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32
THE STARTLING VULNERABILITYOF
MAJOR U.S.CROPS
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Following the
1970
corn blight epidemic, the National Research
Council of the National Academy of Sciences prepared a report on
the "Genetic Vulnerability of Major Crops. " Their findings were
sobering, if not alarming. Many U.S. crops are so genetically
uniform that they are precariously vulnerable to catastrophic disease
epidemics.
• 100% of all the mi llet in North Amer ica is from 3 varieties of seed.
• 96% of all peas comes from 2 variet ies of seed.
• 76% of all snap beans comes from 3 varieties of
~eed.
• 72% of the potatoes comes from 4 varieties of seed.
• 71% of the corn is from 6 varieties of seed.
• 69% of the sweet potatoes comes from 1 var iety of seed.
• 60% of all dry beans comes from 2 varieties of seed.
• 53% of the cotton comes from 3 variet ies of seed.
• 65% of the rice comes from 4 varieties of seed.
• 56% of the soybeans comes from 6 varieties of seed.
• 42% of all sugar beets comes from 2 varieties of seed.
• 95% of the peanuts comes from 9 varieties of seed.
• 50% of all wheat comes from 9 varieties of seed.
In most cases, the total number of U.S. varieties
potentially available
far exceeds the number currently being utilized: in the case of wheat,
269;
corn.
197;
potatoes,
82;
soybeans.
62;
peas.
50;
and so on.
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A Multibillion Dollar Business
MOST VALUABLE CROPS
INU.S.
Agricultura in the United States is a highly lucrative but
vulnerable enterpnse. Usted below are the
15
most
valuable crops grown on U.S. soil. Note that the corn
grown by U.S. farmers has a value of sorne 7 billion dol–
lars, and that the value of alfalfa
exceeds
the total value
of U.S. wheat production. When disease and pests
strike, they consume crops worth tens or hundreds of
millions of dollars. lndeed, the
15
crops listed have a
value of
$25
billion! Thus, a mere 1% shortfall of just
these crops translates into a
$250,000,000
loss. The
danger of such losses ls magnified by the fact that vir–
tually all the leading crops in the U.S. are based on a
very narrow genetic base.
From USDA stattstics (1973)
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Jifference between starvation and
plen ty.
"The genetic diversity o r our
crops is a national wealth which the
varied racial and ethnic members of
our nation have brought from their
homelands, and accl imated from co–
lonial t imes to t he present in fie lds
and gardens across the country:·
says Garr ison Wilkes. Associate
Professor of Biology at the Univer–
sity of Massachusetts. Bo ·ton. '·Just
as each group contributed aspects of
it cult ure. so too have they added
to the total genetic resources of our
basic food plants."
However. Wilkes told
The Plain
Truth
that he i deeply concerned
over the future of our plant re–
sources. Says Wi l kes: " T oday, in–
stead of continuing to expand. these
plant genetic resources are begin–
ning to contract."
Why the contraction? The answer
is that modern agricultu re has
placed such a premium on high–
yie lding. u11iform crops lhat ma11y
otherwise acceptable variet ies are
no lo11ger planted.
W. H. Gabelman. a U11iversity of
Wisconsin planl breeder. analyzes i t
this way: " I n our sociely. the com–
munications media keeps farmers
well i11formed 011
new
varieties. A
farmer makes sophisticaled deci–
sions 011 1he basis of this informa–
lion. and sim:e he has lo make a
profit, he will choose thc lop-yield–
ing variel y. lf thcre are only a few
choices available. you gel onc or
lwo varieties that domínate. leading
l o uniformily and poss ible vulner–
abi lity."
Other authorities point out lhat
lhc great emphasis on "efficiency"
and lower costs of production forces
fa rmers lo use high-yielding vari–
eties. Demands for eflkicncy are
rcally demands for uniformily. ·ince
cfficiency can only be maximit.ed
w ilh high-yielding hybridl>. To
ach ieve efficiency, lhe farmcr must
subst itute machines for mcn. But
machines ca1ú 1hin k: they ca1ú dis–
criminal e betwcen a green tomalo
anda ripe one. for instancc. Thus it
is essen tialthat va riet ies be uniform
and that 1hey ripen allhc same time
so a machine can do the harvcsling.
Seeds are also sown by machine.
again requiring uniform sizc. The
seeds musl germina te and grow vir-
The
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1976