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Alberta farms need to evergreen, says scientist

A world-renowned scientist has called on Alberta farmers to "evergreen" their fields to prepare for a world of climate change.

A world-renowned scientist has called on Alberta farmers to "evergreen" their fields to prepare for a world of climate change.

Some 700 Edmonton and area residents packed into the University of Alberta's Myer Horowitz Theatre Thursday to hear a talk on food security and climate change. Giving the talk was Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, a world-famous agricultural researcher known as the father of India's Green Revolution.

Swaminathan is famous for doubling India's wheat production in the 1960s. He was the first recipient of the World Food Prize and is one of Time's 20 most influential Asians of the 20th century. He was at the U of A to receive an honorary doctorate of science and to deliver the annual Bentley Lecture in Sustainable Agriculture.

Canadian newspapers have said that two degrees of warming could benefit agriculture, he said, as it would extend Canada's growing season. "But in the tropics and subtropics, it would be a disaster."

India would lose $1.3 billion of wheat to heat stress from as little as one degree of warming, Swaminathan said. Higher sea levels would erode its coasts, and bring new diseases to its massive potato crop.

About a billion people will go to bed hungry tonight, he noted, with more to join them if global warming continues unchecked. "In spite of all the progress we have made, we still are in difficulty on the food front."

Evergreen agriculture

The 1960s saw intensive, fertilizer-based farming bring food to millions in what is now called the Green Revolution, Swaminathan said. But it was unsustainable; farmers over-fertilized fields and drained aquifers, planted monocultures and damaged soil structure.

"Land is a shrinking resource for agriculture," he said. "We have to produce more and more with less and less land."

Swaminathan called for an "evergreen revolution," one where we use science to raise food production without harm to the environment. "Evergreen agriculture means we can continue to produce in perpetuity," he said.

An evergreen farm in Alberta would have fertilizer trees, for example — trees planted alongside crops to boost carbon and nutrient levels in the soil. It would also have rainwater storage (to reduce use of aquifers) and biogas plants (to reduce methane emissions from animals and provide power). It would also emphasize natural pest management and perennial crops.

Unlike an organic farm, an evergreen farm would not exclude genetically modified foods. There's no reason to not use them if they're proven safe and beneficial, Swaminathan said. "We have to develop varieties with higher per-day productivity," he said, and that means engineering plants that can withstand future temperature changes. By crossing salt-tolerant mangrove genes with rice, for example, he hopes to develop crops that can grow in flood-prone regions.

Plant solutions

Agriculture can help solve many of the challenges of climate change, according to Swaminathan. India is planting mangroves to ward off storm surges from rising sea levels, for example. "We call them bio-shields." Some residents are using salt-resistant rice plants to turn seawater into fresh water and to attract fish during the flood season.

Nations will need to create seed banks to ensure we have the genes we need to meet future climate changes, Swaminathan said. Indigenous populations should also be tapped for their knowledge.

Sturgeon County farmer John Bocock said he was impressed by Swaminathan's ideas, especially his concept of evergreen agriculture.

"If you're looking at the long term, you want to put the least amount of stress on your plants, animals and soil," he said. "We need to pull back and concentrate our farming practices and research on how to get additional yield with less inputs."


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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