Presenting one's work at academic conferences is an
expectation of being in academia. It's also fun to learn what other people are
doing, the best way to learn about the most recent research in your discipline.
It's a great way to network, get to meet people and to visit another place;
travel is often required.
In October 2014 I presented a paper, "Luxury Rice:
Benefiting People and Planet" at a conference sponsored by the Guyana
Ministry of Agriculture: Consolidating
Food and Nutrition Security in the Region - Increasing Economic Opportunities
and Entrepreneurship for Rice and Agriculture. It was brilliant. It was
held in the Guyana International Conference Centre which is a beautiful space,
combining the outdoors and the indoors seamlessly. Really a treat for a Canadian
in late October. Dr. Vyjayanthi Lopez, the FAO's Plant Production and
Protection Officer at the FAO Sub-Regional Office in Barbados praised the successes
of the local agriculture sector and Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy
spoke of the local commitment to research and development as an integral part
of the sustainable development agenda.
Even though I am a social scientist and most of the research
here was in the natural sciences, because I love plants and agriculture, the discussions
were fascinating to me. There were some really great things about the overall
organization of the program:
- It was small enough (six panels over two days) that it was possible to attend each panel and listen to each participant.
- The third day was field site visits (to NAREI and BURMA, the research centres for plant and rice research, respectively) that included more technical talks.
- Farmers attended the conference!
Eventually, the proceedings are to be published. I'll post
that information when the time comes. In the meantime, this is the abstract of
my paper. If you'd like the PowerPoint or paper, or you'd like to chat, feel
free to contact me.
Luxury Rice: benefiting people and planet
PANDAY, Aruna
PANDAY, Aruna
York University
Organic, eco-friendly, pesticide free, and sustainable farming are some of the buzzwords used to promote agricultural products among consumers who purchase these goods either because they are health or environmentally conscious. Agricultural products that have minimal or reduced environmental harm in their production are sold for much more than their non-eco friendly counterparts. In Latin America and the Caribbean 80% of farmers are small scale, resource poor farmers that often depend on secondary and tertiary businesses and employment in order to "get by." Much of the difficulty for these farmers is in the high prices of inputs such as petro-fertilizers and pesticides, the use of which contradicts the growing desire for minimal harm products. Other challenges include, irregular access to water, and insufficient labour. Taken together, these lead to relatively low yields that makes international competition difficult. A solution to these challenges of low yields, expensive inputs, and non-eco-friendly rice production and increase international competitiveness is a shift to rice production that emphasizes organic fertilizers, organic pesticides and crop rotation, in conjunction with the development of seed varieties that are less water dependent. This organic, eco-friendly, rice product would be marketed internationally as a luxury, or mass luxury good. As a superior product that satisfies the demand of an increasingly health and eco conscious consumer this luxury rice would have increased profit, have no chemical residues and be minimally harmful to the environment. Guyana is well situated to be competitive in this market; there are vast tracts of virgin land that could be claimed, and ready for immediate planting and their scientists are highly skilled at developing non-GMO rice varieties that could be copyrighted as "luxe appelation."
Organic, eco-friendly, pesticide free, and sustainable farming are some of the buzzwords used to promote agricultural products among consumers who purchase these goods either because they are health or environmentally conscious. Agricultural products that have minimal or reduced environmental harm in their production are sold for much more than their non-eco friendly counterparts. In Latin America and the Caribbean 80% of farmers are small scale, resource poor farmers that often depend on secondary and tertiary businesses and employment in order to "get by." Much of the difficulty for these farmers is in the high prices of inputs such as petro-fertilizers and pesticides, the use of which contradicts the growing desire for minimal harm products. Other challenges include, irregular access to water, and insufficient labour. Taken together, these lead to relatively low yields that makes international competition difficult. A solution to these challenges of low yields, expensive inputs, and non-eco-friendly rice production and increase international competitiveness is a shift to rice production that emphasizes organic fertilizers, organic pesticides and crop rotation, in conjunction with the development of seed varieties that are less water dependent. This organic, eco-friendly, rice product would be marketed internationally as a luxury, or mass luxury good. As a superior product that satisfies the demand of an increasingly health and eco conscious consumer this luxury rice would have increased profit, have no chemical residues and be minimally harmful to the environment. Guyana is well situated to be competitive in this market; there are vast tracts of virgin land that could be claimed, and ready for immediate planting and their scientists are highly skilled at developing non-GMO rice varieties that could be copyrighted as "luxe appelation."
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