Sustainable agriculture for a liveable world
Producing twice the amount of food with a two times lower input. This is the challenge taken up by the scientists of Plant Research International.
They are working on agricultural systems that are sustainable in every respect. This ‘new’ agriculture – ecoagriculture - is producing sufficient food for the population worldwide with farmers making money from their own crops. And the emission of nutrients and chemical pesticides is virtually zero. Energy production is at least as high as energy consumption. And the soil remains fertile and healthy.
And ecoagriculture is robust. Crop cultivation remains possible, also when climate change would make regions dryer, would result in extreme rainfall, or crops would be hit by more pests and diseases. Such systems are even helping to reduce the effects of climate change by absorbing greenhouse gases.
Such new cultivation systems are based on specialist knowledge of plants at all levels. The scientists are familiar with each detail level in the plant, from genes to cells. They know the biology of plants and their environment and what is living in and on the soil. And they are capable to put all this knowledge together at the level of the farm, the region, or even the world. This is how research contributes to solving today’s problems for future generations.
Sustainable production
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Global crop production
There is general agreement that more crop biomass will need to be produced both to feed the growing human population and to facilitate the transition from our fossil-based economy to a bio-based economy. Knowledge of crop production and required inputs is fundamental to support these developments.
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Developing cultivation systems that require fewer natural resources
Using fewer natural resources while still producing sufficient food and sparing the environment and nature: that is the challenge facing researchers at Plant Research International. To this end, they are developing new cultivation systems and calculating the consequences in terms of cultivation techniques and social-economic impact.
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Making more efficient use of nitrogen and phosphate, without leaching out
How can farmers still achieve good yields if they are not allowed to use the same quantities of phosphates and nitrogen? And how much lower will these so-called use standards have to go to meet environmental standards? That is what researchers at Plant Research International are working out through a combination of field trials, technological innovation and modelling.
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Fewer chemicals when soils are resistant to disease
Disease-resistant soils can help to drastically reduce the use of chemicals. Researchers at Plant Research International have discovered a new mechanism which plays a role in the disease-resistance of soil.
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Saline vegetables, seaweed and sea fish from a single mixed salt-water operation
The cultivation of saline vegetables and seaweed and fish farming can be combined into a single sustainable agriculture system on brackish ground. That is the idea of researchers at Plant Research International. In this way they aim to render productive coastal areas which are currently often not suitable for food production due to their high salinity.
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Using crops’ natural defences to make them sustainably resistant to insects
Plants’ natural resistance against insects can render insecticides superfluous. With this in mind, researchers at Plant Research International are looking for the genes that protect plants against attack from insects. If they are successful, it will be possible to make other crops resistant to insect attack in a sustainable way. The first steps have already been taken.
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Giving plants sustainable resistance through genetic research
If plants have long-term resistance to disease and infestations, the use of chemicals to combat disease and infestation is barely necessary, if at all. Researchers at Plant Research International are developing such sustainably resistant plants by unravelling the resistance mechanisms at gene level.
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Making plants suitable for poor or saline soil
It is possible to breed plants in such a way that they will also do well under less than optimal conditions, for example on salty ground or with reduced nitrogen input. Researchers at Plant Research International are looking for genes involved in these kinds of properties of plants.
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Organic control reduces the use of chemical pesticides and fungicides
Insects can be fooled and harmful fungi and bacteria can be controlled by using other fungi and bacteria. This type of organic control is gaining ground, partly through the efforts of Plant Research International.
As a result, the use of chemical pesticides and fungicides can be reduced.
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DNA techniques for exact detection of pests and diseases
DNA techniques can be used to accurately detect which pests and diseases are present in or around a crop or end product. Sometimes even before the symptoms of the disease are visible. This makes control much more specific and efficient. Scientists of Plant Research International are developing the techniques.
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New techniques can overcome objections to genetic modification
Transferring genes from one apple or potato to another in order to make it resistant to disease – this form of genetic modification, known as cisgenesis, delivers the same end products as classic plant breeding, but speeds the process up by many years. In this way, researchers at Plant Research International aim to make careful use of the possibilities of genetic modification.
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Diseases in wheat and banana caused by Mycosphaerella
This research programme by Plant Research International (PRI) focuses on two important diseases in wheat and banana, both of which are affected by fungi of the genus Mycosphaerella.
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Fewer crop protection agents in banana cultivation
The “black leaf streak disease” which affects bananas, better known as “Black Sigatoka", is a worldwide problem. Banana producers are having to use ever more chemical crop protection agents to keep this disease under control. Plant Research International (PRI) aims to achieve a 50% reduction in the use of those agents in ten years with the “Pesticide Reduction Programme for Bananas”.
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Crop protection: only where it is really needed
Only taking measures where the crop is affected by diseases, infestations and weeds and only when it is really needed: researchers at Plant Research International are designing techniques and cultivation systems to make that possible. |
Climate change
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Drought-resistant potatoes in prospect
In the future, it will probably be possible to use plant breeding techniques to develop potato plants which can cope with drought better than the plants which are in the ground now. There are great differences in the extent to which different potato plants are able to recover after a dry period. In the chromosomes of the potato there is one specific area where genes which regulate this drought-response are located.
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Limiting major crop losses through viruses
Viruses sometimes lead to crop losses of 10 to 30 percent, even though they may not even be visible. Climate change may make those losses even greater: due to new viruses, new insects which transmit viruses and a stronger reaction from the plants. Researchers at Plant Research International are studying viruses and their propagators, insects.
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Predicting when wheat contains toxins from fungi
Toxic wheat? Yes, it can happen: if fungi generate toxins in the grains. And the risk is that it will happen more often with increasing precipitation and higher temperatures in Europe as a result of climate change. Researchers at Plant Research International are studying when and where the problem will occur in the future.
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Making plants suitable for a different climate
Climate change is already leading to extremely dry periods in some areas, or to reduced availability of fresh water. As a result, crop production can be (significantly) reduced. So researchers at Plant Research International are looking for genes which make plants more resistant to such climate changes.
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Identifying exotic organisms better
Exotic fungi, bacteria and insects are doing increasingly well in Europe thanks to the changing climate. So it is important to be able to identify and destroy the harmful organisms immediately. Researchers at Plant Research International are working on a reliable identification of these organisms.
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Climate change affects land use
Climate change has major consequences for agriculture. Whereas one region may no longer be suitable for growing crops, another may actually gain new opportunities. Researchers at Plant Research International are investigating how those changes will pan out, so that farmers and government can take them into account.
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Effect of climate change on genetic variation within a species
Wild plant and animal species seem unable to keep up with climate change. The species are indeed moving north with higher temperatures but much of the genetic variation is staying behind in the original habitat. This has been found by scientists of Plant Research International. They are now investigating how this genetic variation can be kept intact.
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Farmers think about consequences of climate change for their farm
What does climate change mean for me? A question not many farmers ask themselves. In regional projects researchers of Plant Research International are helping farmers to get insight into the changes.
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Increased risk of failed harvests due to diseases and infestations as a result of climate change
Climate change will lead to more crops being lost to plant diseases and infestations. However, it is not possible to predict where and how they will strike. For this reason, researchers at Plant Research International are working on robust cultivation systems, which will mean crops will not succumb immediately a disease occurs.
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