Perennial vegetables: A neglected resource for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and nutrition

Toensmeier, Eric; Ferguson, Rafter Sass; Mehra, Mamta

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0234611

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…They represent 33-56 % of cultivated vegetable species and occupy 6 % of the world's vegetable cropland. Despite their distinct relevance to climate change mitigation and nutritional security, perennial vegetables receive little attention in the scientific literature (Toensmeier et al, 2020). Modern agricultural systems that promote the cultivation of a minimal number of crop species have relegated indigenous crops to the status of NUCS.…”

Section: Food Production and Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of the interactions between food production and climate change

Filho

Setti

Azeiteiro

et al. 2022

Science of The Total Environment

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Section: Food Production and Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of the interactions between food production and climate change

Filho

Setti

Azeiteiro

et al. 2022

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Key nutrient deficiencies in these industrial diets are fiber, calcium, magnesium, and antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E (Suter, 2005;USDA USHHS, 2011;de Baaij et al, 2015;Siti et al, 2015). Accordingly, we selected micronutrients that are deficient from either traditional or industrial diets: fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, folate, and vitamins A, C, and E following Toensmeier et al (2020). Iodine is not present in most terrestrial foods, so it was not included.…”

Section: Nutrition Of Perennial Staple Cropsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perennial Staple Crops: Yields, Distribution, and Nutrition in the Global Food System

Kreitzman

Toensmeier²,

Chan

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Staple crops, which have large amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and/or fats, provide the bulk of calories in people's diets. Perennial plants, which can be productive for many years without the need for replanting, can produce staple foods and environmental benefits, but their agronomic and nutritional properties haven't been considered synthetically in comparison to annual staples. Here we offer a framework to classify perennial staple crops according to their nutritional categories and cultivation status. We assemble literature to report on the yield potential of 51 perennial staple crops, only 15 of which are well-characterized in existing global datasets. We show the extent and distribution of perennial staple crop production in relation to annual crop types, calculate the carbon stocks they hold, and analyze their nutritional content for three macronutrients and nine micronutrients. We found that most perennial staple crops are regional crops (not globally traded) that grow in the subtropics to tropics. At least one perennial staple crop in each of the five nutritional categories has yields over 2.5 t/ha, in some cases considerably higher, competitive with and in many cases exceeding those of nutritionally comparable annual staples. Perennial staple crops only comprise ~4.5% of total cropland. They hold a modest ~11.4 GtC above and below ground, less than one third of the anthropogenic carbon-equivalent emissions for the year 2018, but more than the ~9 GtC held by the same amount of annual cropland. If linear growth in land under perennial staple production continues to 2040, and replaces only annual cropland, an additional ~0.95 GtC could be sequestered. Many perennial crops also had competitive macronutrient density and yield (per unit area) compared to annual staples; moreover, specific perennial staples are abundant in specific micronutrients, indicating that they can be a nutrient-dense part of diets, unlike the most ubiquitous annual staple crops (corn, wheat, rice) that do not appear in the top 85th percentile for any of the nine micronutrients analyzed. Transition of land and diets to perennial staple crops, if judiciously managed, can provide win-win solutions for both food production and ecosystems.

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“…Where food production is a primary objective in UFGs, light requirements for understory perennial vegetables may in fact be incompatible with shade obligate forest crops. A recent analysis of the biodiversity of perennial vegetable crops worldwide sheds light on the shade suitability of the species that might otherwise be common to the herbaceous component of a forest garden, where only 9% of the perennial vegetables studied ( n = 613) are suited to full shade and 46% to partial shade (Toensmeier et al., 2020). In forest gardens with an explicit food production objective, design for partial shade or greater sunlight exposure for food production may inhibit the capacity of these spaces to host shade‐obligate forest plants and fungi.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring ‘beyond‐food’ opportunities for biocultural conservation in urban forest gardens

Hemmelgarn

Munsell

2021

Urban Agric & Regnl Food Sys

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Urban agroforestry efforts have focused primarily on food production, but these dynamic, multiple-strata systems can host a much broader set of functions. This exploratory synthesis describes opportunities and considerations for urban forest gardens' (UFG) capacity to include diverse, biologically important, and culturally relevant nontimber forest species that have medicinal properties, provide decorative and landscaping products, supply raw material for crafts, and other valuable outputs. Literature relevant to social and ecological aspects of design for 'beyond-food' specialty forest crops in urban forest gardens reveals a need for collaborative, participatory, and culturally relevant UFG decision making that addresses access inequities, potential contamination from urban pollutants, and a continued need for education and awareness of UFG multifunctionality. These production spaces can serve as both a biological and cultural repository for species that may be otherwise overlooked in a narrowly oriented food garden, though case study examples indicating contextual elements of implementation are needed to understand specific cultural and health sovereignty benefits. Currently, traditional tropical homegardens serve as a model for biocultural diversity in small-scale urban green spaces. Incorporating conservation goals into urban agroforestry initiatives at varying scales holds potential for growing interest in and commitment to building capacity for this emergent land use.Abbreviations: CIS, critical interpretive synthesis; NTFP, nontimber forest product; UFG, urban forest gardenThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Perennial vegetables: A neglected resource for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and nutrition

Cited by 15 publications

References 34 publications

An overview of the interactions between food production and climate change

An overview of the interactions between food production and climate change

Perennial Staple Crops: Yields, Distribution, and Nutrition in the Global Food System

Exploring ‘beyond‐food’ opportunities for biocultural conservation in urban forest gardens

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