Dear Editor
In response to Glen Tait's letter about the wheat midge and the stewardship agreements (Regional Optimist, March 20), he just repeated the seed company's line of why they want 10 per cent susceptible wheat in the crop. They are concerned the midge might mutate into midges that can eat this midge wheat. I don't buy that theory. If the midge won't eat the midge tolerant crop and he starves to death, he is still dead. The midge tolerant wheat works and if the midge population can be reduced that is just bonus. This is a much better deal than spraying and spraying which would also kill the parasitic wasp that eats the midge larva. Mother Nature has a way of balancing things out if humans just butt out. If some insect population gets out of control, there is always some predator or disease that comes along and puts everything back in balance. It may not be right away, but it will happen.
I wasn't aware Tait was on the Saskatchewan Wheat Commission, but I am glad that he is. I have phoned him and we are in agreement that check-off money should not be spent to enrich multinational seed and chemical companies. If some product or variety is developed using check-off money that item should remain in Canada at the university or maybe the Wheat Commission, not turned over to the seed and chemical companies as is done now.
I don't view these multinational seed and chemical companies as very good corporate citizens. I have a saying that big business or big government are the same, they only look after themselves. These companies have the technology to bring out plants that are immune to most diseases; they could make the plants a legume and fix its own nitrogen; they could have the plants cold tolerant, stink weed is. They only want to bring forward something they can charge tech fees for, for the next 20 years.
Case in point, the University of Saskatchewan has developed a hairy canola plant and the flea beetles won't touch it. The technology works, but the chemical and seed companies won't touch it either. They would rather sell you seed treatment at $1,000 a litre.
Victor Hult
Waseca
