This is a 400 to 1 ratio. The current research granting system in Canada is skewed almost entirely in favour of the agribusiness companies. The government matches chemical industry research and development dollars, including those of pesticide producers. Tax incentives are provided to multinational agritech companies for their research. We suggest investing in research that is collaborative WITH the farmers, rather than having agribusinesses TELL farmers what they need.
Current research is driven by trends, and the latest trend is biotechnology.
Instead of passively accepting scientific trends, their validity and long-term value needs assessment. A sustainable model of agricultural research funding would examine all the alternatives to chemical intervention. All of these techniques provide long-term economic, social, health and environmental benefits. V. Soil - The Building Block of Growing Organic agriculture, indeed, all agriculture, is dependent on good soil. Soil feeds all plants, and plants, like us, require a large variety of nutrients, which the soil must therefore contain.