Appropriate technology, revisited
-
From
Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service
-
Published on
29.04.22
- Impact Area
For decades, farmers in the American corn belt have been battling a persistent and elusive foe. The enemy in question? A five millimeter corn rootworm, credited to be the most expensive pest in American agriculture, and responsible for annual losses of two billion dollars in the US alone. The weapons at the farmers’ disposal have been either traditional pesticides (which are prone to the worm developing resistance, and with dire environmental consequences), or crop rotation (an approach rendered ineffective after the bugs started preying on the crops used in the rotation). However, decades of private-sector research into RNAi technology will finally come to fruition with the forthcoming release of a new corn trait, targeting the action of specific genes that are essential to the attack that the rootworm makes against the standing crop. The technology is projected to save American producers billions of dollars every year. Yet there is little prospect that these advances will directly benefit farmers in the rest of the world.
Related news
-
SOILutions for Security: CGIAR at the 2025 Borlaug Dialogue
Multifunctional Landscapes Science Program22.10.25-
Biodiversity
-
Environmental health
-
Environmental health & biodiversity
-
Food security
-
Nutrition
From October 21–23, CGIAR will join global partners in Des Moines, Iowa for the 2025…
Read more -
-
Bridging knowledge systems: Indigenous practices for sustainable foodways
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)21.10.25-
Environmental health & biodiversity
-
Gender equality, youth & social inclusion
Indigenous peoples’ food systems have existed for millennia: far longer than the industrialised fo…
Read more -
-
How non-market-based approaches can support efforts to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)17.10.25-
Environmental health & biodiversity
The global objective of halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 is a…
Read more -