Save the American Chestnut with Technology

Save the American Chestnut with Technology

John Rigolizzo, Jr.*

You have probably heard of chestnut trees. And depending on where you live, you might even have walked down a Chestnut Street in your hometown.

But have you ever seen a healthy American chestnut tree in a forest?

The odds are low. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, ” the American chestnut practically disappeared at the beginning of the 20^e century ».

Billions of them filled our forests, until a deadly plague from Asia nearly wiped them out. They didn’t quite follow the path of the dinosaurs, but to grow and survive today they require constant care and attention. In nature, they die.

The only way to bring them back is through biotechnology – and we may be on the verge of doing just that, thanks to an innovation that fights the blight and enables trees to defeat a devastating disease.

Late last year, the United States Department of Agriculture sought public comment on a GM chestnut developed by scientists at the State University of New York and its research and restoration project. American chestnut.

Here is my comment: this is a great opportunity. We should harness the power of science to save an important native tree.

I have been writing regarding this possibility for almost a dozen years. For me, the attraction to chestnuts is partly cultural: my Italian-American family likes to roast chestnuts at Christmas and other occasions.

I also appreciate the pretty chestnut wood. I remember the big house across the street where I grew up had a wonderful chestnut handrail. On hot summer days, the owners opened their double doors, allowing me to look inside. Seeing the handrail was perhaps the first time I really recognized the art of woodworking. I learned more from my grandfather, a furniture maker who made some of the original RCA TV cabinets. He liked to work the chestnut tree.

Still, American chestnut trees are best enjoyed in forests. They grow fast and grow tall, and contribute to the natural beauty of our world.

We know that over time species can go through a process of natural selection. Yet the near extinction of American chestnut trees is unnatural. The Asian fungus that nearly wiped them out is an invasive species, brought to our shores by human activity in the 1800s. But without it, trees would still thrive in North America.

We now have the opportunity to save the chestnut tree through the miracle of genetic modification, a proven technique that has improved agriculture around the world.

In the last century, scientists have learned how to move useful genetic traits from one species to another. Their efforts transformed agriculture, allowing staple crops such as cotton, corn, canola and soybeans to resist pests and be easily weeded. For years I planted it on my farm in New Jersey.

Today, this technology is helping us produce more food on less land than ever before, a boon for just regarding everyone. Farmers gain in productivity. Consumers benefit from abundant and affordable food. The environment benefits because biotechnology makes conservation agriculture practices easier and more effective.

The researchers of the SUNY discovered how to move a wheat gene into the American chestnut genome. It allows the trees to break down Asian canker toxins. In other words, it gives trees a natural resistance to disease that has nearly destroyed them.

Some have suggested that it would be best to let the American Chestnut disappear. Our forests, they say, can repopulate with Asian varieties of the tree that are more adapted to the fungus.

This strikes me as wrong because it amounts to forfeiting a fight for an American species that we can win with sound science.

The world’s experience with GMOs – on my farm in New Jersey as well as in remote places like Australia, India, Kenya and elsewhere – teaches us that they are a promising solution to many problems.

Accept the promise of this technology.

Save the American Chestnut.

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* John Rigolizzo, Jr., farmer, New Jersey, USA

John Rigolizzo, Jr is a fifth-generation farmer growing fresh vegetables and corn in southern New Jersey. The family farm supplies retail and wholesale markets. John volunteers as a board member of the Global Farmer Network (Global Farmers Network) and provided leadership for the New Jersey Vegetable Growers Association (New Jersey Vegetable Growers Association) and New Jersey Tomato Council (New Jersey Tomato Council). As former president of New Jersey Farm Bureauhis long-standing interest and support for free trade has been confirmed by his participation in 11 international trade missions and his participation in meetings of theWorld organization of commerce in Seattle and Geneva.

Source : Let’s Save the American Chestnut Tree with Technology – Global Farmer Network