard to assess, fish and seafood pose an even bigger challenge.
Instead of each grain of sand having to figure out its place and the shape having to assemble itself grain by grain,
the heap of sand is like one big block of marble. The grains communicate with each other
with 10 resistant species in at least 22 states infesting millions of acres, predominantly soybeans, cotton and corn.
Soybeans, corn and cotton that are engineered to survive spraying with Roundup have become standard in American fields.
and 70 percent of the corn and cotton grown in the United states . But farmers sprayed so much Roundup that weeds quickly evolved to survive it. oewhat we re talking about here is Darwinian evolution in fast-forward,
There are roughly 170 million acres planted with corn, soybeans and cotton, the crops most affected.
said Steve Doster, a corn and soybean farmer in Barnum, Iowa. oeso then why are we buying the Roundup Ready product?
Monsanto newest corn is tolerant of both glyphosate and glufosinate, and the company is developing crops resistant to dicamba, an older pesticide.
And Dow chemical is developing corn and soybeans resistant to 2 4-D, a component of Agent orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam war.
help rice plants process nitrogen fertiliser more efficiently, measure the alcohol content of a person's breath
Unlike corn or even sugar ethanol, halophyte algae (algae that grow in saltwater) do not compete with food stocks for freshwater. oewhen the cost of pumping ocean water into so-called wasteland regions such as the Sahara
Coskata, which is backed by General motors and other investors, uses bacteria to convert almost any organic material, from corn husks (but not the corn itself) to municipal trash, into ethanol."
"Besides cutting production costs to fire sale prices, the process avoids some key drawbacks of making ethanol from corn,
Tobey said Coskata's method generates more ethanol per ton of feedstock than corn-based ethanol
Corn-based ethanol costs $1. 40 a gallon to produce, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.
Corn ethanol typically generates 1. 3 times more energy than is used producing it. Making ethanol is one thing,
The Midwest has corn. Each region has been blessed with the ability to grow its own biomass."
This year there are a variety of new products with this flavor coupling, from milk chocolate-covered raisins and peanuts to cinnamon sugar popcorn, chocolate-covered pretzels, potato chips and more!
A number of snacks coming to market are based on chickpeas, lentils and seaweed, providing alternative choices to American classics such as potato chips, corn tortilla chips and wheat crackers.
"Looking at wheat, rice and maize yields around the world, IFPRI researchers have found that drought tolerance technologies for rain-fed agriculture would increase maize output by 27 percent,
wheat output by 30 percent and rice output by 10 percent by 2050, assuming farmers fully adopt the technology over a 30-year period.
Integrated soil fertility management--a term for a variety of nonchemical practices that raise the nutrient levels of soils--could raise maize output by up to 50 percent,
rice output by 30 percent and wheat output by 20 percent. Nitrogen-use efficiency introduced through breeding
rice yields by 12 percent and wheat yields by 19 percent. Climate change could send prices soaring Under climate change scenarios up to 2050,
maize prices could shoot up 90 percent, rice by 65 percent and wheat by 70 percent,
As of March 2008, average world wheat prices were 130%above their level a year earlier
rice had climbed 74, %and maize was up 31%.%While grain prices have come down slightly, food prices are still high,
and because low-income and poor families are faced with higher fuel and housing costs, they are still unable to buy sufficient food
Zhang said ingredients such as crushed corn would be blended with the solid Orgacids in the animal feed at his farm
The yellow-pink sliver the size of a corn plaster is the state-of-the-art in lab-grown meat,
an Illinois corn farmer and member of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. oeworking together with trading partners around the world to understand emerging trends,
cereal and calories per capita also skyrocketed. The world population of three billion that had arrived by 1960 gave way to the industrialized agriculture that defines food production today.
On this farm in Boone County, Iowa, in the heart of corn country, researchers have borrowed from both approaches,
alternating between corn and soybeans, as is customary in the region. It was managed the usual way
For the second plot, the researchers rotated over three years between corn, soy and oats,
What might flourish among corn and soy, for example, was disrupted by oats. When red clover and alfalfa were mowed,
weeds were chewed up before they flowered. As for insect problems, low pesticide use along with habitat provided by cover crops,
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