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cupcakeraynebowjones t1_j3tyqrs wrote

Oh My God, when will people realize relying on a crop that's all 100% genetically identical is a bad idea?

There is historical precedent for this.

If something goes wrong with your crop, if your crop is all clones, you lose all of it. And then when that happens, many, many, people starve to death.

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andyhfell OP t1_j3u4hxc wrote

This doesn't mean all the rice in the world would be one clone. It would be easier and cheaper to produce multiple high-yield/disease resistant hybrids and make them accessible to farmers. They would need different varieties for different regions and markets, anyway.

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mem_somerville t1_j3u9toc wrote

There is hysterical precedent for people making this claim, most of whom have never seen a farmer seed catalog.

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