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>> SCOTT: Im glad its the spring. I always feel like Im coming alive this time of year.
Driving out here, from Goleta, I passed by a vacant field with beautiful, BEAUTIFUL wildflowers.
I visited the same field last year during the
spring, and it also had flowers. This year, however,
there are different species of flowers. Ecological succession is underway! Pretty soon that same
field will evolve into the local mature version of the ecosystem. A shopping mall. Magical,
isnt it? From deserts to Juicy Couture. The miracle
of nature at its finestat its most glllllaaamorous. Anyway, lets dive right in. It is a Monday
night, and I know some of you have a tight schedule, so I
dont want you to miss Dancing with the Starsor dancing with the paraplegics, or whatever
it is you watch. I dont know. Im not in to those sorts
of things. A little about myself: I was born and raised
here in Santa Barbara, and I graduated a few years ago from the same Environmental Horticulture
program that Jerry Sortomme founded.
I began researching Alternative Crops for Drylands, quite simply because I didnt think
I would be here today. A couple years ago I thought it
was the end of western civilization. So, I decided to use
my horticulture. I wanted to know which plants I could plantto save my behind. And although
I want to help fix some of the environmental disasters
on this planet, I did not have enough frequent flyer
points to go colonize Mars, so, my first choice was no longer an option. In any case, I want to
provide the average person with a botanical knowledge for growing more food with less
water. Many books have been written on sustainable land
use practices, yet there is still a lack of awareness of
the myriad of edible plants native to water-scarce regions throughout the world.
The world hosts a vast array of lost, edible, botanical gems. Current estimates are that
there are about 330,000 species of plants in the world
of which about 20,000-30,000 are edible. Despite this
fact, only 3 species make up 60% of the average humans caloric intake. And 20 species account
for 90% of the average persons total diet. How water-efficient
are these common crop plants? Horribly! Most of these commonly consumed species are annual
crops with very high water requirements. For example,
on average it takes 40 liters of water to produce a single slice of bread. And, to make
matters worse, such common, thirsty crop plants are
often indiscriminately planted in desert regions. As one
egregious example, while people throughout the world go hungry, our governments continue
to subsidize the planting of corn in drought-prone areas
for the production of ethanol fuel, which is net energy
inefficient.
A lot of people like to ask what the difference is between Botany and Horticulture. But I
feel its more important to illustrate the difference
between Horticulture and Agriculture.
My most boiled-down, simplified definition of Horticulture is: Right plant, Right place
And of course a broader, more general definition of Agriculture could be: Wrong plant, Wrong
place! Most of the environmental problems relating
to food production stem from one simple break from logic:
planting plants where they are not supposed to grow. It doesnt take years of academic
study to know that the plants with high water requirements
shouldnt be planted in the areas where there isnt water.
Yet this is where modern agriculture continues to fail us.
Currently, 70% of worldwide freshwater usage is irrigation. In many parts of the world
this water is pumped from dams and aquifers, and, in places
such as the Colorado River Delta, rivers now fail to
discharge into the ocean. Yet aquifer depletion is perhaps a more alarming issue. Due to over
pumping in China, the water table in many parts of
that country is dropping at a rate of one meter per year.
In North America, the Ogallala aquifer is being drained at an average rate of 800 gallons
per MINUTE and has fallen from an average depth of 240
feet to a mere 80 feet deep.
The United Nations own statistics state that 70% of the earths drylands have been desertified
meaning that there has been a long-term loss of vegetation,
as well as a subsequent loss of soil in these areas. The UN defines Drylands as any region
of the world with an Aridity Index of 0.65 or less. The
AI is determined by dividing the Precipitation by Potential Evapotranspiration. By this definition,
drylands account for 47% of the earths land surface.
And now Id like to switch gears and highlight a short passage from the foreword of my book,
written by our local, horticultural expert Jerry Sortomme.
Earth is a rare and unique water world. The most
curious of living creatures are being revealed to humankind as we discover our worldly perimeters.
As we delve into almost every nook and cranny
of Earth, extremophiles are revealing themselves. Yet as
tenacious as life is, life's personality and character is distinctly fragile as it encounters
its own boundary edges, this is the paradox, the tapestry
of limits.
I really like Jerrys notion of the tapestry of limits, so I wanted to highlight some of
the most extreme plants on the face of the earththese
plants also happen to be edible. This first plant is
known as the Colocynth melon.
The dried fruits of this plant can be seen blowing across the desolate landscape of the
Sahara desert before they crack open against rocks and disperse
their seeds. Like most members of the melon family,
the seeds of this melon can be roasted and eaten. The rest of the plant, including the
fruit flesh is poisonous. However, bioassays have revealed
the presence of potent anti cancer compounds.
This next species is Boscia albitrunca. This small tree is native to southern Africa, and
produces edible roots and fruits. It became the world
record holder for the deepest rooted plant when a
specimen was found in the Kalahari Desert to have roots growing 223 feet deep.
Boscia senegalensis is a North African relative, now being used as an alternative crop for
its Edible fruits and for its Seeds, which can
be used as a cashew substitute after they have been
leached with water.
This palm species Medemia argun produces edible fruit, and was thought to be completely extinct
until just a few years ago, when it was rediscovered
in a remote region of the Nubian Desert.
This perennial bunchgrass is Panicum turgidum. The root exudates from this plant are a form
of glue that traps sand particles and moisture. The
seeds are processed as a grain crop in North Africa, and
the grass can complete its lifecycle with just 1 inch of rain.
Moringa peregrina, seen here, Is a species native to the area around the Red Sea. The
seed oil is a substitute for olive oil, and has a greater
resistance to rancidity.
This is the Christ Thorn Jujube, which is native to the Middle East and northern Africa.
It is a good Phosphorus accumulator, and produces fruits
that are very similar to the temperate Jujube.
Earlier I gave some information about drought, desertification, and water scarcity and all
those other dismal and horribly depressing statistics.
So now we should all be asking ourselves how can we
restore drylands? Of course, the plants I have just highlighted can be helpful in doing
this. What I propose is to implement Regenerative Agroforestry.-
Creating human-oriented, artificial ecosystems in
order to re-green vast expanses of desertified land.
So how do we know it works? As an example, the Amazon rainforest creates about 50% of
its own rainfall. Likewise, large scale reforestation
projects help re-humidify the atmosphere and provide
condensation nuclei, which increases rainfall. My vision of artificial ecosystems uses mainstream
ecological restoration as its design model. In ecological restoration, the goal is to
replicate a healthy version of an ecosystem using 100%
native plants. Artificial ecosystems, on the other hand,
can use plants from similar climates around the world. To create an artificial ecosystem,
we must first assess the native plants and the niches
those plants occupy within the ecosystem: such as
canopy, understory, groundcover, climbing vine, etc. For example, in the Sonoran Desert
we often find Saguaro cacti establishing themselves under
the canopy of Olneya tesota aka Ironwood trees. From this
association we can derive a basic understanding that this climate supports small, nitrogen-fixing
trees with cacti in their understory. Then we can look to similar climates around the
world for edible cacti and edible, nitrogen-fixing tree
species to occupy these same niches.
What Im proposing can be implemented on areas of land that have already been degraded. There
is no need to replace *** ecosystem with regenerative
agroforests. That would defeat the purpose. Furthermore, if we must adapt to the realities
of climate change, then we should not expect our
native plants to perform optimally. If these plants are adapted to how the climate used
to be, then we risk witnessing ecosystem collapse as the
climate changes. Therefore, it behooves us to test
plants from other regions.
What I propose are food production systems that are largely self-managing and dependent
on the natural rainfall patterns of the area; thus
giving aquifers and rivers a rest, regenerating depleted
soils, and restoring balance to the hydrologic cycle. Now lets look at some real world examples.
The Sahel is a strip of land bordering the southern end of the Sahara Desert. It is a
very brittle environment where desertification is a major
issue, due to the fact that deforestation allows the
Sahara to extend further south than it normally would. In many cases, reforestation projects
entail planting plants in extremely sandy and dry
places. Going from a barren desert to a productive savannah requires precision planting of key
pioneer species. Panicum turgidum, a native perennial
bunchgrass, is most often planted as the first plant in order to stabilize areas of shifting
sand, which it is able to accomplish via its glue-like
root exudates. Panicum turgidum is able to grow in
areas with as little as 1 inch of annual rainfall. The centers of P. turgidum bunches are often
hollowed out, and extremely deep-rooted, useful tree species are planted. This provides the
tree saplings with a relatively humid, wind-protected
microclimate so that they can more easily establish
themselves. Other edible species that may be suitable as dune-fixing pioneers are the
Moth Bean (Vigna aconitifolia) and the Marama Bean (Tylosema
esculentum). Moth Bean plants are native to the
sandy Thar Desert of western India and eastern Pakistan, and can successfully complete their
lifecycle with just two inches of rain. Moth Bean is an annual spreading groundcover, with
an edible bean and a fodder value rivaling that of alfalfa.
Marama Bean is a perennial groundcover native to
the Namib and Kalahari Deserts in Southern Africa. It too produces an edible bean. Such
groundcovers help trap humidity in the soil and prevent
wind-erosion two essential elements for establishing larger plants.
So, how is the food quality of these plants?
When I was on a local plant safari with my friend I introduced him to Chilean Wine Palm
fruits for the first time. His response was, Wellits
certainly not as good as a burrito. And yes, I myself was
disappointed to find there isnt a pizza tree. But, I did learn how goats are made.you can
see theres some ripe ones on this specimen here. This
next species is known as Moneyus maximus. This species is
native to New York City. It could be helpful for struggling farmers.
As far as I know, the most research developing new crops from dry regions has come out of
the Negev Desert of Israel. The cover of my book is
the result of one study conducted with the Apple Cactus
(Cereus repandus). This species of cactus is native to northern Venezuela and the Netherlands
Antilles, yet the Israelis decided to take it way outside its natural habitat and develop
it as a novel crop. Nowadays, these fruits serve an
export market to Europe. Although not ALL the experiments
in the Negev Desert were a success, they nonetheless give us valuable insights into the adaptability
of many novel dryland crops, such as: Marula, which can produce up to 4.5 tons of fruit
from one tree in single year.
And finally, turning to our area, Id like to introduce a few plants worthy of cultivation.
The first, Lardizabala biternata, is a highly shade-tolerant
evergreen vine native to central Chile. The plant
produces edible fruits, similar to passionfruits, that are popular in Chilean markets. This
species might find a niche in the understory of the
future Carob woodlands of California. Another plant is
Santalum acuminatum, a semi-parasitic, small tree native to Australia. The fruit is edible,
and so is the seed kernel. The seed kernel is high in
protein, and contains up to 60% edible oil. Because of
their high oil content seed kernels are actually flammable, and can be burnt like a candle
nut. This next plant will put the lemon industry out
of business. With the scientific name Corryocactus brevistylus, this unique cactus is native
to high-altitudes of the Andes in southern Peru and
northern Chile. There, its softball-sized fruits are harvested and used as lemon substitutes.
It has the advantage of being more cold-tolerant
than lemon trees by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and it
naturally uses just a fraction of the water that lemons require.
As we head into the future we must be innovative in the face of the myriad of environmental
crises we face. Yet, more importantly, we must act,
with enthusiasm, to bring about the changes we wish to see
in the world. As we rediscover the lost, edible gems from the waterless corners of the world;
I hope to add one more piece towards solving the
puzzle of a sustainable future.
[applause]
http://cropsfordrylands.com