Fusarium disease on wheat

Food Security

Predicted population increases indicate that global demand for food will increase 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Providing a sustainable supply of food, that is affordable, nutritious and safe is a major challenge for researchers, farmers, agri-business and government. These groups must work together to create a robust food production system that is able to withstand significant disruptions, such as climate change.

Rothamsted Research (RRes) will continue to play a major role in the provision of Food Security, contributing its full range of research. This includes improving crop protection, identifying and reducing environmental impacts, sustaining and enhancing soil quality, using conventional and GM technologies to improve quality and exploiting advances in mathematical modelling. In order to target the challenges that underpin food security the science at RRes is organised around four problem-based centres; Crop Genetic Improvement, Soils and Ecosystem Function, Sustainable Pest and Disease Management and Bioenergy and Climate Change.

A few examples...

Pollinators, including bees, butterflies and moths, are all essential for food production. RRes projects such as the recently funded BBSRC Industry Partnership Award on honeybee population dynamics will make a major contribution to efforts to prevent declines in honeybee populations by exploring the multitude of factors that affect honeybee colony strength and survival in arable landscapes.

 » Honeybee population dynamics: Integrating the effects of factors within the hive and in the landscape (BBSRC IPA)

From a global perspective, it is commonly held that pests, diseases and weeds account for about 25% of potential lost yield each year. This represents a substantial contribution to the shortfall in demand for food. Research at RRes is contributing to improved or alternative means of managing biotic threats to crop production and Food Security. Better and more sustainable use of existing control methods (e.g. pesticides) is being promoted via disease forecasting systems (e.g. in oilseed rape) and work to understand and manage the problem of pesticide resistance.

 » ENDURE: European Network for the Durable Exploitation of crop protection strategies (European Union)

Safeguarding existing chemistry is a priority while alternative, longer term solutions to the threat of pests, diseases and weeds are developed. Alongside research optimising current crop protection measures is work on alternatives such as biocontrol, semiochemicals and plant defence activators. Novel agricultural products and practices must ensure that the wastage of water, essential nutrients and energy is minimised if we wish to to elevate output per hectare without increasing the environmental footprint.

 » Biological Chemistry Department

Increasing per hectare yields can be achieved through improved resource-use efficiency and RREs leads two Defra Crop Genetic Improvement Networks (GINS), OREGIN (oil seed rape) and WGIN (wheat), which are developing tools and providing sources of improved germplasm to enable increases in resource-use efficiency in support of sustainable development of the arable sector.

 » OREGIN: Oilseed Rape Genetic Improvement Network (Defra)
 » WGIN: Wheat Genetic Improvement Network (Defra)

Food security cannot be considered in isolation but in relation to other grand challenges relating to land use, fuel needs and climate change. A holistic approach is required to meeting consumer demands for food and fuel. We are part of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre (BSBEC): Perennial Bioenergy Crops Programme, which aims to underpin the development of sustainable biofuels by optimising biomass feedstocks from perennial (non-food) biomass crops whilst maximising energy savings and minimising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

 » The Sustainable Bioenergy Centre (BSBEC): Perennial Bioenergy Crops Programme (BBSRC)

Rothamsted Research is an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

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