TWC Session 7

The topic of session 7 was Agribiology and environmental life science. The first thing I learned was the difference between agribiology and agri-biotechnology.

Agribiology - The study of processes in agricultural process.




Agri-biotechnology is the application of science to create tools for agricultural process



Firstly, why is there a need to study this topic? Sustainability is a necessity for us because whether we like it or not, we are stuck to planet Earth and if we harvest natural resources at a rate like how we did in the past, we would not survive in the long-run. In fact in a video shown during the session, humans is likened to be a parasite of Earth.So the question is how we move on from here?

"There is enough food for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi

This quote highlights the first issue of sustainability - food wastage. Why is human so greedy? One insight drawn during the session was the change in human needs and wants. This is especially true for places undergoing rapid urbanization. Just take a look how much food is thrown away in a typical restaurant everyday.According to UNEP, roughly one-third of food produced in the world is wasted!


Food wastage harms the environment as well. The food wasted decays and produced methane that is a greenhouse gas. Wastage is prevalent in the world today. Other than food wastage, there are other forms of wastage that have resulted in devastating results. Some examples are New York Love Canal and the Great Pacific of Garbage. So much for the effort in sustainability.

Another issue was food security. Famine is not something that should be taken lightly. The Great Chinese Famine had caused 43 million death. Food security means having the physical and economical access to food. Many technology has been created to tackle this issue and I have make some interesting observation for some of it.

 GM food

GM food stands for genetically modified food. The argument for such food is that it provides food security. Some GM food are able grow in extreme weather conditions and this means that there is constant access to food. However, after doing some readings, the production of GM food is actually controlled by companies and it is illegal for farmers to grow GM food without permission. In fact some farmers had been sued for producing GM food unknowingly because of cross-pollination This brings about the question about the purpose behind GM food. Is it to provide food security or is it to economic security for the rich.

Some interesting ideas were brought up during individual presentations that deals with the issue of food security. Examples are vertical farming and in-vitro meat. It is not yet implemented because the methods are way too costly. I will not delve into these 2 ideas.

Lastly, one take-away point for me during the session is about bio-fuels. Dr Shahi quoted that "It is not inconceivable that we may one day develop efficient home bioreactors for converting household biological wastes into energy for powering our household appliances" . I learned that there is this process called flash pyrolysis that converts biomass into energy. If we are able to have that in our home, I dare say that humans have make a big step in sustainability. 


 A machine used in the process of flash pyrolysis

Overall, I would rate this session 8/10. It was fun learning about the different issues of sustainability. However, there room for improvements such as discussing more about the ecnomical impact of agri-biotechnology. It is understandable that due to time constraint, the topic cannot be covered in-depth