Tag: France

Le cas étrange et tragique de l’homme semence soviétique (Partie 4)

Post author By reblast
Post date April 29, 2023
No Comments on Le cas étrange et tragique de l’homme semence soviétique (Partie 4)

Cet article est le quatrième et dernier d’une série de billets dans lesquels j’explore l’histoire fascinante et tragique de la première banque de semences au monde et de son créateur héroïque. Je remercie le lecteur Michel Leblanc d’avoir partagé cette histoire avec moi et Jocelyne Lavigne pour son aide dans la traduction française.

Réhabilitation posthume

Aujourd’hui, Vavilov est vénéré comme un héros en Russie, du moins par la plupart des gens. Malgré ses hauts et ses bas, son bureau existe toujours, rebaptisé Institut panrusse de recherche scientifique sur les ressources phytogénétiques N.I. Vavilov (VIR en russe).. Des scientifiques du monde entier ont adopté la vision de Vavilov selon laquelle la biodiversité génétique est la clé d’un avenir alimentaire sain. Cette vision a mené à la création de réserves agricoles encore plus importantes et plus sophistiquées, telles que la chambre forte de semences dite “de l’apocalypse” à Svalbard, en Norvège. Le VIR a fait don de semences et d’autres spécimens à Svalbard, dont beaucoup remontent probablement aux premiers voyages de collecte de Vavilov.

Premier timbre de l’URSS en l’honneur de N.I. Vavilov en 1977. Source – Wikipédia

Suite de l’histoire

La passion qui a animé les scientifiques du Bureau de Vavilov pendant le siège de Leningrad perdure aujourd’hui. L’une des expéditions de collecte de semences les plus productives et les plus passionnantes de Vavilov l’a conduit en 1929 en Asie centrale et sur le territoire occupé aujourd’hui par le Kazakhstan. Dans les terres biodiversifiées autour d’Alma Ata et des contreforts des monts Tien Shan, il a découvert la plus riche concentration d’arbres fruitiers au monde, notamment des pruniers, des pêchers et des abricotiers, mais surtout des pommiers à profusion. Rétrospectivement, cette découverte confirme sa théorie sur l’origine des espèces cultivées.

Abondance sauvage dans les monts Tian Shan. Source – La patrie des pommes (en anglais).

La station expérimentale de Pavlovsk

Une grande partie des graines récoltées par Vavilov au cours de cette expédition de 1929 ont été plantées et cultivées à la station expérimentale de Pavlovsk, située juste au sud de Leningrad, aujourd’hui Saint-Pétersbourg.

Lorsque les nazis ont envahi l’URSS et que les lignes de front de la guerre se sont rapprochées de Pavlovsk, les collègues, assistants et étudiants de Vavilov ont transféré la plus grande partie possible de la collection de la station de Pavlovsk dans les sous-sols de l’Institut de l’industrie végétale, au centre de Leningrad. C’est là qu’ils ont sauvegardé les collections au long du siège.

Le président russe Dmitry Medvedev a ordonné la tenue d’une enquête immédiate sur le projet de transformation de la station de recherche de Pavlovsk en habitations privées. Photo de Frans Lanting/Corbis. Extrait d’un article de Fred Pearce, paru en anglais dans The Guardian (Royaume-Uni).

Ironiquement, après avoir survécu aux nazis, à la Seconde Guerre mondiale et à la chute de son créateur, la station expérimentale de Pavlovsk est tombée en ruine avec la chute de l’empire soviétique. Au début des années 2000, elle a failli devenir la proie de promoteurs immobiliers. Une campagne internationale passionnée sur Twitter a permis au président russe de l’époque, Dmitry Medvedev, de suspendre l’exécution du projet. Selon une brève entrée dans Wikipédia, en avril 2012, le gouvernement russe a pris des mesures officielles pour préserver cet important dépôt génétique et empêcher que les terres ne soient cédées à des intérêts privés en vue d’un développement.

La passion pour la protection de ce précieux héritage vient de son caractère unique. Plus de 90 % des plantes ne se trouvent dans aucune autre collection de recherche ni banque de semences. On pense que ses graines et ses baies possèdent des caractéristiques qui pourraient être cruciales pour maintenir des récoltes fruitières productives dans de nombreuses régions du monde, alors que le changement climatique et une vague croissante de maladies, de parasites et de sécheresse affaiblissent les variétés que les agriculteurs cultivent aujourd’hui. Selon les militants de la station, plus de 5 000 variétés de graines et de baies provenant de dizaines de pays, dont plus de 100 variétés de groseilles à maquereau et de framboises, sont en jeu. Les recherches effectuées sur Google pour trouver des informations relatives à la station de Pavlovsk n’ont donné aucun résultat nouveau.

Sur l’ancienne ferme de Melchior Philibert à Charly, la Ferme Melchior en France effectue des travaux de recherche avec des semences alimentaires collectées par Vavilov.

L’héritage

Les banques de semences du monde entier continuent de bénéficier des collections de Vavilov. En France, l’antenne lyonnaise du conservatoire de semences Vavilov a été financée par l’Union européenne pour cultiver un millier de fruits, une centaine de variétés de légumes, de céréales et d’herbes aromatiques, dont certaines ont près de cinq siècles. Plus de 300 variétés lyonnaises, rarement cultivées aujourd’hui, ont été découvertes dans la banque de semences Vavilov de Saint-Pétersbourg et reviendront ainsi à la vie.

Alors que l’agriculture moderne et marchandisée continue d’être menacée par le changement climatique, les semences que Vavilov a collectées et que son personnel a sauvegardées pourraient bien être la clé de notre sécurité alimentaire future.

La liste de ressources ci-dessous fournit de plus amples informations. La version anglaise de ce billet est disponible ici.

Références

Citizen Science Conservation Soil and Fertilizer

The Dirt on Soil

Continuing our soil theme from yesterday, today’s post focuses on pollutants in soil.

Map of the study area and watersheds near village Kibber in the high-altitude region of Spiti, Trans-Himalaya, northern India. The colored polygons represent eight watersheds spread over c. 40 km2. The native and livestock watersheds are demarcated by high ridges, escarpments and ravines, that establish replicates of two types of herbivore-assemblages (dominated by either livestock or by native herbivores). Credit: (2022). DOI: 10.1101/2022.02.07.479355

Antibiotic-laced dung ‘harming soil quality’

Antibiotics used on livestock can impact microbes in the soil and negatively affect soil carbon, reducing resilience to climate change, claims a study conducted in India’s trans-Himalayan region. Results of the study, published in Global Change Biology, found native herbivores such as yak, bharal (blue sheep), kiang (wild ass) and ibex in the Spiti valley, in India’s Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, to be healthier for soil carbon than livestock, which includes cattle, goat, sheep and horse. “Microbial carbon use efficiency was 19% lower in soils under livestock,” said Sumanta Bagchi, an author of the study and assistant professor at the Center for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

Supporting evidence in the study pointed to a link between veterinary antibiotics and soil microbial decline. “Our study suggests that conserving native herbivores together with better management of livestock can go a long way towards improved soil carbon stewardship to achieve natural climate change solutions,” says Bagchi. “Our paper focused on climate impacts linked to the use of antibiotics for livestock rearing but there are other undesirable consequences such as the accelerated evolution of antibiotic resistance which is a global trend,” they added.

Home ‘compostable’ plastic doesn’t fully break down

Compostable plastic that has not fully disintegrated in compost bin. Credit: Citizen scientist image from bigcompostexperiment.org.uk.

In a UK-wide study, researchers have found that 60% of home-compostable plastics do not fully disintegrate in home compost bins, and inevitably end up in our soil. The study also found that citizens are confused about the labels of compostable and biodegradable plastics, leading to incorrect plastic waste disposal. These results highlight the need to revise and redesign this supposedly sustainable plastic waste management system.

A new OECD report shows that plastic consumption has quadrupled over the past 30 years. Globally, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled, while 50% ends up in landfills, 22% evades waste management systems, and 19% is incinerated. Compostable plastics are becoming more common as the demand for sustainable products grows. The main applications of compostable plastics include food packaging, bags; cups and plates, cutlery, and bio-waste bags. But there are some fundamental problems with these types of plastics. They are largely unregulated, and claims around their environmental benefits are often exaggerated.

In a study published in Frontiers in Sustainability, researchers at University College London have found that consumers are often confused about the meaning of the labels of compostable plastics, and that a large portion of compostable plastics do not fully disintegrate under home composting conditions.

Soil pollution in natural areas similar to urban green spaces

Microplastic debris. Credit: Roberto Ruiz (UA)

An international study, recently published in Nature Communications, shows that soil in urban green spaces and natural areas share similar levels of multiple contaminants such as metals, pesticides, microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes around the world. Soil contamination is one of the main threats to the health and sustainability of ecosystems. The work was carried out by more than 40 authors from research centers and universities in Spain, China, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, France, Portugal, Slovenia, Mexico, the United States, Brazil, India and Israel. The team has collaborated with ecologist Carlos Sanz Lázaro and Nuria Casado Coy, researchers at the Ramón Margalef Multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies (IMEM), and experts in the study of plastic and bioplastic pollution.

As the article reports, soil pollution is currently associated with vehicle emissions, industrial processes, pesticide treatment and plant diseases, as well as poor waste management. It is therefore to be expected that urban green spaces are more influenced by pollutants than natural ecosystems, which are geographically distant from human activities. However, the study has shown that hazardous pollutants (metals, pesticides, microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes) can be dispersed by air transport, uncontrolled waste disposal and even rainwater running off the surface of a piece of land and into natural ecosystems.

Microplastics, typical pollutants of anthropogenic (human) origin, are also ubiquitous in soils of urban green spaces and natural ecosystems around the world. Surprisingly, as reported by Sanz Lázaro, they have found similar proportions of the form and polymer type of microplastics in natural areas and urban green spaces, which further supports the idea of a spread of anthropogenic pollutants through ecosystems. These microplastics, often originating from cities, affect distant areas by atmospheric transport, with fibers being the main form of plastic particles suspended in the atmosphere in cities such as Paris, London and Dongguan (China). The fibers generally consist of polyester and polypropylene from synthetic fabrics, ropes, and nets.

Biodiversity Conservation

The Strange & Tragic Case of the Soviet Seed Man (Part 4)

Post author By reblast
Post date March 31, 2023
2 Comments on The Strange & Tragic Case of the Soviet Seed Man (Part 4)

This is the fourth and final of several posts wherein I explore the fascinating and tragic story of the world’s first seed bank and its heroic creator. My thanks to reader Michel Leblanc for sharing this story with me.

Posthumous Rehabilitation

Nowadays, Vavilov is revered as a hero in Russia—at least by most people. Despite its ups and downs, his bureau still exists, renamed as the N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR in Russian). Scientists across the globe have embraced Vavilov’s insight that genetic biodiversity is the key to a healthy food future. This has led to the founding of even bigger and more sophisticated agricultural stockpiles, such as the so-called doomsday seed vault in Svalbard, Norway. Fittingly, the VIR has donated seeds and other specimens to Svalbard—presumably many of them dating back to Vavilov’s early collecting trips.

First USSR stamp honoring N.I. Vavilov in 1977. Source — Wikipedia

Aftermath

The passion that sustained the scientists at the Bureau through the Seige of Leningrad continues today. Among Vavilov’s most productive and exciting seed-gathering expeditions took him in 1929 to Central Asia and the territory now occupied by present-day Kazakhstan. In biodiverse lands around Alma Ata and the foothills of the Tien Shan Mountains, he discovered the world’s richest concentration of fruit trees, including plum, peach and apricot; but in especially terrific profusion were the apple trees. In retrospect, this discovery confirmed his theory about the origins of culitvated species.

Wild abundance in the Tian Shan Mountains. Source — The Fatherland of Apples.

The Experimental Pavlovsk Station

Many of the seeds Vavilov collected during this 1929 expedition were eventually planted and grown out at the Experimental Pavlovsk Station, which lies just south of Leningrad, now Saint-Petersburg.

When the Nazis invaded the USSR, and the front lines of the war approaching very close to Pavlovsk, Vavilov’s colleagues, assistants and students moved as much of the Pavlovsk Station’s collection as possible to the basement of the Plant Industry Institute in the center of Leningrad. There they safeguarded the collections throughout the entire Siege.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an immediate inquiry into the Pavlovsk research station being turned into private housing. Photograph: Frans Lanting/Corbis. From an article by Fred Pearce in The Guardian UK.

Ironically, after surviving the Nazis, WWII, and the downfall of its creator, the Experimental Pavlovsk Station fell into disrepair with the fall of the Soviet empire. Then in the early 2000s, it almost fell prey to land developers. An impassioned international campaign on Twitter resulted in a stay of execution by then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. According to a scant entry in Wikipedia, in April 2012 the Russian government took formal action to preserve this important genetic repository and stop the land from being conveyed to private interests for development.

The passion to protect this precious legacy comes from its uniqueness. More than 90% of the plants are found in no other research collection or seed bank. Its seeds and berries are thought to posess traits that could be crucial to maintaining productive fruit harvests in many parts of the world as climate change and a rising tide of disease, pests and drought weaken the varieties farmers now grow. At stake, say campaigners for the station, are more than 5,000 varieties of seeds and berries from dozens of countries, including more than 100 varieties each of gooseberries and raspberries. Google searches for news related to the Pavlovsk Station turned up no new results, so let’s hope it is still intact.

On the former Melchior Philibert farm in Charly, the Melchior Farm in France experiments with food seeds collected by Vavilov.

Legacy

Seed banks around the world continue to benefit from Vavilov’s collections. In France, the Lyon branch of the Vavilov seed conservatory has been funded by the EU to grow out a thousand fruit, a hundred varieties of vegetables, cereals, and aromatic herbs, some of which are almost five centuries old. More than 300 varieties from Lyon, that are seldom cultivated today, were discovered in the Vavilov seedbank of Saint-Petersburg and will thus come back to life.

As modern commodified agriculture continues to come under threat from climate change, the seeds Vavilov collected, and his staff safeguarded, may hold the key to our future food security.

The resource list below provides more information.