From: "Michael S. Lorrey" <retroman@turbont.net>
>How about corn that has a venus flytrap grown where the tassle
>is.....
I like it!
>Resistance to drought is not difficult, but there is a limit to
>the range of hydration any plant can tolerate. What would be nice
>is corn and wheat that has more resilience to their stalks, so
>they can be blown down by wind, hail, severe rain, without
>permanent damage. Since the weather system seems to be thrashing
>a bit more today than usual, hardiness like this would be
>important at keeping up yields.
Deeper roots might help the drought tolerance, along with having a
less permeable skin. Being shorter might help with wind resistance.
Having "hairy" leaves and stems helps resist insects. Selecting
(even in the test tube) for enhanced nutrition is also a big plus.
>Now, Bt corn does not need to be harmful to butterflies. The only
>reason why it is is because conventional field layouts do not
>allow for large gaps between Bt corn and milkweed between fields.
>This obviously mandates that fields get bigger and irrigation
>systems be larger, so the field margin that is planted with non-Bt
>corn is large enough to allow milkweed to not receive large
>quantities of Bt pollen.
True, but by reducing the overall population of milkweed you will
decrease the overall population of Monarchs. I would be hesitant
about eating anything that is killing insects.
Brian
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