1、Sustainable Intensive Agriculture: High Technology & Environmental Benefits,Drew L. Kershen Earl Sneed Centennial Professor University of Oklahoma College of Law Copyright 2006, Drew L. Kershen, all rights reserved,Sustainable Agriculture,Challenges facing agriculture Agronomic: increased population
2、; food production; nutrition; food security Environmental: Soil, Water, Air, Biodiversity; the footprint of agriculture Economic: Farmers and Rural Communities Developed and Developing Countries Demands differ somewhat but all three challenges Biofuels impact on food security and food cost,Sustainab
3、le Agriculture,Philosophical approaches Organic agriculture; Sustainable Agriculture as traditionally described by ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer to Rural America) http:/www.ncat.org Sustainable Intensive Agriculture high technology such as precision farming, scientific seed improvement, and
4、 biotechnology. D. Adelman & J. Barton, Environmental Regulation for Agriculture: Towards a Framework to Promote Sustainable Intensive Agriculture, 21 Stan. Envtl. L. J. 3-43 (2002) The two approaches are not necessarily antagonistic or oppositional. But tensions do exist between these two approache
5、s,Relevant Legal Authority,Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251-1387 1288(j) Areawide waste treatment management - agricultural best management practices (BMPs) 1311 and 1314 on effluent limitations best available technology economically achievable; and best practicable control technology currently avail
6、able 1329 Nonpoint source management programs best management practices and measures for categories and sources,Relevant Legal Authority,Oklahoma Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Act, Okla. Stat. tit. 2, 20-3 and 20-10 authority to OSDA to establish BMPs to prevent and reduce pollution to wate
7、r of the state or site-specific animal waste management plan Registered Poultry Feeding Operations Act, Okla. Stat. tit. 2, 10-9.1 and 10-9.7 authority to OSDA to establish BMPs and require animal waste management plan,Implications of Legal Authority,Administrative Agencies have legal authority to m
8、andate or to encourage technological approaches Lawyers must think about technology and appropriate technology to satisfy the legal requirement of “best” Agricultural environmental issues are not just legal but technological Attitude towards technology what technologies are considered and what techn
9、ologies are favored influences what technologies are ultimately adopted. Sustainable intensive agricultural technologies,Poultry Operations and Water Quality,The Illinois/Grand Rivers Oklahoma; Chesapeake Bay High technologies to address phosphorous and nitrogen in feed, litter, and runoff Low phyta
10、te grains, non-transgenic and transgenic Transgenic corn 64% phosphorous available vs. 10% non Non-transgenic low phytate corn and barely ready for commercial release Improved amino acid transgenic grains Lysine, methionine, tryptophan, threonine Improved protein utilization; less nitrogen excretion
11、 Feed supplements, transgenic and nontransgenic Transgenic animals (e.g. Enviropig) Transgenic pastures Combining these high technologies: significant benefits,Poultry Operations and Water Quality,References D. Kershen, Agricultural Biotechnology: Environmental Benefits for Identifiable Environmenta
12、l Problems, 32 Envtl L. Reptr. 11312-11316 (2002) Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), Animal Diet Modification to Decrease the Potential for Nitrogen and Phosphorous Pollution, Issue Paper # 21 (July 2002) T. Veum, D. Ledoux, V. Raboy, Low-Phytic Acid Barley Improves Nutrient Uti
13、lization for Growing Pigs, Research Report for Alberta Barley Commission (Fall 2001), http:/ (“The most significant response to feeding low phytate barley P excretion was reduced 55% by low phytate barley compared to normal barley.”) V. Raboy, Progress in Breeding Low Phytate Crops, J. Nutr. 132: 50
14、3S-505S (2002).,Hypoxia and Agricultural Runoff,Sediment, nutrients (P goal of 5,000 sq. mi. by 2015 Nutrients (P & N) are primary causes of hypoxic zone coming from the Mississippi River Basin approx. 75% from agricultural sources. http:/www.epa.gov/msbasin - fact sheet,Agricultural Runoff and High
15、 Technology Farming,Insect-resistant (IR) crops significant reduction in pesticide usage; basically no pesticide runoff from IR crops No-till agriculture (or reduced tillage) Weed control is biggest challenge Herbicide-tolerant (HT) plants (transgenic and nontransgenic) provide agronomic flexibility
16、 HT technology as significant factor in adoption No-till estimates: 83%N and 86%P (soil bound nutrients) Sediment control no-till and erosion reduction,Hypoxia, Runoff, and Technology,References R. Cullum & S. Smith, BT Cotton in Mississippi Delta Management Systems Evaluation Area: Insecticides in
17、Runoff 1996-1999 (USDA-ARS 2001) G. Czapar et al., Effects of Erosion Control Practices on Nutrient Losses (Session 9) in Gulf Hypoxia and Local Water Quality Concerns Workshop (Iowa St. Univ. Sept 26-28, 2005) C. Wortman et al., Agricultural Phosphorus Management and Water Quality Protection in the
18、 Midwest (U Neb-Lincoln, 2005) R. Fawcett & D. Towery, Conservation Tillage and Plant Biotechnology (Conservation Technology Information Center, Purdue, 2002) (“ crops developed through plant biotechnology are facilitating the continued expansion of conservation tillage, especially no-till. As more
19、acres are converted to conservation tillage, and especially no-till, significant environmental benefits will be derived.” S. Sankula, G. Marmon, E. Blumenthal, Biotechnology-Derived Crops Planted in 2004: Impacts on US Agriculture (National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, Dec. 2005),Superfu
20、nd Sites and Remediation,Hazardous wastes often heavy metals from prior industrial use of the landsite Tar Creek, Ottawa County, OK Acid water from mine shafts Three primary heavy metal contaminants from mining Lead Cadmium Zinc CERCLA cleanups costly, litigious, slow and (at times) ineffective,Bior
21、emediation: Transgenic Plants,Laboratory tests of transgenic plants for phytoremediation Transgenic poplars for cadmium and zinc field test Transgenic plants for lead and cadmium basic science Transgenic geraniums for cadmium, lead, copper Guelf University, Canada successful field tests Phytoremedia
22、tion needs regulatory support and funding to move to field trials and commercialization Transgenic cottonwoods for mercury Field Trial in Danbury, CT; grant from EPA Initial results encouraging Slow response by regulatory agencies and attorneys,Superfund Sites and Bioremediation,References EPA Publi
23、cation, Tar Creek 1 (Oct. 4, 2005) T. Koimves et al., Ability of transgenic poplars with elevated glutathione content ot tolerate zinc2+ stress, Environment International, 31: 252-254 (2005) Y. Lee et al., Transgenic plants for Phytoremediation of Lead and Cadmium, Nature Biotech., 21 No. 8 H. Barr, City turns to trees to purge mercury, Danbury News-Times (Oct. 10, 2004) B. Shmaefsky, Heavy Metal Tolerant Transgenic Plants, ISB News Report pp. 8-10 (Nov. 2003),
