home news forum careers events suppliers solutions markets expos directories catalogs resources advertise contacts
 
News Page

The news
and
beyond the news
Index of news sources
All Africa Asia/Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East North America
  Topics
  Species
Archives
News archive 1997-2008
 

Plant breeding vital for sustainable agriculture – ADAS study


United Kingdom
June 9, 2015

Review of the objectives of modern plant breeding and their relation to sustainability

By developing crop varieties with higher yields, improved resource use efficiency and reduced environmental impact, plant breeding is a major contributor to meeting the goals of sustainability in agriculture, according to an independent review published today.

Agricultural consultants ADAS assessed the contribution of modern plant breeding to sustainability in agriculture. With a focus on UK and EU plant breeding in key food and forage crops over the past 10 years, ADAS conducted a systematic review of published scientific literature and other information sources – comprising more than 250 individual citations in total. The study found that innovation in plant breeding provides a vital foundation to address multiple sustainability goals, and is a major contributor to raising yields, increasing resource use efficiency and reducing the negative environmental impacts of food production.

Presenting the ADAS study, lead author Rebecca Carter said:

Our review found that the main focus of commercial plant breeding in the past 10 years has been on enhancing and protecting yield in major arable crops, so driving greater production from the same amount of land - a key requirement of sustainable intensification. Alongside selection for physical yield, the development of varieties with improved standing ability, better enduse quality and enhanced pest and disease resistance support this objective by reducing harvest losses and wastage in the supply chain. An emphasis on yield also contributes to sustainability objectives by improving the efficiency of land, input, nutrient and water use per unit of production, as well as delivering important environmental benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions and protection of soil health and water quality.”

Key findings of the ADAS review commissioned by BSPB are summarised in the following table, which highlights breeding advances already delivering impact in the market place (blue boxes), as well as key areas of plant breeding where research is in the pipeline or where further R&D investment is required (green boxes).

Welcoming the study, BSPB chairman Dr Richard Summers said:

The concept of ‘sustainable intensification’ in agriculture – producing more output per unit of resource and environmental impact – is widely established as the necessary response to Sir John Beddington’s ‘perfect storm’ of population growth, climate change and declining natural resources. Less clear is precisely what this means in practice for different product sectors and farming systems.”

Unpacking the components of sustainability is the starting point for developing new metrics in agriculture, paving the way for common, agreed definitions of what sustainable intensification means in practical terms – so that we can benchmark current performance, measure improvements over time, understand the best technologies, farming systems and practices to deliver it, and use all that information to frame the R&D agenda going forward.”

This comprehensive report from ADAS makes a valuable contribution to that process, and clearly demonstrates the role of plant breeding innovation as a major contributor to more sustainable farming systems.”

Review of the objectives of modern plant breeding and their relation to sustainability



More news from: BSPB - British Society of Plant Breeders*


Website: http://www.bspb.co.uk

Published: June 9, 2015

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated
Fair use notice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Copyright @ 1992-2024 SeedQuest - All rights reserved