What the corn industry doesnt want you to know
This diversity depends on how it is harvested as green fodder or dry grain; which shows that this plant has gradually established itself in a higher position and has taken over millions of hectares of land in industrial crops, global agriculture on five continents.
The dark side of corn cultivation
This product, despite all the positive features it has in world food security, also has a dark side. This feature is due to its industrial and extensive cultivation with advanced technologies, which does much more harm than good for the planet, farmers and ranchers, livestock and workers employed in this industry, and even raises questions about the effects of mass corn cultivation on health and safety, and in addition, there are many things that the corn industry does not want us to know. These hidden things include:
Increasing air pollution; with a little precision, the corn farming industry has recently been identified as one of the causes of air pollution. Studies and surveys show that 16% of air pollution caused by humans is due to industrial agriculture and in cases such as seeding, fertilizing, spraying and harvesting.
These operational processes have produced toxic particles that are dispersed in the air and humans inhale them into their bodies.
A deeper analysis by some researchers
The journal Nature Sustainability published a report in 2019; each stage of corn cultivation and the extent of its involvement in polluting the air.
From the first pre-planting operations such as tillage to chemical fertilizer factories were studied. It turned out that by combining corn production operations and models that produce pollutants that affect human health, these factors cause premature deaths of 4,300 people in the United States.
Transgenic corn; Currently, most of the corn grown in large industrial farms is transgenic (GM) due to its resistance to herbicides. This corn is rich in a type of pesticide to combat pests (although cases of pests becoming resistant to genetically modified organisms have also been observed and recorded), and the issue of its harm to human health has been constantly discussed and debated; and although no documented evidence has been presented so far that this corn is harmful or pathogenic.
Accusations of being carcinogenic or creating conditions for disease have also been made, but the American Cancer Society has generally rejected these claims and stated that no evidence has been presented so far. One of the points of controversy is the use of the herbicide glyphosate in these fields, which has led to criminal charges against the Bayer company.
The emergence of toxic algae; Many waters, from oceans to groundwater sources, are now contaminated with toxic algae, which is one of the consequences of industrialization and the corn production industry. The rapid proliferation of these algae is caused by the introduction of nitrogen and phosphorus chemical fertilizers into the waters.
Even the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that "food pollution" is one of the worst problems of climate challenges.
Wasteful cultivation
In general, industrial corn cultivation has a wasteful function that is accompanied by the waste of some resources. First of all, it requires a lot of water to grow, because basically due to the need for large quantities of corn, whether forage or grain, its cultivation is carried out on large areas, which necessitates the consumption of a large amount of water.
However, if this cultivation is carried out during drought and lack of rainfall, it will put pressure on other water resources and some irrigation methods will not be sufficient for crop production.
It should be noted that the need for more irrigation involves more water waste, washing fertilizers into runoff and subsoil layers, and causing pollution at such a level.
The next point is that a large amount of the product obtained is used to produce alcohol and animal feed, which ultimately leaves a lot of waste. In addition, the harvested crop parts in the form of stems, leaves, cobs, etc. are either left on the ground or burned by companies and farmers.
While large amounts of water, soil, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides have been used to produce these wastes, because companies or farmers believe that these wastes have no economic value.
Damage of corn cultivation to the ecosystem
In most parts of the world, from America to Asia and South America, ecosystems have suffered great damage and injury due to deforestation and encroachment on natural areas.
Industrial corn cultivation is basically a monoculture method that destroys the habitats of various types of animals. In contrast to this method, traditional crops are cultivated in rotation and help maintain the health of the soil and the environment.
Industrial corn cultivation, due to the continuous planting of this crop, gradually wears out and severely weakens the aforementioned lands, and the increase in the use of fertilizers and chemical pesticides is one of the side effects of monotony in the cultivation of a crop.
Currently, many countries are in conditions of ecosystem destruction.Native plants are being destroyed by monocultures, for example in Brazil, the Amazon rainforest, which is considered the breathing space of the earth, is being destroyed.
In African countries, many of which are prone to drought, the same small amount of water is wasted on corn cultivation. These global disasters are putting biodiversity and natural resources at risk of destruction on a large scale.
The dangers of industrial corn farming
Industrial corn farming can contribute to the spread of plant diseases and when a crop is repeatedly grown in an area; It can cause some plant diseases to become widespread. Such an event in 2017 in the United States caused the destruction of 15% of the corn crop, and currently a type of bacterial disease is spreading in corn growing areas.
Soil erosion; Another challenge in industrial corn farming is the issue of soil erosion. According to satellite images, the lands of the corn belt in the United States have lost one-third, and in some fields up to 50%, of their topsoil. This event means a sharp decrease in yield.
Now, to compensate for this soil erosion, corn farmers are forced to use millions of dollars in additional fertilizer to compensate for this erosion. More fertilizer means more environmental pollution, greenhouse gases, and toxic algae.
Corn harms cows; Approximately one-third of the total industrial corn crop is used as animal feed, but unfortunately this food can cause discomfort, illness, and even death to livestock.
Cows are primarily "grazers" and their bodies are designed to consume grass, which is usually a large portion of the fiber. This feeding method helps them to activate a set of microorganisms in their digestive tract and digest their food.
However, the grazing method is very expensive for livestock farmers. Now, with the availability of cheap corn, livestock farmers have turned to this method to facilitate the feeding of livestock and its rapid growth. However, because the digestive system of cows is based on grazing, eating corn causes severe bloating of the digestive tract and damages them, which has a negative impact on the ozone layer.
Impact on small farms; The existence of large, industrial corn farms gradually marginalizes and eliminates small and medium-sized family farms, resulting in damage to small businesses, increased unemployment, and food security.
But how does this happen? For example, in the 1970s, the US government forced small and marginal farmers to produce more, and some of them complied, but over a 10-year period, this increased production caused costs to skyrocket.
Many farmers went into debt and went bankrupt. Some were forced to choose livestock farming and were excluded from the agricultural sector.
Some of these farmers claimed that large companies played a game with them and caused poverty among farmers by lowering crop prices and wages. While large corn companies became stronger every day and made huge profits, small farmers were excluded from the production cycle.
The impact on the role of subsidies; In a situation where corn surplus production had become a reality, small farmers needed to receive government subsidies and tax breaks, but this hot issue had led small corn farmers to conclude that instead of making a profit, they were constantly losing money. One of the important points of this debate was which individuals and companies actually benefited from these subsidies.
The fact was that the largest subsidies went to large corn production companies, which the research emphasized. Basically, these subsidies were allocated by the government to protect the environment, livestock and livestock farmers, cities and residents against the consequences of this industrial cultivation method, but they were deposited into the pockets of large corn production companies.
Exploitation of workers; Many agricultural workers are seasonal and irregular and are forced to migrate to find work. They are usually exploited with low wages and a lot of work, they do not have a fixed place and have to move from one farm to another and do not have any welfare facilities.
As a result, although corn production contributes to food security, especially in developed and wealthy countries; it has dark and hidden sides that are usually hidden. Large corn production companies are unwilling; Let light shine upon this darkness.