New technologies associated with genetic engineering and commonly referred to as biotechnology are increasingly perceived to be so ground-breaking that their impact on farming, agriculture and food systems will far surpass that of the twentieth century industrial revolution. This article by ActionAid, printed in the Journal on Science and World Affairs, discusses and evaluates the potential impact of the modern biotechnological revolution (genetic engineering) on food security in developing countries. The author reviews lessons learnt and outlines the current genetic revolution. In addition international environmental regimes that aim to defend biodiversity and farmer&rsquo;s rights are reviewed. <br /><br />The paper finds that within the present framework, where innovations are driven by profit rather than by need oriented research and development, the biotechnological revolution can have an adverse effect on small farms and exacerbate social, economic and environmental problems. Given that the current debate on biotechnology entered a period of intensified conflict over questions of ownership and control over biological materials, the role of patenting and Intellectual Property Rights is specifically highlighted. The author concludes that much emphasis is given to the international attempts at control of biotechnology within the UN system and their attempts to set guidelines governing trade in genetically modified organisms and to strengthen the concept of &lsquo;farmer&rsquo;s rights&rsquo;. <br />

Available literature indicates that relatively few agricultural leaders and farmers became interested in weeds as a problem before 1200 A.D. or even 1500 A.D. For many centuries, weed control was mostly incidental to tillage for seedbed preparation and growing of crops and to growing and cutting or pasturing of thickly planted crops. Occasional references in literature previous to 1900 mentioned use of mechanical devices and a few inorganic herbicides specifically for weed control. State weed laws directed at control of plant diseases were enacted during 1721 to 1766, but weed and seed laws involving weeds directly were not enacted until 100 to 200 years later. Only a few extension type publications on weeds were issued in the United States and Canada between 1860 and 1900. There was a rapid increase in such publications after 1900. Research with inorganic chemicals as herbicides was begun in the 1890's in Europe and in a few states and provinces, and was increased at a rapid pace until the early 1940's. New developments in mechanical and biological control of weeds increased steadily during the same period. However, weed control remained a relatively minor phase of agronomy, botany, horticulture, agricultural engineering, and plant physiology until the early 1950's. About 10 years after the discovery of (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (2,4-D) in 1942––1944, the much increased interest of scientists, federal and state governments, industrial companies, and the general public had begun to bear fruit. The word ““weed”” or ““weeds”” began to appear in the titles of college courses and extension specialists. Weed conferences had been organized in six regions of the United States and Canada and in 10 states. The first meeting of the Weed Science Society of America was held in 1956 and Weed Science was adopted as its official journal. The number of herbicides in general use in the United States and Canada increased from 15 in 1940 to 25 in 1950, and to 100 in 1969. The total support for weed research in 1962 in the United States was six times that in 1950. The number of full-time research and extension workers or their equivalents in part-time workers had increased 20-fold and 13-fold, respectively, over the number in 1940. The rate of advancement in the art and science of weed control has increased so rapidly that the progress in each of the recent brief periods 1941 to 1968, 1901 to 1940, and 1800 to 1900 is considered greater than that in all previous periods, beginning about 6000 B.C.

International audience | A water transfer model and a bacterial model were combined to study the effects of process parameters (air temperature, velocity and relative humidity (RH)) on the drying of the food surface and their indirect consequences on bacterial growth. Then were tested on experimental growths of Pseudomonas spp. inoculated on pork meat: small variations in a parameter can have a considerable effect on bacterial growth. Sensitivity calculations showed how the meat properties (diffusivity. sorption isotherm, thickness) affected the calculated results. The combined models were applied to study the impact of air velocity and RH on the increase in the bacterial population after 96 h of storage at 12degreesC. Thus, no more than a two log unit increase is obtained (1) if the air velocity is equal to 0.2 m/s and RH below 82% or (2) if RH is as high as 90%, air velocity must be equal to 0.9 m/s.