Hybrid Purple Rice That Is More Nutritious, Can Better Weather Climate Change? | Forgotten Palate

the Green Revolution was a time of agricultural advancement in the 1960s high yield crops were introduced across the world but they came with a cost these seeds were reliant on fertilizers and pesticides bread for chemicals are as it is very weak plants you know in terms of resilience and they need 10 times more water today crop yields are in Decline modern agriculture has taken a toll on the planet sucking up resources as an unsustainable rate presently just amidst dire warnings of disaster farmers are seeking Alternatives turning to plants from the past to crops that use less water which Thrive despite Rising temperatures crops that can adapt to an unpredictable [Music] climate [Music] [Music] [Music] India home to the second largest irrigated crop area on the planet and one of the largest global producers of [Music] food so India is feeding a huge population and its production system reflects at the scale of the production system India is also uh in certain agricultural products a maj play in international markets and if we take rice for example uh since 2014 15 India has been the largest exporter of rice extreme weather events declining soil fertility and the depletion of groundwater are hurting India's Farms some of these problems stem from the Green Revolution a set of agricultural reforms introduced across the developing world in the 1960s Dr vanana sha lived through those times the Green Revolution came and the new seeds breed only for chemicals were introduced and because compared to the Brilliance of our peasants who from one grass can created 200,000 rice varieties in India of Inda they could only pathetically move on creating varieties of rice and wheat and that's what became the farming everywhere and became the food stuff on every sh shelf so it's rice and wheat polished rice and refined wheat and at the root of this then is the recipe for all the epidemic diseases we are seeing as diversity has disappeared before the proliferation of white rice much of Asia's ancestral diets consisted of diverse indigenous grains grains which are largely forgotten the United Nations Quantified the loss of genetic diversity with the livig conference on plant genetic resources where I was present and every country of the world reported a 75% loss from the time the Green Revolution and modern varieties were introduced now that's 1995 since then globalization has further expanded monocultures and there's a deeper loss I wrote a book on the Punjab on the violence of the Green Revolution and I know 250 species of crops used to be grown in Punjab and now they grow one monoculture of wheat of one Variety in one season and one monoculture of rice in the next season so you can calculate 250 down to two Punjab is India's Granary but the vast number of crops that used to be planted here have Whittle down to only two wheat grown in warmer months and rice in the cooler ones it's the middle of July when Patty fields are typically sewn the fields need to be filled with rainwater but the monsoon rains are late this year and the farmers have had to draw on groundwater to ensure their fields are [Music] irrigated [Music] [Music] con despite Five Rivers flowing through the state of Punjab More than 70% of the cultivated area draws groundwater but more water is drawn from underground aquifers than is being replenished more than 75 lak Acres under the pedical divis or gey not more than 35 because of with the tub connections a 2020 assessment by the central groundwater board found that most districts in Punjab had overexploited their groundwater and India's national green tribunal a central government initiative has issued a dire warning the state is left with enough groundwater to last for just 17 [Music] years and farmers are continually digging deeper for access the origins of this problem can be traced back to 199 7 when the local government gave Farmers access to free electricity for their pumps this caused Farmers to shift away from the labor intensive River fed Canal system the number of bwells in the state multiplied causing tremendous pressure on the groundwater [Music] levels [Music] [Music] Thailand's Farms are also reeling from the effects of climate change in March temperature es reached 45° C for the first time ever farmers are now bracing themselves for a long dry spell caused by the El Nino climate pattern like in India they too have turned to drawing more and more groundwater to fill their fields the country's famed jasmine rice doesn't do well in extreme heat and needs plenty of water you can see here why they have to keep water standing so about more than 5 cm because this is a way that they want to suppress the wheat seed wheat is the most important pest competing rice but rice is not very good competitor so farmer needs to use water to suppress un non-terminating seed so that let rice grow slowly and then dominate the area it's not just more water that's being expended in some areas farmers are also turning to more Extreme Measures to suppress weeds chemical inputs are a key feature of modern Agriculture and in Thailand farmers are using more of it to ensure their lands remain productive for the longterm her side will reduce with growing and that reduce the the biomass and organic matter so land that use a lot of herbicide will deplete organic matter so you have to add in you have to add in uh organic matter two compensated to compensate to to maintain the the fertility of soil the agricultural sector is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in Thailand from that total rice is the largest contributor the emissions come from methane released from bacteria living on decomposing organic matter found in Patty fields that are perpetually flooded for in a wet and dry approach to Rice cultivation fields are not kept flooded for the entire planting season they are instead left to dry out as the plants mature this uses less water than conventional rice farming methods but that still doesn't help with the harsher temperatures plants have to live with nowadays as our climate continues to warm crops will inevitably require more water in Thailand a research done by by F and the office of agricultural economics uh we're showing that rice production um is is being grown at the moment very close to the temperature threshold Beyond which we would see major declines in productivity and without things like supplemental irrigation that we could expect major declines in the productivity of rice [Music] rice the preferred staple for half the world's population for most rice eaters it's the sort that's white refined and Polished for a longer shelf life and that Familiar Taste but there are ancient varieties of rice that are more nutritious in 2002 the rice Science Center at Thailand's cassette sart University took an indigenous purple rice and crossbred it with the country's famed jasmine rice to form a hybrid varietal this is riceberry but that plus purple Rice have very high nutrition than any purple rice at the time and compared to white rice so do excite us especially the iron content rich in iron riceberry could be the antidote to iron deficiency anemia a widespread condition they're also hardier as a crop being more resistant to heat and unlike commercial rice crops riceberry does not need chemical-based fertilizers despite all the benefits most Thai farmers are still yet to be won over by Rasberry [Music] well aware of the business risks Boon Pang Kaman decided to PL riceberry a bit of research helped him make up his [Music] mind [Music] for the process of breeding every generation of riceberry starts here at the University these are the first generation of raspberry seeds which are being sorted bagged and labeled before being sent to Farmers across Thailand each new generation of seed will carry with it traits that have been found to improve on the generations of rice that came before it so in the common term is pyramiding Gene pyramiding so that takes time so 20 years of work put together 10 genes into one varieties so that's what Farmers would can benefit because they are already that kind of pyramided variety they're ready to face multiple change like climate change Professor appy chart and his students are conducting water stress tests on raspberry plants the aim of the study to measure how the plants react when starved of water the team compares the quantity and size of stomato cells in each plant they're hoping to find a plant that absorbs less water but produces a similar amount of rice grains so under normal condition with plenty of water unlimited more number of stomat means is high using can imagine yeah if they take up carbon dioxide with sunlight they will have better photosynthesis compared to the one that have less number of stomat cell and is true on that but once you don't have enough water right the cell damage caused by stress could be more so the one that have less stress will produce more can keep more grain and more weight of the lead that's what she have to do it monit water the hole from seedling to the end the team is looking for a plant with specific characteristics when they find it they will breed that plant with the hope that its Offspring will have those traits too each row of plants will react differently according to the varying amounts of water they're given there are no shortcuts to this [Music] [Music] science Leaf samples of each plant are taken to the lab under a microscope the stomata cells are counted analyzed and compared it will take several years but we hope this year we will see some purple rice that take less water but few more we are not sure that we can conquer this stress the Heat and drought together but we can kind of at least mitigate and so we expect that Rice can you a little bit less but to keep quality almost the same maybe that that's possible it's July in the state of Maharashtra ifan donadi is a farmer in Kapur whose crops are failing the monsoon rains which typically pour around this time are [Music] late resulting in in an extended dry season Farmers here are reliant on Wells like these they've been dry for months Iran's sugarcane crop is unlikely to survive this [Music] season after the rains aan will clear his land and get it ready to plant Emma wheat an ancient grain it's a Hardy plant that continues to thrive despite the unpredictable climate it's the only crop that he and his family can depend on especially in certain parts of India like this where irrigated water is hard to come by and most Farmers pray for the rains the Water Management definitely I think particularly important uh in this region because still majority of the uh farming land is rain fat so uh without a good or proper irrig systems and really the farmers rely uh heavily on the proper uh on the rain rainfall at right time in the Punjab region modern irrigation systems have saved Farms from the impact of changing weather patterns they've allowed Farmers planting Cycles to remain constant this ensures that Rice remains stocked on Supermarket shelves but excessive irrigation has severely drained groundwater supplies the dominant crops in these parts are wheat and rice most farmers in Punjab plant regular white rice but many would prefer to plant basmati rice Basmati is a long grained indigenous rice that has been planted for centuries it uses less water than regular white rice and no chemical fertilizers but Farmers here are still hesitant to plant it the government provides a minimum support price or MSP for Farmers that plant regular white rice which guarantees them a profit there is no such support for basti rice alternative crop that is a riskk privateers if we really would like to promote those crops there's two direction that we probably can work on the first is to really roduce the improved varities of those Asian grains with high yield and the second is to include those crops in the government procur plan and to ensure that when they when Farmers shift from Rise to Asia grains Farmers actually can make more uh uh income haral Singh is a rice farmer he has over a 100 acres of land under cultivation rather than plant white rice and have the security of the government's MSP he has decided to take a calculated risk and plant basmati [Music] rice fore [Music] authorities share Harp's mission in an effort to slow the damage to the land's groundwater they're encouraging a return to the Old River fed Canal system such a canal was recently restored on Hop the rains have finally come but heavy as they are the full monsoon season might not bring consistent rainfall to feed the lands and with El Nino drought is almost certain without sufficient rain India's rice crops are destined to fail again [Music] [Music] in belgam a bustling District in cartica India Suresh Desai a farmer and organic farming Advocate works on an unusual approach to ensuring healthy crops he uses an ancient Indian healing method known as ieda ieda is a holistic approach to physical and mental health Suresh adapts those principles to plants he's traveled far and wide to impart those wisdoms to agricultural communities across the world [Music] IM sures applies ayurvedic inspired techniques on his farm he adjusts the nutrients his plants receive through the soil and from the sun he leaves gaps between his plants to allow the sunlight to penetrate the foliage ensuring that all the plants receive the right balance of light he also plants a variety of crops on the same Farm plot [Music] for [Music] jish advancements in agriculture meant the pr fation of monocultures and input intensive farming techniques the effect of this tripled the production of seral crops at a time when India's population more than doubled while some claim that these Technologies helped avert famine others say it led to the devastation of local indigenous crops because the native seeds don't like chemicals they Lodge So to avoid the problem that need seeds were creating they were like a hurdle I called it the plant satyra satra is Gandhi's word for non-cooperation and the plants were saying I don't want your chemicals I will lie down and rebel against you our pulses disappeared our oil seeds disappeared our vegetables and fruits [Music] disappeared this is ganti in the state of [Music] Telangana con manula has returned to farming Ancient Grains but it wasn't so long ago when she planted cotton like many of her [Music] neighbors fore car now plants food crops exclusively with a vast variety of ancient ones including Millet but like many Farmers that return to Ancient Grains they're finding it hard to find seeds from their past foree [Music] [Music] for having these seeds means that carne is able to provide enough food for herself her family and on occasion a little extra to sell the seeds have EMP car and many other women in the region the Millet sisters played a big role in the Region's push for Ancient Grains they're an organization that helps women Farmers transition back to traditional farming practices members meet regularly to share pointers on farming the old way they also pull funds to help new members get started for [Music] fore fore fore in Thailand Professor appy chart is at a conference promoting riceberry he's speaking today to Thailand's foreign office ABY chart wants them to learn more about Rasberry and promote it overseas because of so we have to do a lot of marketing how to eat with meals so we have private company who interested in because of the price of the rice could be higher and coming to new design of food that's so challenging imagine raspberry Sushi it might not conform to what consumers expect but it demonstrates the flexibility of the Rasberry and its health benefits meanwhile in my say it's harvest this time for Boon pencom G's [Music] [Music] riceberry in many parts of the world temperatures are hitting alltime highs in India the warming Pacific Ocean is reducing ing Monsoon rainfalls and creating severe drought in 2023 India is predicted to have the lowest amounts of monsoon rains in 8 years prompting the government to react by Banning the export of regular white rice India actually contribut to about 40% of international rice market so for Country those uh heavy rely on the rice import from India uh especially in Africa countries I think which will really lead will cause a big uh concerns for the food security another important Global exporter of rice is Thailand the authorities here have also urged Farmers to reduce rice planting to save water following poor rainfall farmers will need to turn to less thirsty crops like riceberry in my say boonen K's riceberry crops are ready for Harvest it's weighed and sold the Harvest yields 9,000 kg of riceberry not as large a yield as it would have been if Boon Pang had planted regular white rice but he saved on water and because he didn't use chemical fertilizers his land is more fertile Farmers willing to take a chance on Ancient Grains are still in the minority because of the grains limited demand in India Ruchi Jane is trying to change that she acquires Ancient Grains from Farmers across the country then packages and distributes them in India and across the world ri's marketing approach to get people interested in the stories of these indigenous crops and their Growers and opendra Raa revived black rice from a couple of seeds in 2010 so U it was completely lost as a variety you know U and then he just started black rice from a couple of seeds and then he grew up an entire batch of black rice and then in 2015 and 16 we started sourcing black rice from him so ini we bought some 200 kgs and we sent it to a restaurant and then after that we gave a hamper to Prince Charles so basically the newspaper of Assam times wrote that our you know Assam black rice went to Prince Charles and then we also sent 500 kgs to a Michelin star restaurant in London called Chutney Mary so all of this was covered so then the farmers were like wow you know this is this particular rice we should all grow because it has a really good market so that's how you know the awareness [Music] started RI is on her way to shaan in cartica she regularly travels to remote Villages across India to meet communities like these there she speaks to Farmers and discovers new varieties of Ancient Grains that she can introduce to markets in this particular place in this particular village with gajendra his indigenous seed is more than 50 years old which means it's been a legacy Heritage seed which has been passed on so that's that's very important for us after some convincing Ancient Grains soured by Ruchi have made their way to dining tables in some of India's finest hotels in the Jane household they're a key feature in nearly every meal RI wants to introduce people to The Taste and benefits of Ancient Grains she also wants home Cooks to learn how to use them they've forgotten how to soak the millets how to make roties out of it they're very obsessed with the white white flour white rice white sugar everything white in color white mea so if it becomes a separate color all together which is brown color or something like that they're like oh now what do I do there will indeed be new skills for consumers to acquire when cooking with Ancient Grains and when more of these grains make their way into our diets that increased demand would push even more Farmers to turn to [Music] them but first they need to make very fundamental changes to the way they Farm changes that would ultimately benefit both their incomes as well as the environment um [Music] [Music] [Applause] fore [Music] as our planet continues to warm the world's major crops are becoming increasingly vulnerable but there are Seeds of Hope Ancient Grains despite the unfamiliar taste offer far greater nutritional value they could also be the key to promoting a more ecologically sustainable food [Music] [Music] system [Music]

Channel: CNA Insider

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Length: 44min 34sec (2674 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 06 2023