Accession to the WTO for developing countries. Strategies for gaining maximum benefits

Term Paper, 2019
37 Pages, Grade: A

1.1. Overview of Important Concepts
1.1.1. What is World Trade Organization (WTO)?
1.1.2. Developing Countries
1.2. The Justifications and Consequences of Protectionism and of the Trade Liberalization
1.2.1. Arguments Against Trade Liberalization: Protectionism
1.2.2. The Benefit of Trade Liberalization and Integration to International Trade Organizations

2.1. Opportunities of WTO Membership to Developing Countries in General
2.2. Specific Opportunities of Accession to WTO to the Developing Countries
2.2.1. Protection against Discriminatory Regulatory Measures
2.2.2. The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)
2.2.3. Dispute Settlement
2.3. Challenges of WTO Membership to Developing Countries
2.4. Necessary Precautions Before Joining the WTO
2.4.1. The Role of the WTO in Economic Development in Developing Countries
2.4.2. The Level of Development Required to be Achieved Before Joining the WTO
2.5. The Necessary Precautions to Be Taken by Developing Countries During the Negotiation for Joining the WTO

3.1. Overview
3.2. Ethiopian accession so far
3.2.1. Preparation and Submission of the Memorandum on the Foreign-Trade Regime of Ethiopia
3.2.2. A Roadmap for Ethiopia's WTO Accession
3.2.3. The Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS)
3.2.4 Capacity-Building Activities
3.2.5. Impact-Assessment Studies
3.3. Challenges of WTO membership

4.1. Duration of Accession Process
4.2. Commitments of Acceded LDCs
4.2.1 Tariff Bindings in Trade in Goods
4.2.2. Transition Periods
4.2.3. Commitments on Trade in Services
4.2.4. Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
4.2.5. Special and Differential Treatment
4.3. Implementation of WTO Accession Commitments

The objective of this paper is to present a survey of trade issues in WTO membership from the perspective of developing countries putting Ethiopia in focus. Developing countries are a large percentage of the World Trade Organization (WTO) membership, in which Ethiopia is on process of acquiring membership.

I examines the experiences of least developing countries (LDCs) acceded to World Trade Organization (WTO) in relation to their accession process, terms of accession and implementation of commitments with a view to drawing lessons which could be relevant to Ethiopia to devise successful strategies and avoid mistakes in an effort to gain maximum benefits from its WTO membership.

Since accession to the WTO is not an end in itself, Ethiopia should carefully and strategically negotiate to reap the potential benefits of membership in light of its long-term development strategies.

Key Words: Accession, WTO, Ethiopia, LDCs.

Trade liberalization may be unilateral, bilateral, sub-regional or multilateral. The end of the cold war has witnessed an increasingly growing wave of unilateral trade liberalization accompanied by a regulatory framework that facilitates and enhances the momentum. Although the impact of unilateral trade liberalization undertaken in many countries including Ethiopia deserves discussion, the theme of this article has necessitated focus on multilateral trade liberalization under the WTO system.

As LDC, Ethiopia is likely to be given some flexibility in assuming liberalization commitments. However, it will be asked to agree to some threshold of liberalization, and it is important for Ethiopia to be prepared to undertake commitments and develop a negotiation strategy that protects its interests. In addition, to respond effectively to the requests of WTO members, it is indispensable for the government of Ethiopia to have thorough information and analyze the potential consequences of liberalization.[1]

This term paper has three main parts in which the first part will discuss about trade liberalization with its justification and protectionism and its effects on economic development.

The second part of the paper will focus on the opportunities and challenges of WTO membership to developing countries. In this part the consequences of the WTO membership of the developing countries will be analyzed in terms of its benefits and harms.

The third part of the paper deals with the necessary precautions the developing countries are required to take before joining the WTO. In this part, the role of the WTO in helping the developing countries not to be affected negatively by becoming a member; necessary development level countries are required to attain before joining the WTO; and necessary measures to be undertaken during negotiation process not to take a commitment which will be against the national interest of the country. The forth part deals on the Ethiopia WTO accession and assess the experience of WTO accessed least developing countries.

Finally, the conclusion and recommendation with lessen to Ethiopia addressed.

1.1. Overview of Important Concepts

1.1.1. What is World Trade Organization (WTO)?

The WTO is an international organization established in 1994 for the purpose of supervising and liberalizing international trade. The organization officially entered into force on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, (the WTO constitution). WTO deals with the regulation of trade between member countries. The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as an international body dealing with international trade rules is aimed at facilitating trade among countries. By encouraging countries to enter into negotiations for the reduction of tariffs and for the removal of other barriers to trade, the WTO is envisaged to create competitive conditions on the global market.

The major advantage of the WTO system to exporters is the market-access security that it guarantees. In trade in goods, the Uruguay Round of negotiations has enabled to bind the tariffs of almost all developed countries and a good proportion of those of the developing and transitional economies from further increase, thereby ensuring an improved market access. In the services trade, on the other hand, countries have made commitments not to restrict access to service products and foreign-services suppliers, although there are no tariff-binding arrangements.

Once countries join the WTO, they are obligated to ensure that their rules for determining dutiable value for customs purposes, for inspecting products to ascertain conformity to mandatory standards, or for the issue of import licenses, conform to the provisions of the set pertinent standards. This is believed to provide a stable access to export markets, thus contributing to the stability of export earnings (the major concern of a commodity-exporting developing country like Ethiopia).

Ethiopia has already applied for accession to the WTO, and a draft memorandum of its foreign-trade regime document has been prepared. The memorandum, having been finalized and subsequently approved by the Council of Ministers, was submitted to the WTO in December of 2006.

1.1.2. Developing Countries

The categorization of countries as developed, developing, and least developed has no clear cut demarcation or specific objective criteria of differentiation. The multilateral treaty on the regulation of international trade, GATT 1947, has tried to identify developed and developing countries for the purpose of providing special treatment to those countries which are backward in economic development. The treaty under Art XVIII provides that members whose economies „can only support low standards of living and is in the early stages of development may invoke the defenses available and benefits offered to developing countries. However, the Article is hardly precise since it does not provide how low the standards of living should be and almost all members can claim that they are in the early stages of development.[2]

When we come to the WTO agreement, we got no definition for developing and developed countries, even though we have several special treatment packages to developing countries under the system. These special treatments can be claimed by many member states due to lack of precise definition of the term under the WTO instruments. However, other members can challenge the decision of a member to make use of provisions available to developing countries.

The current trend in categorization of countries as developed, developing, and least developed is that each country will declare or designate itself as attaining one of the development categorizations. Under the WTO system „self-designation‟ is considered to be the basic method of designating developing country Members. However, developed countries which provide the SDT to developing countries may use other methods in addition to the self-designation for determination of eligibility for the special treatment package, since they are more powerful to determine this, even though it is contrary to the very purpose of the WTO. Sometimes however, it will be unfair to treat equally all self-designated countries as developing one since there is a great difference of level of development among them.[3]

In addition to the WTO and GATT, the international organization which deals with the evaluation of the level of development of countries across the world is the UN. The UN committee for development policy (CDP) under the ECOSOC reviews and categorizes countries based on the level of development.[4]

In all cases the criteria used to identify countries as developed, developing, and least developed is the country’s GDP per capita. It is the only basis necessary to achieve a valid, objective definition, and that definition upon this basis is a necessary preliminary to the introduction of distributive justice into the WTO regime.[5]

1.2.1. Arguments Against Trade Liberalization: Protectionism

Protectionism is an economic policy which restrains a trade between countries through different methods. It may be implemented through tariffs, quotas and other quantitative restrictions, and other restrictive government regulatory measures which are imposed for the purpose of discouraging imports, and preventing foreign takeover of domestic enterprises. This kind of policy is categorized as anti-globalization by economists, but countries which are undertaking such kinds of measures have their own justification.[6] It is justified by different factors which are supposed to be for the interest of the country which imposes it. Some of these justifications are:[7] 1) Wealth accumulation by restricting imports and increasing exports. This will help the country to have surplus in international trade, which means when there is more export than import the country will accumulate more wealth at the expense of other countries. 2) Infant industries‟ protection by creating monopoly in the domestic market and shielding them from foreign competition. 3) Strategic trade policy, i.e. protectionism takes place in many ways. It may be a total ban of import from abroad, or selective ban based on a product or the origin of the product. Therefore, the country may ban the import of products based on its own trade strategy. 4) National security:- national security is also a justification for protectionism. It is thought that openness to trade is a threat to the national security. 5) Job protection, i.e. openness to trade will drove domestic producers out of the market due to lack of capacities to withstand foreign competition. As a result of this employees who depend on the domestic producers will lose their job. And other justifications such as differences in Environmental Standards, human rights, etc.

Even though we have different justifications for restriction of international trade most of the time the measure taken by a given state will backfire and endanger the economic interest of the country. The study conducted under the OECD found some negative effects of protectionism.[8] These findings indicate that: rise in domestic price stifle economic growth and depress investment; drop in imports is accompanied by drop in exports; jobs saved are offset by job losses in export-oriented industries; overall employment does not increase by protectionism; and the jobs saved are publicized and the jobs lost are not; hence, the public is left with the impression than protectionist policies benefit employment.

Domestic liberalization of trade and international integration serves as a means for economic transformation and development in today’s world. No state is self-sufficient to produce all its needs in the domestic market and there are many factors which negatively influence the capacity of a given state to produce what it needs domestically. In addition to scarcity of factors of production there are many factors which necessitate international trade.[9] Some of these factors are discussed below briefly.

First, international trade is justified by uneven resource distribution in the world geography. Nature has not endowed everyone with the same kind of resources with equal distribution. One nation may have some resources in abundance while others have less and other may totally deprived of resources of such nature. Trade (international trade) becomes the best solution for the problem of scarcity or uneven distribution of resources; for, it provides access to resources anywhere from everywhere.[10]

Second, trade is an instrument by which different individuals meet one another and exchange their values among themselves. It helps to know one another and enable them to develop a culture of tolerance and understanding of different ways of life.

Finally, trade is a way of weaving the world together. It creates more interactive world and strength a relationship among different nations, which in turn ensure peaceful coexistence. The economic tie is a powerful instrument in ensuring lasting solution for conflicts among different countries and ensuring global peace. Other benefits of international trade are, increase in sales, improve profit, traders or the country will have short term and long term securities through trade, increased innovation, economies of scale, education, and interdependence among governments.[11] International trade may be justified economically as absolute and comparative advantages for countries trading internationally.

Three main benefits of international trade are identified by Suhail Abboushi as follows:[12] a)The expanded market and subsequent growth of production reduces cost per unit and elevates and spreads efficiency; b) International competition reduces monopoly power by domestic producers and compels them to design and achieve higher production efficiencies; and c) Consumers gain wide varieties of products at lower prices and enjoy increased purchasing power for their limited income.

2.1. Opportunities of WTO Membership to Developing Countries in General

The WTO membership helps for liberalization of trade. Countries while signing the WTO accession protocol undertake commitments to reform trade related laws and policies. This is the main requirement for membership to the organization. Trade liberalization on the other hand encourage trade competition and as a result helps consumers to access goods and services with high quality but with lower price. This in turn encourages economic development and improves the standards of living of citizens.[13]

On the other hand membership to the WTO enables developing countries to access technical assistances from developing countries. This technical assistance helps developing countries during the accession process in order to enable them to comply with membership requirements. The other advantage of becoming WTO member is that it helps to withstand pressures from developed countries in which it provides legal basis for each and every trade activities conducted internationally. The WTO system provides legal basis for business activities and predictable dispute resolution mechanisms in case dispute arises among member states. Therefore, the WTO system protects developing countries from market abuse by developed countries.[14]

Accession to WTO helps least developed countries to liberalize their market and get access to foreign market in other member states under special and preferential treatment for certain period. This helps domestic consumer to access goods and services with high quality at lower prices and also helps domestic producers to access global market under special and preferential treatment package.[15]

Finally, accession to WTO enforces governments to review domestic legislations in order to make them more transparent and non-discriminatory, and this in turn helps to attract foreign direct investment, which is crucial for boosting export, ensuring job opportunity, and ensuring economic growth of a country.[16]

2.2. Specific Opportunities of Accession to WTO to the Developing Countries

2.2.1. Protection against Discriminatory Regulatory Measures

The first reason for which states want to join the WTO is for the gain of access to protection against discriminatory regulations by governments in their territory. One of these protections is as provided under Article I: 1 of GATT is the Most Favored Nations (MFN) protection. This principle accords the protection given to businesses from one of the member states to a business from other member states automatically in the given jurisdiction. According to this principle member states cannot discriminate among businesses from different member states. The protection given to businesses from one member state will immediately give to the other member state’s businesses when they undertake similar business activities.[17]

The other scheme of protection is that of the national treatment. This principle is about giving equal treatment to domestic businesses and to those which come from other member states. According to this principle, member states are prohibited from discriminating among businesses by categorizing them as domestic and foreign. They are required to give all treatments they gave to their domestic businesses. Similar to the MFN treatment, NT also prohibit discrimination among businesses where they undertake similar business activities.

2.2.2. The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)

In the WTO system there is a framework which is meant to encourage the market access for developing countries. This framework is called the Generalized System of Preference (GSP). Under this package developing countries are allowed to export their products at lower tariff to the developed countries. This framework is not an integral part of the WTO system, but it is a commitment taken by developed countries to support the developing countries while they are exporting their products. This framework enables developing countries to export their products at lower level of tariff to the market of the developed countries.[18]

2.2.3. Dispute Settlement

The dispute resolution method under the WTO is a rule based procedure which helps the developing countries as opposed to the power based system of dispute resolution. The rule based system is a security for the protection of the interest of developing countries. The rule based system of dispute resolution means that under the WTO there is independent dispute resolution organ, which undertakes its business of dispute resolution without requiring any external assistance and free of any influence by the powerful member states. The decision of the panel will be effective unless it is opposed by all members of the WTO (negative consensus), which is unattainable.[19] Due to this many developing countries are more successful in their disputes against the developed states. For instance, Costa Rica vs. US in the case on cotton textiles, and Venezuela vs. US on gasoline standards are the best proofs of this fact.[20] Based on these decisions the USA accepted the verdict of the appellate body and changed its policy accordingly. This case encourages the developing countries that they will be able to secure the protection of their interest against the developing countries despite their limited bargaining power. However, sometimes there is a non-compliance with the decision of the WTO’s dispute resolution body. In this case the solution will be limited to authorized retaliation, at which developing countries are not effective.[21]

2.3. Challenges of WTO Membership to Developing Countries

One of the costs of becoming member to the WTO for developing countries is that when they become member to the organization, WTO agreements like GATT, GATS, and TRIPS, get automatic legal force in their jurisdiction. Due to this member states are required to take commitment to implement these agreements in their jurisdiction. However, developing countries, except for GATT, will not have enough products under the rule of GATS and TRIPS to go with in international market. Because, there is no enough supply of internationally competitive service and intellectual property in these jurisdictions. Despite this fact, however, the developing countries members to the WTO take commitment to implement these agreements even though they will get nothing in return. And they incur costs of administration under these agreements mainly for the benefit of businesses from developed countries.[22]

Other factors which will aggravate the costs of becoming member to the WTO to developing countries are: population size, remoteness from major markets as in the case of landlocked states, reliance on a small number of export goods, mostly raw materials, weak administrative capacities, large economic and ecological vulnerability, lack of market oriented institutional infrastructure, and political instability often compounded by civil disorder, supply bottlenecks ... including inadequate transport facilities.[23]

In case of the least developed countries there are even worse challenges they incur as a result of joining the WTO. Some of these challenges are that the limitation on regulatory sovereignty state on trade related issues and costs of legal and policy reform they incur through the accession process, since their laws and policies are mostly incompatible with the requirements of the WTO.

The cost they incur is economic cost they pay for employment of qualified personnel for the negotiation during the accession process and also for the implementation of the agreement since it needs highly qualified workers in the area.[24] The other challenge of joining WTO for least developed countries is that there domestic companies will face strong competition from abroad; because, accession to the WTO allows foreign companies to invest in a member state under protection packages like MFN and national treatment. Due to this businesses for technologically advanced countries come to invest in such least developed countries and as a result they will drive out of the market domestic companies since they cannot compete with them with such level of technological advancement.[25]

[1] Derk Bienen, What Can LDCs Acceding to the WTO Learn from other Acceded Countries? BKP Development research and consulting discussion paper no. 01, 2014,.pp.12-13

[2] Altaer, Ahmad Shaban Ali Saif, The WTO and Developing Countries: The Missing Link of International Distributive Justice, 73, (2010)

[3] Ravinder Rena, Impact of WTO policies on developing countries: issues and Perspectives, Transnational Corporations Review (Canada) 4(3):77-88, 2012, p. 81

[4] Supra at, 1.

[6] Regine Adele Ngono Fouda, Protectionism and Free Trade: A Country’s Glory or Doom? International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 3, No. 5, 351- 355, 351, 2012.

[7] [ last visited on March 26, 2019]

[8] Suhail Abboushi, Trade protectionism: Reasons and Outcomes, International Business Journal incorporating Journal of Global Competitiveness, 384-394, 390, 2010.

[9] Johan Galtung, Trade as if Peace Matters, Pluto Journals, (World View Political Economy), Vol. 1 No. 2, 197-208, 2010, p. 198,

[10] Ibid

[11] Richard P. Biggs, 10 Reasons to go International, Atlantic International Growth Consultant (Atlantic LLC) Portland, OR, USA, at p.2

[12] Supra at 10.

[13] Supra at 1.

[14] Kleen, Sheila and Peter, Special and Differential Treatment of Developing Countries, in the World Trade Organization, 68, 2005.

[15] Ibid

[16] Anne Bernier, Jeffrey Schlandt, WTO Accession and Economic Growth, USAID Economic Analysis and Data Services, 8, 2018.

[17] G. Arveladze and M. Smeets, Georgia's Post Accession Structural Reform Challenges, World Trade Organization, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO Working Paper, 2017, p.5.

[18] Fritz Thomas, Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries, Global Issue Paper, Commissioned by German watch and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2005, p.11

[19] Johannesson Louise, Supporting Developing Countries in WTO Dispute Settlement, 6 (2016)

[20] Supra at 11

[21] Supra, at 1.

[22] Stebek, Elias N., WTO Accession in the Ethiopian Context: A Bittersweet Paradox, Mizan Law Review Vol. 1 No.1, 91-118, 2007, p. 98.

[23] Ibid

[24] Supra, at 11.

[25] Supra at, 22.

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Cyanobacteria Fig

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Bailey, B.K., Performance of ethanol as a transportation fuel, in Handbook on Bioethanol Production and Utilization, Wyman, C.E., Ed., Taylor & Francis, Washington, DC, 1996, pp. 37-60. Bajpai, P.K. and Bajpai, P., Utilization of Jerusalem artichoke for fuel ethanol production using free and immobilized cells, Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem., 11, 155-168, 1989. Bajpai, P. and Margaritis, A., Continuous ethanol production for Jerusalem artichoke stalks using immobilized cells of Kluyveromyces marxianus, Process Biochem., 21, 86-89, 1986. Bajpai, P. and Margaritis, A., The effect of temperature and pH on ethanol production by free and immobilized cells of Kluyveromyces marxianus grown on Jerusalem artichoke extract, Biotechnol. Bioeng., 30, 306-312, 1987. Baker, L., Thomassin, P.J., and Henning, J.C., The economic competitiveness of Jerusalem artichoke (Helian-thus tuberosus) as an agricultural feedstock for ethanol production for transportation fuels, Can. J. Agric. Econ., 38, 981-990,...

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The Jerusalem artichoke or topinambour (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is not only a fascinating species, but also one with an exceptionally colorful history. Over the past 300 years, interest in the crop has vacillated widely. During times of crop failure and food shortage (e.g., potato famine, during and after World War II) or high petroleum prices, a new round of interest in the crop's potential often occurs, all too frequently with only a limited understanding of the extensive body of literature already available. More recently, renewed interest has been spurred by its potential as a feedstock for the synthesis of a diverse cross section of new products, an awareness of its significant health benefits when included in human and animal diets, and the possibility of utilizing it for the production of biofuels.

Processing and utilization

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Nitrogen Deposition Sources of N pollution

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Understanding the control of assimilate partitioning and how to manipulate it underpins many targets for plant biotechnologists (Fig. 4.5). An important target with broad applications is the manipulation of the carbon nitrogen balance. In potato tubers and most cereal seeds, this is effectively the ratio of starch to protein, although all cereal seeds also contain some oil. Farmers producing barley for malting, for example, grow varieties that favour the accumulation of starch over protein in the seed and cultivate the crop under low nitrogen conditions to keep seed protein levels low. Similarly, high-starch and low-protein varieties are grown to produce the 6.1 million tonnes of starch from wheat, maize and potato that is used by food and non-food industries each year in Europe. In contrast, farmers producing barley, wheat and maize for animal feed need varieties that favour protein production. The ability to manipulate the C N balance to suit a particular end-user requirement has...

Overexpression Of Mts As A Means To Increase Cadmium Tolerance

Heavy metal pollution of soils and waters, mainly caused by mining and the burning of fossil fuels, is a major environmental problem. Heavy metals, unlike organic pollutants, cannot be chemically degraded or biodegraded by microorganisms. An alternative biological approach used to deal with this problem is phytoremediation i.e., the use of plants to clean up polluted waters and soils 78,80 . Heavy metals or metalloids can be removed from polluted sites by phytoex-traction, which is the accumulation of the pollutants in the plant biomass 81 . Compared with other remediation technologies, phytoremediation is less expensive (1000-fold less expensive than excavation and reburial of soil 82 ) and is particularly suitable for treatment of large volumes of substrate with low concentrations of heavy metals. However, the presence of heavy metals inhibits plant growth, limiting the application of phytoremediation. Therefore, one trait of great significance to phytoremediation is the ability of...

Biotechnological Perspectives

To improve crop productivity, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of plant responses to environmental changes with the ultimate goal being the increase of food availability. There are concerns about our ability to increase, or even maintain, crop yield and production in the context of global environmental change and its associated abiotic stresses (Tester and Langridge 2010). Furthermore, the current increment in biofuels production adds more doubts about our capacity to produce enough food.

Heavy Metal Contamination Of Soil And Associated Agricultural And Environmental Problems

Processing of the ores for the extraction of metals is the second major step during which metals find their way into land mass the metals escaping out of the chimneys of smelters are ultimately deposited in agricultural fields or other land, which may be far from the smelting unit. Atmospheric metal enrichment, leading subsequently to pollution of soil, is also associated with other higher temperature anthropogenic activities, like burning of fossil fuels, production of cements, etc. For illustration, the emission of a few heavy metals due to burning of coal is given in Table 16.2. Despite modern technological advances, smelting operations and fossil fuel burning in industries continue to be important sources of heavy metals in the terrestrial environment.

Inputs from the atmosphere

Precipitation contains all of the plant nutrients in at least minute amounts to concentrations exceeding those in many soil solutions (Table 5.7). Local and regional geology (e.g., desert, proximity to ocean), type of vehicle (e.g., rain, cloud water), season, and a variety of other natural and anthropogenic factors determine the compositions of these solutions. Global change is also an increasingly important player. Mounting inputs reflect changing land use, especially the burning of biomass and the consumption of fossil fuels (Moffat 1998). Impacts on oligotrophic flora and many Bromeliaceae and other plants dependent on foliage and the atmosphere to acquire mineral nutrients seem likely whether burdens of reactive N continue to increase or level off. Acidified precipitation could exacerbate the problem given the weakly buffered nature of the rooting media and phy-totelmata of many of the epiphytes. A rising CO2 level further challenges attempts to predict plant responses to...

QTL Comparisons Across Taxa

In isolating genes responsible for QTLs, microcollinearity aids in designing new markers from well-studied plant species to be applied to more complex genomes or orphan crops. For instance, two wheat QTLs associating with vernalization genes (VRN1 and VRN2) (Dubcovsky et al. 1998 Tranquilli and Dubcovsky 2000) were cloned in part by designing additional markers based on the rice and sorghum genomes. Rice is syntenic to many corresponding regions containing genes involved in different developmental processes such as tassel and ear development in maize, and has been utilized for cloning these genes. Likewise, sorghum is closely related to major cellulosic biofuels crops including Saccharum (sugarcane) and Miscanthus, and its sequence is expected to accelerate progress in improvement of biofuels crops. Conservation of gene order between rice and barley genomes was not found in regions containing disease resistance (Bortiri et al. 2006). However, two of the three QTLs associated with...

Human Influences on the Carbon Cycle

Humans are causing large changes in the carbon cycle. First, humans have altered the land biosphere by cutting forests to clear land for agriculture for lumber, pulp, and fuel wood and to make room for cities. Natural grasslands have also been plowed for agriculture. In the early 1990s about 38 percent of Earth's land surface was used for agriculture including croplands and pastures, according to United Nations statistics. When land is cleared, most of the carbon stored in the plants and much of that stored in the soils is converted to CO2 and lost to the atmosphere. Second, since the mid-1800s humans have learned to harness the energy stored in fossil fuels, mainly coal, oil, and natural gas. The term fossil fuels refers to the fact that these materials are composed of the fossil remains of ancient plants. When fossil fuels are burned, energy that can be used to light and heat our homes, drive our cars, and manufacture all the goods that we use from day to day is released. Burning...

Metabolism of membrane fatty acids in senescing tissues

The fatty acids of membranes are a rich source of carbon, and there is now compelling evidence that this carbon fuels the formation of ATP during senescence and, at least in some plants, is converted to phloem-mobile sucrose for transport to developing seeds (Wanner et al., 1982, 1991 Froman et al., 2000 Page et al., 2001 Cornah and Smith, 2002). It is also clear that the first step in this mobilization is de-esterification of fatty acids from complex membrane lipids including phospho-lipids and galactolipids (Thompson et al., 1998). These fatty acids in turn undergo j-oxidation in glyoxysomes forming acetyl-CoA for energy production and in many plants, but apparently not all (Charlton et al., 2005), conversion through the glyoxy-late cycle and the TCA cycle to oxaloacetate, leading to gluconeogenesis and the formation of sucrose (DeBellis et al., 1990).

Metal Hyperaccumulators For Phytoremediation Hype

Also, the success of the phytoremediation depends on the nature of the target metal. For example, due to different degrees of soil pollution and solubility, the cases of Cd and Pb are completely different. In many slightly Cd-contaminated agricultural soils, the phytoextraction approach should be more successful than on Pb-polluted soils, which need significant effort to immobilize Pb and to extract much higher metal content. Some crops produce biomass with an added value. For example, crops for industrial products, chemicals, biodiesel and other aromatic compounds.

Drivers of Global Soybean Market and Trade

The key driver of soybean market growth is the macro-economy of the suppliers and consumers of soybean and its products (Informa Economics, 2005). Market demand for soybean and its value is derived from soybean meal and soybean oil (Rausser and Carter, 1983). Global movements towards biofuels, functional foods and the increasing replacement of protein sourced from fishmeal with that sourced from soybean meal in livestock feed formulations have been driving global soybean marketing and trade, leading to drastic price increases that are not likely to fall or stabilize soon. This may benefit large-scale soybean producers and increase economic incentives for emerging soybean-producing countries such as Argentina (Perez et al., 2008). Some of these driving factors are further discussed below.

Land Use and C02 Emissions

The influence of C02 emissions from burning of fossil fuels on the global climate is intensified by the release of C02 from changes in land use (see Fig. 5.2.6). Changes in land use amount to about 20 of global C02 emissions - the trend is increasing. Man influences the global C balance by

Climate change mitigation

Owing to their capacity to sequester atmospheric CO2, there has recently been much interest in using plantations in climate change mitigation strategies. In Chapter 3, five strategies for the contribution of the forestry sector have been identified (1) increasing the forest area through afforestation (2) increasing the carbon stored in existing forests (3) protecting existing carbon stocks from release into the atmosphere (4) increasing the carbon stored in products (yielding also indirect greenhouse gas mitigation through material substitution) and (5) substituting fossil fuels with bioenergy derived from forest biomass and wood (see above).

Applications of modified levels of plant PDglucans

In addition to the biological importance of these polysaccharides, interest in the GT2 and GT48 enzymes that are believed to be involved in their biosynthesis has been stimulated by the commercial and nutritional properties of the polysaccharide products of the enzymes. Thus, these plant polysaccha-rides are of fundamental importance in plant growth and development, resistance to pathogen invasion, the quality of plant-based foods and the properties of plant fibres and fuels. Cellulose, for example, represents the world 's largest renewable carbon resource. Cellulose biogenesis by land plants and marine algae from photosynthetically-derived carbohydrate occurs at the prodigious rate of 8.5 x 1010 tonnes per year. One particularly promising agro-mdustrial application is in the replacement of fossil fuels with bioethanol. Currently, bioethanol production is increasing rapidly, and with recent advances in the catalytic efficiency of hydrolytic enzymes and non-enzymatic methods for...

Changing demand for soybean

Based on demand and importation, the developed countries are the major consumers of soybean produced in the world. In 2000, high-income countries accounted for 46 of total soybean demand (165 million t), 90 of which was for non-food use - mainly animal feeds and, more recently, biodiesel. Similar to the USA and Brazil, the demand for soybean biodiesel is increasing in the EU. Europe has set targets for biofuels in order to reduce petroleum carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels (Ash et al., 2006). The demand for soybean products in East Asia and Latin America presents an interesting trend (Fig. 20.1). The East Asia and Pacific share of the world demand for soybean will increase from about 0.2 (or 20 ) in 2000 to about 0.25 (or 25 ) in 2020, driven mainly by China. The region's share of the world demand for soybean will then start falling and reach about 0.2 (or 20 ) again in 2050. Latin America and Brazil show a decreasing share of the global soybean demand. India presents a...

Effect of policy on pattern of soybean trade

The USA has now enacted the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which set a goal of producing 28.5 billion l of biofuel by the year 2012. More ambitious is the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which sets a goal of producing 136 billion l of biofuel (of which 4 billion l will be biodiesel) by 2022 (Tyner, 2008). This has led to a robust growth in biodiesel production from soybean. The Acts are accompanied by subsidies and other incentives for farmers, developers of technologies and biofuel producers (see Tyner, 2008, for a complete review). Efforts to increase biofuel production have been driven by the need to reduce CO2 and sulphur emissions. The USA enacted Clean Air Act amendments in 1990, seeking to lower sulphur emissions (Tyner, 2008). Assuming that only soybean-based biodiesel is blended with fossil diesel to achieve the Clean Air Act, it will require 15 of USA soybean production (Ash et al., 2006). Brazil and Argentina have also formulated policies to reduce dependence on...

Expected Future Trends Export and Import in Global Soybean Marketing and Trade

EU soybean meal and soybean grains import has exhibited some slow growth. Increases in grain and rapeseed meal feeding are expected to continue to slow the growth in EU soybean meal and soybean imports. This is because the increase in grain and rapeseed meal replaces soybean meal, given that the two products (soybean meal and rapeseed meal) are substitutes (USDA, 2005). Abundant EU grain stocks, lower internal EU grain prices due to Agenda 2000 price cuts, increased barley production due to Common Agricultural Policy 2003 reforms, greater supplies of coarse grains from acceding countries and more rapeseed meal available as a result of the biofuels initiative are combining to slow the growth of soybean meal consumption. These factors are partially offset by increases in dairy quota and increased feeding of soybean meal.

Ectomycoremediation of Organic Xenobiotics

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants that represent an important risk to the environment and human health (Kuiper et al. 2004 Koivula et al. 2004). PAHs consist of a diverse group of organic molecules with a wide range of chemical properties (number of aromatic rings, molecular weight, and structural configuration), water solubility, and volatility. Particularly, higher-ringed PAHs are recalcitrant to degradation and include toxic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic compounds. PAH contaminations of the soil are mainly the result of leakage from old storage tanks or natural oil reservoirs, oil spills, road surfaces, domestic waste, incomplete fossil fuel combustion, former gas plant facilities, and tanker accidents (Morgan and Watkinson 1989).

Polyploidy Evolution of New Genomes

Sugarcane, an important biofuel crop, has undergone at least two genome duplications since its divergence from sorghum 8-9 mya (Jannoo et al. 2007). Polyploidy further added to the complexity of its genome (n 18-85 versus n 10 for sorghum) which not only impedes breeding progress but also makes challenging the job of understanding the sugarcane genome or its transmission genetics (Ming et al. 2005). Comparative genome mapping studies suggest a high degree of collinearity between the gene order of sugarcane and sorghum genomes (Ming et al. 2002).

Palynology of Bryophytes

All these groups have well preserved fossil ancestors and representative genera and species. Isospores, miospores, microspores, megaspores and sporangial structures producing them have been well preserved in the form of fossils. Some of them find applications in palynostratigraphic correlation, which is widely used in the exploration of fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

Genomics Tools For Weeds That Are Under Development

Rich genomics resources have been developed from B. distachyon since it is used as a model for grain crops (wheat and barley in particular), forages, turfgrasses, and herbaceous biofuel crops such as switchgrass intro.html). Many attributes make B. distachyon an excellent model organism, including a small genome (355 Mb per haploid genome), diploid accessions, a series of polyploid accessions (tetraploid and hexaploid), a small physical stature, inbreeding, simple genetics, a short life cycle (two months), and simple growth requirements (Draper et al. 2001 Garvin 2007, Garvin et al. 2008). In addition, it is amenable to efficient transformation procedures (Christiansen et al. 2005 Vogel et al. 2006a). Genomics resources being developed include a set of inbred diploid Brachypodium lines (Vogel et al. 2006a), more than 20,000 ESTs and 8,500 potential SSR markers (Vogel et al. 2006b http ), and deep bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries and high-density...

Morphology of Microfossils

During the maceration of sediments along with the pollen grains and spores, a large quantity of microfossils are also recovered, though their affinity with plants and animals is uncertain. These microfossils have abundant applications in interpreting stratigraphical and paleoenvironmental conditions, which have applied scope in the fossil fuel exploration. Technically, the study of these microfossils also forms part of the palynological investigation. As the name indicates the microfossils comprise minute remains of fossil organisms. These organisms lived in the past in a variety of habitats. The detailed study of microfossils got a real boost after realization of their applied importance, particularly in the exploration of fossil fuels.

Synergies and tradeoffs between ecosystem goods and services

Regarding the influence of plantations to reduce atmospheric CO2, sequestration and storage need to be separated. Sequestration, the uptake of carbon into vegetation and its partial transfer into the soil pool, removes CO2 from the atmosphere. This process is tightly coupled with plantation productivity. Storage of C in vegetation and soils simply prevents C from being released to the atmosphere as CO2. Forest systems such as plantations may have a high sequestration potential but little storage, whereas the opposite situation can be found in old-growth forests. For many of the management options it is difficult to ascertain the effect that they have on atmospheric CO2 since this depends to a large extent on the fate of the material harvested (see Chapter 3). If the harvested wood is turned into long-lived products, which, at the end of their service live, are used energetically to offset fossil fuel burning, the effect can be very positive. In contrast, if the wood is turned into...

Miscanthus Species Genetic Improvement

Another trait that is most important to alter is composition of the cell walls. The bulk of mature plant biomass represents secondary cell walls consisting mainly of a complex polysaccharide framework, several types of highly glycosylated proteins and complex polymers of phenylpropanoid units, that is, lignin, the hydrophobic filler that provides physical strength to the cell wall. Various structural and chemical characteristics of plant cell walls that act as the first barrier between plant and environment have evolved in order to resist external stresses from pathogen attack, wounding or mechanical stimuli. These cell wall properties make it difficult to disassemble biomass when it is used for liquid biofuel production however, high lignin can be advantageous for burning since it has a higher energy content than carbohydrate.

Minor Applications of Pollen Studies

There is no doubt that pollen studies have many applications, which can be classified into major and minor applications for the sake of convenience and proper understanding. Major applications are incorporated in Chapter 12 on Melissopalynology, Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 on various aspects of Aerobiology, Chapter 20 on Forensic Palynology and Chapter 21 on use of pollen studies in exploration of fossil fuels Palaeopalynology and reconstruction of past vegetation (Palaeoecology).

Temporal response patterns considerations and controls

Given that gross primary productivity (GPP), aboveground respiration, and soil respiration represent three of the largest fluxes in the terrestrial global carbon cycle (estimated at 120, 60, and 60 Pg C yr-1, respectively Schlesinger 1997), it is imperative to understand if and to what degree these processes will acclimate to changing environmental conditions such as CO2 enrichment and global warming. Even slight changes in the direction and or magnitude of these fluxes could equal or exceed the annual input of CO2 to the atmosphere via combined fossil fuel combustion and land-use changes (estimated at Pg C yr-1), and could therefore significantly accelerate - or decelerate - the rate of atmospheric build-up of CO2, with consequent feedbacks to climate change. Homeostasis is the 'maintenance of or 'return to' constant internal conditions in the face of a varying external environment (Ricklefs 1990). Classic examples include (a) the thermal regulation of homeotherms despite external...

Key Nematodes on Food Staples for Food Security in Developing Countries

Been estimated that about 70 of the land cultivated for food crops is devoted to cereal crops. The global population is projected to increase steadily to around 9 billion by 2050 and with this demand for the staple cereals of rice, maize and wheat will increase (Dixon et al. 2009). Projections suggest that over this period the demand for maize will grow faster than that for wheat due to the use of maize as animal and poultry feed and the increasing demand for biofuel. The demand for wheat will grow faster than that for rice and is likely to follow closely the growth in global population over this period (FAO 2006 Dixon et al. 2009).

Study Of Pollen Grains Introduction

Soil Cd Contamination

Pollution Claude Monet

The release of Cd into the environment constitutes a significant pollution problem. The release of Cd from anthropogenic activities is estimated to be about 4,000 to 13,000 tons per year, with major contributions from mining activities, and burning of fossil fuels (ATSDR 1999). The Cd-yellow oil colours used by landscape painters, including Claude Monet (Fig. 21.1a) is just one of the many valuable uses of Cd, contrasting with the pernicious effects that Cd can cause in plants (Fig. 21.1b). Other important applications of Cd are in metallurgical industry and in the manufacture of nickel-cadmium batteries,

Atmospheric Treatments

The changes in cytoplasmic pH are considered to be the controlling factor that regulate fermentative metabolism (Imahori et al. 2002b). A self-controlling system for lactate and ethanol production called the pH-stat hypothesis is proposed. This hypothesis suggests that at the onset of anaerobic stress LDH is active at alkaline pH of the cytoplasm and shunts pyruvate and lactate, and that the accumulation of lactate reduces cytoplasmic pH, which, in turn, inhibits LDH and activates PDC leading to ethanol production (Tadege et al. 1999 Imahori et al. 2003). Concentrations of substrates and cofactors may exert metabolic control on fermentation enzymes. The different Kms of pyruvate dehydro-genase (PDH) and PDC for pyruvate are the controlling factors that regulate the entry of pyruvate into the TCA cycle or the ethanolic fermentation pathway because the Km of plant PDHs for pyru-vate is in the M range, whereas that of PDCs is in the mM range (Tadege et al. 1999). However, this would be...

Short Rotation Forestry Using Sewage Sludge and Biosolids Implications

SRF has been successful in Sweden for the production of biofuel for the past 20 years. SRF takes its name from the short rotation time typical of poplar and willows (4 to 6 years) compared to conifers (60 to 120 years) or broadleaved trees (35 to 50 years). Under optimum conditions (i.e., intensive management strategies), SRF can yield between 12,000 and 20,000 kg dry matter (DM) ha-1 yr-1, although in general, lower yields of between 6000 and 9000 kg DM ha-1 yr-1 are more likely. If SRF is used for the generation of energy, approximately 4.5 MWh of energy can be produced from burning 1 ton of dry matter (50 moisture) 158 . The tree species used in biomass forestry vary between areas in which they are grown. Many of the SRF species commonly used, especially Populus spp., have also shown considerable potential in the remediation of groundwater contaminated with inorganic chemicals specifically, the P deltoides x nigra and P. trichocarpa x deltoides clones. SRF fulfills important...

System Stability and Change

Pollen Graivn Preface

CisMotif Context Modified the Centre for Synthetic Promoter Engineering

The primary component of a synthetic promoter is the region known as a regulatory module, fused upstream to the core promoter. The cis-motif context (i.e. motif position, spacing, orientation, copy number and specific combination) of a synthetic module serves as the principal target for promoter modification strategies. Furthermore, modification of cis-regulatory architecture does not only allow 'fine-tuning' and or enhancement of transgene transcriptional activity and inducibility, but sheds light on the functional role of defined cis-motif sequences binding to particular TFs in response to a specific stimulus (Fig. 20.2a). Synthetic promoters have successfully been used in a number of plant studies to either elucidate the role of cis-regulatory elements or to modulate targeted inducibility (using prior knowledge of c s-motif function), independently and or within a specific c s-motif arrangement. Examples include c s-motifs that are strongly associated with heat shock, light,...

Significance of Cellwall Texture for Wood Quality

Wood has been used for thousands of years as a raw material for timber, furniture, pulp and paper, chemicals, and fuels. In addition, since wood is a major carbon sink, it is expected to play an important role in removing the excess of atmospheric CO2 that is generated by the burning of fossil fuels (IPCC 2007). Therefore, there is still great demand for wood as a renewable bio-material and source of bio-energy.

Treatment of harvest residues

Besides rotation length and amount of biomass harvested, the treatment of detritus or harvest residues impacts on forest carbon stocks in managed forests (Harmon and Marks, 2002 Laiho et al, 2003 Eriksson et al, 2007). The treatment may comprise various alternatives such as slash-burning, removal for bioenergy use or decomposition on site. Decomposition leads to a gradual carbon loss from the ecosystem, sometimes even offsetting the biomass carbon accumulation rate leading to a negative net balance. This is especially true if the material inhibits tree regeneration. Alternative treatments like slash-burning lead to a much faster loss that is probably similar in magnitude over time. Biomass removal for use as fuelwood or bioenergy causes rapid losses to the ecosystem but affords opportunities for fossil fuel substitution outside the forest (Palosuo et al, 2008).

Improved ecosystem services from plantations of the future

Mankind has altered and transformed 40-50 per cent of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the Earth and appropriates an estimated 20 per cent of the global net primary production (Imhoff et al, 2004). The world's population is predicted to increase by 34 per cent from today to reach 9.1 billion people in 2050 (FAO, 2009). At the same time, this population will be more urbanized and have higher income levels than today. This larger and richer population will place unprecedented demands on the Earth's natural resources for the production of food and fibre (FAO, 2009). Currently humans appropriate 40-50 per cent of the available fresh water, and this is predicted to increase to 70 per cent by 2050 (Postel et al, 1996). In addition, it has been estimated that humans have doubled the nitrogen inputs from fertilizing agricultural systems and fossil fuel burning into terrestrial ecosystems (Vitousek et al, 1997), and the current atmospheric nitrogen deposition has enhanced the forest carbon...

Phosphorylation Dephosphorylation

Disadvantageous for plant productivity in modern agriculture because it results in resource allocation to stem growth, at the cost of leaf growth and the development of storage and reproductive structures. As this example illustrates, modern agricultural practices place different constraints on plant growth that have not been necessarily selected for during plant evolution, although the natural environment selects for certain traits. Traditionally, breeding efforts have been focused on optimizing grain yields by modulating those characteristics that affect these traits, such as plant height, branching and time of flowering. With the recent interest in lignocellulosic-based biofuels, however, a new breeding paradigm may emerge to optimize biomass at the expense of grain yield. Therefore, an understanding of light signalling might lead to the judicial manipulation of photoreceptor signalling pathways to improve the characteristics of these new traits.

Effects of Deforestation

Globally the effects of deforestation are more difficult to see. Forests play an important part in the greater natural cycles that make and affect the weather and that clean the air in our atmosphere. They keep the hydro-logical cycle healthy by putting water back into the atmosphere through transpiration, making clouds and rain. They also capture carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels from the atmosphere, replacing it with oxygen and thus reducing the risk of global warming. If too many forests are cut these important functions cannot be carried out. The result could be less rain, higher temperatures, and more severe weather patterns in many regions of the world.

Reasons for increases in the price of soybean products

Contribution of soybean to production of biodiesel in 2006 2007 by major producing countries (reprinted with permission from Trostle, 2008). Table 20.3. Contribution of soybean to production of biodiesel in 2006 2007 by major producing countries (reprinted with permission from Trostle, 2008). aAbout two thirds of EU biodiesel production is derived from rapeseed. aAbout two thirds of EU biodiesel production is derived from rapeseed. Increasing fossil fuel prices have prompted efforts by Brazil, Argentina, the USA and EU countries to develop alternative energy sources, including soybean-based biodiesel. Increasing fossil fuel prices have also increased soybean production costs, contributing to the increasing prices of soybean and other foods (Benson et al., 2008). Policies in these countries have been designed to give incentives for the production of biofuels. This has also led to increasing production of ethanol, which is maize-based. Import and export restrictions, in...

Changing pattern of soybean production and export as demand increases

During recent years, the export of soybean by the USA has also been declining due to the alternative uses of soybean as a biodiesel and the recent policy changes that have given tax breaks or subsidies for the production of biodiesel from soybean. Competition (with maize) for land for ethanol production is also likely to decrease US soybean production and export (Elobeid et al., 2006).

Importance of Soil pH

Soil pH is an important property that influences many chemical and biological processes occurring in soils. Acidification of soils is a natural geologic process. Rainwater contains carbonic acid produced when atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in the rain. In addition, plants may acidify the soil around their roots by releasing hydrogen ions. Human processes, such as combustion of fossil fuels, may add acidity to the atmosphere this acidity eventually reaches soils via precipitation (acid rain) and deposition of dry particles. Although many soils have a large capacity to neutralize incoming acidity without changes in their pH values, over geologic time soil pH values decrease.

Plant fat is used for human nutrition and also as a raw material in industry

Plant fats are also important as industrial raw materials. Fatty acids are obtained after the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols. They have been in use as alkali salts in soap since ancient times. Fatty acid alcohols and fatty acid methyl esters are also used as detergents. Moreover, fatty acid methyl esters synthesized from rape seed oil are used as car fuel (bio diesel). The high quantities of glycerol released during the hydrolysis of fats are an important industrial raw material.

Consequences of UVB damage in aquatic ecosystems

Into organic material (Houghton & Woodwell, 1989 Siegenthaler & Sarmiento, 1993). This figure is again similar to that for terrestrial ecosystems. In both cases, most of this is released during the decay of the organic material. This natural carbon cycle is disturbed by the release of about 5 Gt of carbon from fossil fuel burning and another 2 Gt from (mostly tropical) deforestation. However, only 3 of the total of 7 Gt actually accumulate in the atmosphere. The remaining 4 Gt are believed to be removed from the cycle by the biological pump in the oceans organic and inorganic carbon falls out of the upper layers of the water column in the form of oceanic snow which is deposited in the deep sea. Thus, a decrease in the phytoplankton populations will result in an increase in the atmospheric C02 concentration, augmenting the greenhouse effect and the resulting sea level rise (Schneider, 1989).

Excessive concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the air are toxic for plants

Sulfur dioxide in the air, which is formed in particularly high amounts during the smelting of sulfur containing ores, and also during the combustion of fossil fuel, can cover the total nutritional sulfur requirement of a plant. In higher concentrations, however, it leads to dramatic damage in plants. Gaseous SO2 is taken up via the stomata into the leaves, where it is converted to sulfite

The use of energy from sunlight by photosynthesis is the basis of life on earth

Plants and cyanobacteria capture the light of the sun and utilize its energy to synthesize organic compounds from inorganic substances such as CO2, nitrate, and sulfate to synthesize their cellular material they are photoau-totrophic. In photosynthesis photon energy splits water into oxygen and hydrogen, the latter bound as NADPH. This process, termed the light reaction, takes place in the photosynthetic reaction centers embedded in membranes. It involves the transport of electrons, which is coupled to the synthesis of ATP. NADPH and ATP are consumed in a so-called dark reaction to synthesize carbohydrates from CO2 (Fig. 2.1). The photosynthesis of plants and cyanobacteria created the biomass on earth, including the deposits of fossil fuels and atmospheric oxygen. Animals are dependent on the supply of carbohydrates and other organic compounds as food they are heterotrophic. They generate the energy required for their life processes by oxidizing the biomass, which has first been...

Environmental Impacts

Compared to annually cultivated crops, perennial grasses are often considered environmentally favourable because the more dense and continuous vegetative cover provides protection to the soil against erosion, may reduce runoff and nutrient loss and sequester carbon in the soil (Blanco-Canqui, 2010). Because perennials begin growth earlier in the year than annuals, perennial grasses are thought to be more synchronous with soil nutrient availability (mineralization) and plant uptake throughout the growing season, which may limit nutrient losses. The degree to which these benefits are realized in practice depends on the specific management practices employed, in addition to past management and the environmental context. Reduced runoff may be beneficial in settings where erosion or downstream flooding is problematic. However, in some settings, runoff and drainage from agricultural cropland are important sources of water for human communities and aquatic ecosystems. In these situations,...

Proteomics in Crop Improvement

Optimization of crop yield and quality are perhaps the two most important factors for growers therefore, crop improvement involving the engineering of plants is an area that will likely continue to be the focus of a significant amount of research as well as funding. In addition to the rapidly increasing global population, several factors including social, geopolitical, economical, and environmental factors have raised concerns regarding the ability to produce a sufficient amount of high-quality, nutritious food in an efficient and sustainable manner throughout the world. It was estimated in the late 1990s that about two billion people worldwide suffer from malnutrition and or hunger this figure is likely to increase as the global population continues to grow at an alarming rate, with a projected world population of over nine billion by 2050 and with much of the increase occurring in developing nations 35 . Although it is estimated that approximately...

In Soil Aggregation And Plant Growth

Formation of the highly stable glomalin molecule, but organic matter occluded within aggregates appears to have a turnover time double that of free organic matter (Six et al., 2001 Nichols and Wright, 2004 Preger et al., 2007 Roldan et al., 2007 Rillig, 2004 Rillig, et al., 2007). Therefore, effective management of soil organisms and, as a consequence, agricultural systems, will maintain a consistent supply of plant-available nutrients to meet the demands of food, feed, fiber and biofuels production for a growing world population while maintaining optimal ecosystem function.

Processing and Products

The global goal for soybean processing and utilization is to strengthen the development of new food, feed, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and industrial products, including co-products and ingredients for speciality applications. As of now, soybean derivatives are gaining importance not only in nutritious food products, but also as sources of phytochemicals and nutraceuticals to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes and so on. The emphasis in the non-food or industrial products markets is on biodegradable adhesives, plastics, coatings, inks, lubricants, biodiesel and more.

Conclusions and Implications Policy and Research for the Soybean Sector

Two main challenges and opportunities are worth mentioning as far as the future of soybean is concerned. First is the growing global energy demand and soaring energy prices. These continue to increase the demand for alternative energy sources, including soybean oil as biodiesel. The second is China's ever-growing demand for soybean products. This is also true of the industrial uses of soybean oil and by-products to meet the expansion of manufacturers. These expected trends may benefit big soybean producers, but will also prove to be a challenge unless there is a technological breakthrough in efficiently producing and marketing soybean internationally. There are, however, certain constraints in the soybean sector at the global level. One of these is the incomplete soybean value chain. There is a need to develop institutions to address the missing links along the soybean value chain and reduce the transaction costs of doing business in soybean and its products. New and emerging uses of...

Energy Flow

Ecologic Effects

Plantations provide a multitude of valuable goods and services. Carbon sequestration is one of these services. Its importance has increased markedly because forests are seen as a key pillar of greenhouse gas mitigation to combat climate change. Five strategies for the contribution of the forestry sector have been identified (1) increase forest area (2) increase carbon stock in existing forests (3) protect existing stocks (4) increase carbon stored in products (yielding also indirect greenhouse gas mitigation through material substitution) and (5) substitute fossil fuels with bioenergy derived from forest biomass and wood.

Concluding Remarks

Like all 'second generation' targets (in other words those that affect output traits rather than inputs of herbicide or insecticide), the manipulation of photosynthate partitioning has yet to find a market in biotech crops. However, that may be about to change, with high-lysine corn ready for launch and a demand established for high-starch crops for biofuels. Therefore, it may well be that the next decade sees biotech crops with modified partitioning break through on to the market. Furthermore, the possibility that manipulating partitioning could make crops more efficient under high carbon dioxide conditions ensures that this area of research and development will remain a key one in crop biotechnology.

Biomass Fuels

Liquid biomass fuels can be produced from solid biomass by three processes fermentation to ethanol, processing of vegetable oils to biodiesel, or thermal processing to pyrolysis oils. Pyrolysis is the high-temperature decomposition of organic compounds in the absence of oxygen to produce liquids. The mixture of oxygenated hydrocarbons is similar to that found in fuel oil.

Jerusalem artichoke tuber mash, pulp and juice, and stem extract, the latter a temporary storage site for inulin prior to tuberization, have been utilized for ethanol production. The process includes saccharification of the inulin via acid or enzymatic hydrolysis, followed by fermentation (Lampe, 1932 Vadas, 1934) or the direct conversion to ethanol utilizing a microorganism that is capable of both hydrolysis and fermentation (Guiraud et al., 1981 Margaritis and Bajpai, 1982a, 1982b, 1982c). Initially acid hydrolysis was applied prior to fermentation with yeasts, such as Schizosac-charomyces pombe, or the bacterium Zymomonas mobilis, which are not capable of direct conversion however, undesirable by-products are formed during the acid hydrolysis and the step Fermentation may be via batch or continuous fermentation systems (Bajpai and Bajpai, 1991 Guiraud and Galzy, 1990 Margaritis and Merchant, 1984). Other options include free vs. immobilized cells (Daugulis et al., 1981 Ryu et al.,...

It is likely that such efforts will be considerably expanded in the near future as a result of tremendous increases in funding of plant cell wall research driven by increased demand for biofuels and enhanced biomass production. Major new research institutes dedicated to elucidating cell wall biology have been formed in the United States utilizing funding streams from government, private foundations, and industry. The future of the cell wall field therefore looks quite bright, and we believe that there will be considerable advances in the field in the near future.

Carbon Cycle

Ing of Earth's surface (called the greenhouse effect) and thereby influencing the climate. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels and clearing forests are causing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to increase rapidly. Concern that global climate change may result has led to a pressing need for scientific research to better understand the global carbon cycle.

The Path of Carbon

Note that the geosphere (sedimentary rock) is by far the largest pool of carbon on Earth, but it exchanges only very slowly with the more active pools in the atmosphere, land biosphere, and oceans. Burning fossil fuels represents a huge increase in the transfer of carbon from the geosphere to the atmosphere, causing an increase in the amount of CO2 in the air (on average 3.1 billion tons of carbon accumulated in the atmosphere each year during the 1990s). More CO2 in the air drives large net uptake of carbon by the land biosphere and oceans. In pre-industrial times the atmosphere, oceans, and land biosphere were roughly in balance, and net exchanges between these pools were about zero.

New Varieties

The M. x giganteus clone used in University of Illinois feedstock research originated from rhizomes obtained from the Chicago Botanic Gardens (Glencoe, Illinois) in 1988 (Pyter et al., 2009) and has been part of a landscape demonstration planting at the University since that time. In addition to this common landscape clone, there are other M. x giganteus types being developed and marketed specifically for biomass production. For example, 'Freedom' Giant Miscanthus was developed at Mississippi State University and is being produced for commercial planting by SunBelt Biofuels (http Biofuel_Feedstock id 3536). New Energy Farms of Canada (http pricing.aspx) lists 'Amuri' and 'Nagara' as very cold-tolerant, high-yielding Miscanthus. Biotechnology firms such as Ceres, Inc. and Mendel Bioenergy Seeds are evaluating additional forms of Miscanthus to determine biomass potential.

Direct biomonitoring

An alternative strategy to the measurement of heavy metals directly in mosses found in situ is the use of moss bags. Samples of mosses collected from clean areas are placed in nylon nets and exposed to a polluted area to enable concentrations in pollutants to be measured afterwards. The technique can be applied in environments, where mosses do not naturally occur. As an extreme example, mosses have been used as indicators of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollution resulting from the incomplete combustion of organic material, and fossil fuels in particular, in road tunnels (Zechmeister et al. 2006).

Direct Combustion

Jerusalem artichoke is unlikely to become a major biomass source for direct combustion because of the drying required. Zubr (1988) also noted that when the aim of energy generation by direct combustion is also the recycling of materials, then using Jerusalem artichoke might be hard to justify when biowastes are available. The crop is therefore more likely to become of greater significance as a wet feedstock in the production of biofuels. Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) can be produced from a wide variety of feedstocks, including wood, wastepaper, and crop residues. Ethanol produced from plant biomass is also known as bioethanol. The production of bioethanol from plant biomass involves the fermentation of pulped, mashed, or juiced plant material by yeasts and bacteria (Wiselogel et al., 1996). Bioethanol is a colorless, water-soluble, volatile liquid that can be utilized as a versatile fuel and fuel additive. It was recognized from the early days of the internal combustion engine that alcohol...

Breeding Programs

Radson Radiatoren

In France, research has been concentrated at Institut National de la Recherches Agronomique (INRA) institutions in Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, and, more recently, Montpellier (Chabbert et al., 1983). Increased carbohydrate content for ethanol production has been one of the aims, and numerous crosses between cultivars held in the national germplasm collection have generated novel material for selection (Le Cochec and de Barreda, 1990). In Italy, breeding and field trials to select for enhanced tuber yields and inulin content have been conducted at ERSA (Entre Regionale di Svilippo Agricola della Regione Abruzzo). Clones selected to produce high yields in poor soils have been cultivated in Bari (Faget, 1993 De Mastro et al., 2004).

Oil extraction

Soya Lecithin Plant

Much soybean oil is used for edible applications such as for cooking, salad oil, dressing, shortening, margarine, mayonnaise and confectionery coating. Soybean oil is also being used for biodiesel, lubricants and cleaning salad oil, shortening, margarine, mayonnaise, biodiesel. Lecithin, soy oil derivatives Protein Soy meal livestock feed, de-fatted soy flour, soy These products are sold by companies in packaged forms of different sizes through stores and used every day. Examples Lubricant and greases Biodiesel Auto polish Building material Obtained during soybean oil refining, and also known as scum oil. Sludge is composed of a complex mixture of aggregated compounds, tocopherol (vitamin E), sterol esters (campestene, sitosterol), squalene and free fatty acids (FFA). Tocopherol, the basis of the demand to process this by-product, can be used by the vitamin market and as a nutraceutical, sterol or feed stock for hormone production squalene, a high carbon source for cosmetic and...

By contrast with SO2, several other compounds, particularly nitrogen oxides, have been drastically increasing during the past several decades as a result of farming, fertilizer production and fossil fuel burning, resulting in an alarming eutrophication of the environment. This trend is well illustrated by the two-to three-fold increase in nitrogen concentrations during the twentieth century that has been reported in moss tissues from herbarium collections (Fig. 9.4) (Woolgrove & Woodin 1996). Although several countries have expressed the intention to reduce nitrogen emissions (see UN ECE-protocol from Gothenburg at env lrtap), this trend is likely to continue as a result of fossil fuel consumption and fertilizer use and to lead to a projected 60 increase by 2020, with dramatic consequences for ecosystems (Lee 1998).

Fuelwood Species

Fijian Yasi Tree

Replaced by cheaper, more efficient and more convenient sources of energy such as fossil fuels and electricity in developed countries. In developing countries, the process of replacing fuelwood is still in its initial stages, and wood continues to be the dominant fuel for domestic cooking and heating. According to FAO estimates, about 80 of wood removed all over the world is used as fuel in developing countries, and a large majority of rural people and urban poor depend upon it for providing domestic energy. Pakistan has a very small forest resource, as forests cover only about 4.8 of its total land area only about half of these forests are productive, where timber and fuelwood can be harvested on a sustained basis. Although the foresters' community was advocating for the development and extension of forestry in the country from the time Pakistan gained independence in 1947 to meet the growing needs of fuelwood and timber, nothing substantial was done in this regard until the late...

Palavlali Navaree

Ca. 10 to around 20 in the last ten years (Figure 2.6). With the overall oil production showing a large increase, still much more oil is available for food purposes and this trend is projected to continue (Figures 2.4 and 2.6). A large proportion of the increased non-food usage has been for fuel, most notably biodiesel, but with advances in genetic engineering for specific properties for industrial chemical usages, as outlined above, and advances in chemical engineering of vegetable oils for certain end uses, plant oils will become increasingly attractive as industrial chemical feedstocks. Also, although historically more expensive than petroleum, the cost of producing plant oils is decreasing while petroleum production is becoming more expensive, and reserves are finite and expected to be largely depleted in the next 50 years. Although plant oils are still more expensive than crude petroleum, the price difference is decreasing (USDA, 2009 Anon., 2010) (Figure 2.7). In the mid-late...

Energy from biomass traditionally plays a very important role in countries with developing economies. Recently, the global demand for bioenergy has been accelerating because of the depletion of fossil fuels and the CO2 reduction targets of most countries. This is putting further pressure on forested areas. For instance, over the last five years there has been a rapid development of new bio-fuel plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia (mainly oil palm) and Brazil (mainly soybean, maize) (e.g. Mantel et al, 2007 Reinders and Huijbregts, 2008 Fargione et al, 2008). This has often gone at the expense of natural forest areas. But also forests themselves, either planted or natural, are increasingly being used for bioenergy. In Europe, fast-growing short-rotation willow and poplar plantations are being used for bioenergy (chips) (e.g. Borjesson and Berndes, 2006), and also in tropical countries fast-growing species such as Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus sp. are increasingly being used for...

Biomass crops for energy have a number of disadvantages compared to fossil fuels, including a relatively modest thermal content, an often high moisture content that inhibits combustion, and a low density and high volume that necessitate large-scale equipment for handling and combustion. Procedures to improve the properties of biomass primarily involve drying and compaction. Biomass has advantages over fossil fuel in that it is renewable, releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and is readily obtainable, inexpensive, and not subject to unpredictable shortages or steep cost increases (White and Plaskett, 1981). As with all alternative energy strategies, the economic feasibility of energy crops depends on the cost of competing conventional fuels. As fossil fuel prices increase, the economic viability of plant biomass options is enhanced. The two principal ways of obtaining energy from biomass are thermal (direct combustion) and biological (the conversion of organic matter to...

Mercury (Hg) is a unique metal due to its different forms (e.g., HgS, Hg2+, Hg0, and methyl-Hg), but in agricultural soils it is predominantly found in the ionic form (Hg2+) (Han et al. 2006). Hg is relatively uncommon in the earth's crust, but it is released by natural processes (e.g., erosion and volcanic activity) or mining. Anthropogenic activities, both intentional (e.g., manufacture and distribution of mercury-based products) and unintentional (e.g., fossil fuel burning), represent the main sources of environmental contamination (Nagajyoti et al. 2010). However, the toxic effects of mercury in plants, which absorb the heavy metal, depend on factors such as plant species and soil properties. The main concern regarding mercury in plants is its incorporation into the food chain through the consumption of contaminated plants (Loredo et al. 2010). Increasing evidence has shown that Hg2+ can readily accumulate in higher plants. In low levels it may not significantly affect plant...

Transport Mechanisms

Humans are probably the most important biological vectors for nutrient transport on Earth, particularly for carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. Anthropogenic combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere in quantities that exceed the combined releases of CO2 from plant, animal, and microbial respiration, natural forest and grassland fires, and volcanic emissions. This has contributed to the build-up of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere and may alter the biogeochemical cycles of other elements. Fossil fuel combustion also releases nitrogen and sulfur, which ultimately contributes to the formation and deposition of acid rain. Mining of phosphorus, such as in Los Roques, has altered the long-term storage of phosphorus, increased the flux rate of the global phosphorus cycle, and contributed to the phosphorus pollution of freshwater ecosystems worldwide. These and other human activities are altering the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and...

The sorghum genome has not incurred genome duplication since the pan-cereal event (Paterson et al. 2004), making it an excellent out group for comparison with the duplicated genomes of maize and sugarcane, the worlds leading biofuel crop (Bedell et al. 2005 Bowers et al. 2005). Comparative mapping of Sorghum propin-quum (a closely related species) with sorghum and Oryza longistaminata shed light on genes related to domestication (Paterson et al. 1995 Hu et al. 2003). A comparative physical map of sorghum with rice and maize has identified probable euchro-matic regions in the grass family (Bowers et al. 2005).

Guide to Alternative Fuels

Guide to Alternative Fuels

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