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22 January 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Soil Confrence at UFS
At the Combined Congress with the theme ‘Basic and applied sciences – Fundamentals of sustainable agriculture’, were from the left: Prof Klaus Kellner, Prof Prakash Naidoo, Dr Cobus Botha from the Agriculture Research Council, Prof Vaughan Hattingh, and Mr Matome Ramokgopa.

“We are at the beginning of a new decade that will in all likelihood be pivotal for aspects such as food security, climate change, and the sustainable use of natural resources – aspects that the societies you represent are of course keenly involved with – and in terms of which you can play an increasingly valuable role.” 

These were the words of Vice-Rector: Operations at the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Prakash Naidoo, on opening a Combined Congress of the Soil Science Society of South Africa (SSSSA), the South African Society of Crop Production (SASCP), the Southern African Weed Science Society (SAWSS), and the Southern African Society for Horticultural Sciences (SASHS).

The UFS Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences is hosting the congress, with scientific content of four disciplines (soil, crop, weed, and horticulture) presented by both local and international guest speakers.

The theme of this year’s congress taking place on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, is Basic and applied sciences – Fundamentals of sustainable agriculture.

Prof Naidoo continues: “It has been predicted that the world will need almost double the current food supply by 2050 to feed an ever-increasing world population. This clearly makes the scientific work done in the agricultural sector and the organisations affiliated with it, more vital than ever. We need to do what we can to ensure food security and sustainability.”

“A congress like yours is an opportunity to tap into the perspectives and research results of collaborators from different fields, and from different levels of skill and experience – with the aim of ultimately benefiting wider communities.”

Leader in agriculture sector

Prof Vaughan Hattingh, representing SASHS (Chief Executive Officer of Citrus Research International); Mr Matome Ramokgopa, representing SASCP (General Manager of Enza Zanden SA); and Prof Klaus Kellner, representing SSSSA (Department of Botany at the North-West University), delivered the combined opening address.

Prof Hattingh, speaking on ‘Industry–University partnership opportunity road ahead for horticultural research’, says citrus is a major horticultural product internationally and the biggest horticultural export from South Africa. The citrus industry, the second largest exporter of citrus in the world, generates R20 bn per year and is the biggest funder of research in this area. 

Prof Hattingh states that university partnerships, developing science to assist the industry, are key. “The future of horticultural industries and horticultural research at universities depends on successful university-industry partnerships.”

Mr Ramokgopa talked about ‘Innovative solutions for vegetable seed production for a growing population’, saying that Enza Zanden employed several techniques in vegetable production in response to the needs of retailers and consumers. These include smaller tomatoes (for snacking purposes), smaller leaf size of lettuce (thus a smaller area for decay), plastic-free packaging of cucumber with a longer shelf life, and more uniform onions (suitable for onion rings). 

Prof Kellner focused on ‘Scientifically sound policies and practices to ensure food security and sustainable agriculture’. He said: “It is getting warmer in Southern Africa and Europe. We need to realise it and adapt practices accordingly.”

More discussions on sustainable agriculture

Other interesting topics covered at the congress include, ‘Developing propagation technologies for indigenous plants used in the natural products industry’; ‘The influence of foliar and application rate of nitrogen fertiliser on seed and oil yield of canola’; ‘Sweet potato production in sacks: potential utilisation of limited space in rural, urban and peri-urban areas’; ‘The efficacy of postharvest wax application in the reduction of chilling injury incidence in lemon fruit’; and ‘Herbicide use within the commercial forestry sector in South Africa’.

Congress attendees can also look forward to the ‘Soil fertility and crop nutrition symposium: principles and practices’ on Wednesday 22 January 2020.

The congress kicked off on 21 January, and will come to an end on Thursday 23 January 2020. For more information on the sessions, see programme.

News Archive

Stem cell research and human cloning: legal and ethical focal points
2004-07-29

   

(Summary of the inaugural lecture of Prof Hennie Oosthuizen, from the Department of Criminal and Medical Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of the Free State.)

 

In the light of stem cell research, research on embryo’s and human cloning it will be fatal for legal advisors and researchers in South Africa to ignore the benefits that new bio-medical development, through research, contain for this country.

Legal advisors across the world have various views on stem cell research and human cloning. In the USA there is no legislation that regulates stem cell research but a number of States adopted legislation that approves stem cell research. The British Parlement gave permission for research on embryonic stem cells, but determined that it must be monitored closely and the European Union is of the opinion that it will open a door for race purification and commercial exploitation of human beings.

In South Africa the Bill on National Health makes provision for therapeutical and non therapeutical research. It also makes provision for therapeutical embryonical stem cell research on fetuses, which is not older than 14 days, as well as for therapeutical cloning under certain circumstances subject to the approval of the Minister. The Bill prohibits reproductive cloning.

Research on human embrio’s is a very controversial issue, here and in the rest of the world.

Researchers believe that the use of stem cell therapy could help to side-step the rejection of newly transplanted organs and tissue and if a bank for stem cell could be built, the shortage of organs for transplants would become something of the past. Stem cells could also be used for healing of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and spinal injuries.

Sources from which stem cells are obtained could also lead to further ethical issues. Stem cells are harvested from mature human cells and embryonic stem cells. Another source to be utilised is to take egg cells from the ovaries of aborted fetuses. This will be morally unacceptable for those against abortions. Linking a financial incentive to that could become more of a controversial issue because the woman’s decision to abort could be influenced. The ideal would be to rather use human fetus tissue from spontaneous abortions or extra-uterine pregnancies than induced abortions.

The potential to obtain stem cells from the blood of the umbilical cord, bone-marrow and fetus tissue and for these cells to arrange themselves is known for quite some time. Blood from the umbilical cord contains many stem cells, which is the origin of the body’s immune and blood system. It is beneficial to bank the blood of a newborn baby’s umbilical cord. Through stem cell transplants the baby or another family member’s life could be saved from future illnesses such as anemia, leukemia and metabolic storing disabilities as well as certain generic immuno disabilities.

The possibility to withdraw stem cells from human embrio’s and to grow them is more useable because it has more treatment possibilities.

With the birth of Dolly the sheep, communities strongly expressed their concern about the possibility that a new cloning technique such as the replacement of the core of a cell will be used in human reproduction. Embryonic splitting and core replacement are two well known techniques that are associated with the cloning process.

I differentiate between reproductive cloning – to create a cloned human embryo with the aim to bring about a pregnancy of a child that is identical to another individual – and therapeutically cloning – to create a cloned human embryo for research purposes and for healing human illnesses.

Worldwide people are debating whether to proceed with therapeutical cloning. There are people for and against it. The biggest ethical objection against therapeutical cloning is the termination of the development of a potential human being.

Children born from cloning will differ from each other. Factors such as the uterus environment and the environment in which the child is growing up will play a role. Cloning create unique children that will grow up to be unique individuals, just like me and you that will develop into a person, just like you and me. If we understand this scientific fact, most arguments against human cloning will disappear.

Infertility can be treated through in vitro conception. This process does not work for everyone. For some cloning is a revolutionary treatment method because it is the only method that does not require patients to produce sperm and egg cells. The same arguments that were used against in vitro conception in the past are now being used against cloning. It is years later and in vitro cloning is generally applied and accepted by society. I am of the opinion that the same will happen with regard to human cloning.

There is an argument that cloning must be prohibited because it is unsafe. Distorted ideas in this regard were proven wrong. Are these distorted ideas justified to question the safety of cloning and the cloning process you may ask. The answer, according to me, is a definite no. Human cloning does have many advantages. That includes assistance with infertility, prevention of Down Syndrome and recovery from leukemia.

 

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