Perennial Grains – An Ecology of New Crops

Pimentel, David; Jackson, Wes; Bender, Marty; Pickett, Walter

doi:10.1179/030801886789799809

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…At the same time, there are a number of sustainability principles about which consensus is emerging that can be followed regardless of the type of agriculture deployed ( Robertson et al, 2014 ). Notable among these is the case for perennial vegetation ( Pimentel et al, 1986 , Glover et al, 2010 ). This type of plant trait ensures greater capture and conservation of resources, as living plants are continuously present to photosynthesize and foster biological processes such as nutrient recycling ( Jackson, 2002 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-based agricultural solutions: Scaling perennial grains across Africa

Peter

Mungai

Messina

et al. 2017

Environmental Research

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Modern plant breeding tends to focus on maximizing yield, with one of the most ubiquitous implementations being shorter-duration crop varieties. It is indisputable that these breeding efforts have resulted in greater yields in ideal circumstances; however, many farmed locations across Africa suffer from one or more conditions that limit the efficacy of modern short-duration hybrids. In view of global change and increased necessity for intensification, perennial grains and long-duration varieties offer a nature-based solution for improving farm productivity and smallholder livelihoods in suboptimal agricultural areas. Specific conditions where perennial grains should be considered include locations where biophysical and social constraints reduce agricultural system efficiency, and where conditions are optimal for crop growth. Using a time-series of remotely-sensed data, we locate the marginal agricultural lands of Africa, identifying suboptimal temperature and precipitation conditions for the dominant crop, i.e., maize, as well as optimal climate conditions for two perennial grains, pigeonpea and sorghum. We propose that perennial grains offer a lower impact, sustainable nature-based solution to this subset of climatic drivers of marginality. Using spatial analytic methods and satellite-derived climate information, we demonstrate the scalability of perennial pigeonpea and sorghum across Africa. As a nature-based solution, we argue that perennial grains offer smallholder farmers of marginal lands a sustainable solution for enhancing resilience and minimizing risk in confronting global change, while mitigating social and edaphic drivers of low and variable production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-based agricultural solutions: Scaling perennial grains across Africa

Peter

Mungai

Messina

et al. 2017

Environmental Research

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“…It is reported that nearly 2500 species of plants belonging to more than 160 families have undergone domestication throughout the world [ 6 ]. Surprisingly, despite having a huge diversity of vascular food plants, the world relies on only a limited number of approximately 15 major crops for 70 percent of food and nutritional requirements that were domesticated by our ancestors more than 10,000 years ago [ 7 , 8 ]. Of the 15 major crops, more than 50 percent of the calories come from five cereal crops, namely wheat, rice, millet, sorghum and maize [ 7 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Omics and Gene Editing Tools for Rapid Improvement of Traditional Food Plants for Diversified and Sustainable Food Security

Kumar

Anju

Kumar³

et al. 2021

IJMS

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Indigenous communities across the globe, especially in rural areas, consume locally available plants known as Traditional Food Plants (TFPs) for their nutritional and health-related needs. Recent research shows that many TFPs are highly nutritious as they contain health beneficial metabolites, vitamins, mineral elements and other nutrients. Excessive reliance on the mainstream staple crops has its own disadvantages. Traditional food plants are nowadays considered important crops of the future and can act as supplementary foods for the burgeoning global population. They can also act as emergency foods in situations such as COVID-19 and in times of other pandemics. The current situation necessitates locally available alternative nutritious TFPs for sustainable food production. To increase the cultivation or improve the traits in TFPs, it is essential to understand the molecular basis of the genes that regulate some important traits such as nutritional components and resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. The integrated use of modern omics and gene editing technologies provide great opportunities to better understand the genetic and molecular basis of superior nutrient content, climate-resilient traits and adaptation to local agroclimatic zones. Recently, realizing the importance and benefits of TFPs, scientists have shown interest in the prospection and sequencing of TFPs for their improvements, cultivation and mainstreaming. Integrated omics such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and ionomics are successfully used in plants and have provided a comprehensive understanding of gene-protein-metabolite networks. Combined use of omics and editing tools has led to successful editing of beneficial traits in several TFPs. This suggests that there is ample scope for improvement of TFPs for sustainable food production. In this article, we highlight the importance, scope and progress towards improvement of TFPs for valuable traits by integrated use of omics and gene editing techniques.

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“…The breeding of perennial staple crops, such as perennial wheat, has emerged as a novel approach to sustainable agriculture and food systems. Perennial crops could reduce fuel dependency and better protect soil quality compared to conventional production of annual crops [ 1 , 2 ]. In addition to ecological benefits, some argue they could better protect human health by reducing chemical input requirements, provide additional economic opportunities for farmers, and help some vulnerable communities achieve food security [ 3 , 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Perennial Staple Crops Literature Using Topic Modeling and Bibliometric Analysis

2016

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Research on perennial staple crops has increased in the past ten years due to their potential to improve ecosystem services in agricultural systems. However, multiple past breeding efforts as well as research on traditional ratoon systems mean there is already a broad body of literature on perennial crops. In this review, we compare the development of research on perennial staple crops, including wheat, rice, rye, sorghum, and pigeon pea. We utilized the advanced search capabilities of Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Agricola to gather a library of 914 articles published from 1930 to the present. We analyzed the metadata in the entire library and in collections of literature on each crop to understand trends in research and publishing. In addition, we applied topic modeling to the article abstracts, a type of text analysis that identifies frequently co-occurring terms and latent topics. We found: 1.) Research on perennials is increasing overall, but individual crops have each seen periods of heightened interest and research activity; 2.) Specialist journals play an important role in supporting early research efforts. Research often begins within communities of specialists or breeders for the individual crop before transitioning to a more general scientific audience; 3.) Existing perennial agricultural systems and their domesticated crop material, such as ratoon rice systems, can provide a useful foundation for breeding efforts, accelerating the development of truly perennial crops and farming systems; 4.) Primary research is lacking for crops that are produced on a smaller scale globally, such as pigeon pea and sorghum, and on the ecosystem service benefits of perennial agricultural systems.

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Perennial Grains – An Ecology of New Crops

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

Nature-based agricultural solutions: Scaling perennial grains across Africa

Nature-based agricultural solutions: Scaling perennial grains across Africa

Integrating Omics and Gene Editing Tools for Rapid Improvement of Traditional Food Plants for Diversified and Sustainable Food Security

A Systematic Review of Perennial Staple Crops Literature Using Topic Modeling and Bibliometric Analysis

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