The Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-03-18, Page 35Page 19
Evening primrose could replace tobacco crops
Tobacco crops could eventually be replac-
ed by a pretty yellow flower that grows in
many gardens, say researchers at the
University of Guelph. Horticultural Science
professor Ib Nonnecke and graduate student
John Baker are developing the native plant
evening primrose as a new crop for Ontario.
The oil of the plant, which is rich in essential
fatty acids, is used by the cosmetic and
pharmaceutical industries.
Today only about 3,300 hectares of
southern Ontario farm land are planted in
tobacco down from 10,000 hectares in the
late 1970's. Tobacco farmers, who are losing
money on corn and finding the soybean
market risky, are looking for a profitable
alternative. Nonnecke says evening
primrose may have a potential value of
$7,500 a hectare, which is comparable to the
prices obtained for tobacco.
-.The plant has enormous potential for
becoming a high -return, limited -acreage
specialty crop for the farmer," says Non-
necke. "It grows well in the former tobacco
growing regions of southwestern Ontario,
and little specialized equipment or expense
is required to begin production. In addition,
the Canadian market for products of the
plant is excellent. Demand increased by 37
percent in 1985 alone." Various species of
evening primose are found in Ontario,
Quebec and northeastern regions of the
United States.
The tiny seeds containing evening
primrose oil are the richest known source of
Manure spreading
causes problems
by Ron Fleming, OMAF
"If anything can go wrong, it will". A
fellow named Murphy made that profound
observation. He also noted that "if
everything seems, to be going well, you
have.. obviously overlooked something".
Both statements apply very well to
spreading manure, especially liquid
manure. We have received several reports
of problems involving manure running out
of drainage tiles following fall spreading.
This is bad news since it really makes a
mess of water quality downstream. It's
also against the law, and several farmers
over the years have ended up being charg-
ed with polluting watercourses.
Sometimes' these problems are hard to
'understand. Farmers- 'whcrhawe followed
the same spreading practices for years are
running into problems. It may be
something to do with the saturation of the
soil, or maybe soild structure, or maybe
even higher spreading rates than usual.
One problem has 'shown up on more than
one occasion, and it has formed the basis
of the famous "Fleming's Law" (appear-
ing here for the first time). "Pond over
tiles, pollution for miles". Catchy, eh?
What I've noticed is that any time
manure ponds in a field, it usually means
the soil is saturated or the spreading rates
are too high. Manure will pond in the low
area, and this is often over drainage tile. It
will almost certainly get into the tile
through some means sucji as cracks in the
soil. If you see manure foning ponds, you
probably should 'stop spreading or spread
less per acre. At least, check tile flow at
the outlet or at a catch basin. It's a good
idea to check the tile anyway. We've seen
pollution caused by broken tile arid other
problems. If the water in the tile is
polluted, plug the tile and pump the
polluted water onto the land. You should
also notify the Ministry of the Environ-
ment because they may be able to give
some helpful advice.
Remember that manure is like fire - it
can do a lot of good or if it's not used right,
it can cause a lot of damage.
essential fatty acids, especially the rare
gammalinolenic acid (GLA), that perform
vital bodily functions. These acids provide
energy, help maintain body temperature,
insulate nerves and cushion and protect
tissues; they also determine cell membrane
structure, which is important for proper
functioning of the immune system.
In the body, GLA converts to a
physiologically active substance
( prostaglandin El) that lowers blood
pressure and inhibits tissue inflammation,
abnormal cell proliferation, blood platelet
clumping and cholesterol synthesis. It is
believed that some people who are unable
to metabolize sufficient amounts of this
essential fatty acid can be helped by taking
evening primrose oil orally or rubbing it into
the skin.
At first glance, . the biennial evening
primrose doesn't seem like a winner; seeds
cannot simply be sown in the field, because
a built-in reproduction mechanism stalls
germination. Nonnecke and Baker have
found, however, that by germinating the
seeds in a greenhouse and producing small
transplants, they can harvest a crop in the
fall after a five-month growing season.
The researchers have collected a large
germ plasm pool from the many genotypes
of evening primrose found around the pro-
vince. This pool includes genetic lines with
shatter -resistant pods that help prevent
seed loss during harvesting. To produce a
plant with the highest commercial value,
Nonnecke and Baker will select the lines
best suited for rapid growth, maximum seed
pod production and oil content.
With the current worldwide glut of food
and fibre crops, the scientists say it makes
sense to diversify to other crops. Evening
primrose oil is widely used in the
pharmeceutical and cosmetics industries.
The oil is used in skin care products in
England and other European countries and
is marketed in Canada as a dietary supple-
ment, available in drug and health food
stores.
Based on clinical studies by other resear-
chers, evening primrose oil looks promising
as a treatment for skin disorders such as
atopiceczema and some allergies. Its
benefits for health problems such as
alcoholism, pre-menstrual syndrome and
certain types of heart disease are being
researched. Clinical studies are also being
done using evening primrose oil to alleviate
long-term complications of diabetes and to
supplement traditional treatments for
rheumatoid arthritis.
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