Keith Addison wrote:
> > > She is interested in investigating crop nutritional
> > > quality as a function of a crops genetic potential for
> > > nutritional quality and interactions with species such as rhizosphere
> > > colonists,
> >
> > Very good area of study, possibly she could consider open pollinated
> >crops in comparison to their hybrid cousins...looking at mineral
> >content, vitamins, etc. I believe OP usually willl uptake a more varied
> >nutrient mix, tho sometimes fail on depleted soils where hybrids
> >willget by.
> > Im still a firm believer that the real limiting factor in uptake of
> >nutrient by any particular crop is the soil the crop is grown
> >in....Study of nutrient uptake for the improvement of the "genome" is
> >certainly warranted, but is still a bandaid , I believe ,in comparison
> >to studying methods/theories on soil balancing...
> >which is truly a multi-lifetime endeavor.
> >bill evans
>
> From memory, in the mid-80s Britain's Soil Association published
> figures from the US showing a protein decline in wheat from 15% to 8%
> (?) in the previous few decades. The SA would have seen that as a
> matter of farming methods and soil practices as well as crop variety
> changes.
>
> I'm sorry, these references are in my library, but half my library is
> 5,000 miles south of here! (where it's in good use at least).
>
> Sir Albert Howard's work might also be of interest. He's mostly known
> as the man who developed Indore composting and founded the organics
> movement, but most of his work in India was on improving varieties,
> mainly of wheat. He and his wife formed a brilliant scientific team
> during a long career in India. They achieved good results with the
> wheat, but this was as a part of an overall strategy that also
> included Indore composting and early work with mycorrhiza, and had a
> strong focus on soil management, as well as on the real requirements
> of Indian cultivators. A good reference is "Sir Albert Howard in
> India", by L.E. Howard, Faber, London, 1953. It's more about his work
> than a biography. It's online at Steve Solomon's Soil & Health
> Library:
> http://www.soilandhealth.org/index.html
>
> In these three cases it might be possible to determine the influence
> of crop variety:
>
> On Oct 6 Steve Driver wrote (SANET):
>
> >"The Healing Power of Minerals, Special Nutrients and Trace
> >Elements" by Paul Bergner (1997, Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA)
> >includes USDA figures that show a decline in mineral and vitamin
> >content of several fruits and vegetables between 1914, 1963, and
> >1992. Table 1 is a summary of mineral decreases in fruits and
> >vegetables over a 30-year period, adapted from Bergner's book.
>
> On 16 Nov 1999 Chris Alenson posted a message "Food nutrition and
> soil regeneration" (SANET) listing changes in nutritional content
> with improved soil management in Australia.
>
> Rodale's current "Letter to the USDA" campaign focuses on studies of
> government reports in the US and UK which revealed significant
> declines in mineral and vitamin content in a variety of raw fruits
> and vegetables in recent decades.
> http://www.organicgardening.com/articles/article2.html
>
> I hope this helps.
>
> Keith
>
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