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Sébastien CrepieuxEuropean CommissionDirectorate-General Research and InnovationProject Officer, Unit E4 : Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Aquacualture
Are conservation, development of biodiversity and sustainable farming goals for research?
Seeds for a sustainable future
31 May 2011
Crop production in Europe
40 % (172 m ha) of the EU’s land area is farmed.
Utilised agricultural area:
60 % arable land
33% permanent grasslands
6% permanent crops
Annual agricultural output worth €360 billion
58% from crop products
42% from animal products
13.7 m agricultural holdings:
40% crop farming,
22% livestock
38% mixed-farming
* Figures from EUROSTAT 2007
Diverse patterns of crop production across Europe.
Agricultural activities impact significantly on environment, economy and social cohesion, not just in rural areas.
Challenges to current agriculture
Population growth + changing consumption patterns
Food production to be increased by 70% by 2050
FOOD SECURITY
Increased environmental instability / climate change effects DIVERSIFICATION, INCREASED
RESILIENCE OF FARMING SYSTEMS
Diminishing finite resources (e.g. soil, water, nutrients, energy)
RESOURCE EFFICIENCY, LOW INPUT PRODUCTION
Competing demands for land use, e.g. through increased non-food production and urbanisation
SUSTAINABLE LAND USE MANAGEMENT, MULTIPLE USES OF AGRICULTURAL (BY)-PRODUCTS
Main global drivers for change and associated challenges
INNOVATION (biological, technological, management)
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE BIOECONOMY
Collaborative Research Frontier Research
Human Potential
Research Capacity
European support to foster agricultural research and the overall bioeconomy sector
Total Specific Programmes: Total 53 billion €
€7.460m
€4.217m
ERC
Infrastructures
32,4
FP7 : 2007-2013. Theme 2 : Around 300 m€ / year
10 Themes of the Cooperation Programme
KBBE - Activity 2.2“Fork to farm”: Food, health and well being
KBBE - Activity 2.1Sustainable food production and management of biological resources from land, forest and aquatic environments
KBBE - Activity 2.3Life sciences, biotechnology and biochemistry for sustainable non-food products and processes
Theme 2 - Structure
Knowledge/Discovery
Translation
Application/Innovation
Policy development
Are conservation, development of biodiversity and sustainable farming goals for research?
Some examples
Within first 5 calls for proposals :
55 projects (covering sustainable plant production systems)
180m€ EU contribution
Plant research in FP7 KBBE programme Outcome from calls 2007 – 2011
Some funded projects:
- (1) Biodiversity, low input farming, plant genetic resources
- (2) Breeding and use of genetic resources
- (3) Sustainable plant production
PGR Secure project (website under development)
The project aims at improving the conservation and use of European Crop Wild Relatives (CWR). To this end, it will investigate and test novel genotypic and
phenotypic characterisation techniques, develop exemplar national and European CWR inventories and conservation strategies and facilitate breeders' access to
CWR genetic resources.
Consortium:9 acad. / 1 private partnersCoord: Birmingham Univ.N. Maxted
EU-funding:3M€ /3,5 yearsStart: Feb. 2011
Genera:Avena, Beta, Brassica Medicago
There is not a single project on breeding that does not emphasize the role and importance of genetic resources
Genetic resources : Conservation, description, use…
Direct uselow input farming, organic
Use in pre-breeding - breeding programsDiscover new alleles
Private and public breeding programmes
Release and registration of new varieties
(conventional breeding)
Validation of genes / effects
(2) Breeding, conservation and use of genetic diversity
Ex: DROPSADAPTAWHEAT
ABSTRESS
(3) Sustainable plant production:
• Legume Futures: “Legumes: key multifunctional legume crops for an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly future European agriculture”reintroduce legumes in rotation for their multiple benefits (www.legumefutures.eu)
• Multisward: “Multifunctional grasslands for sustainable and competitive ruminant production systems and the delivery of ecosystem services”Promote the sustainable and beneficial use of swards in European farming – roles, utility and expectations (www.multiswards.eu)
• Cover Crops: “Development of cover crop and mulch systems for sustainable crop production”The introduction of cover crops, catch crops and (living) mulch into cropping systems is known to have beneficial effects in particular on soil improvement (e.g. organic matter and soil structure, nitrogen production, soil microbial activity…), pest management and weed suppression (…)
• (+ many others, including WP2012 : Managing semi-natural habitats and on-farm biodiversity to optimise ecological services …
Balanced approach : Competitivity and production but with the sustainability criteria
• Are conservation, development of biodiversity and sustainable farming goals for research? Clearly yes !
• Genetic diversity is a driver for sustainability of agricultural systems and food security
• Strategies for agricultural genetic resources need to consider
- Genetic diversity at various levels (plant - crop - agro-ecosystem)
- Measures for in-situ and ex-situ conservation
- The use : understand the evolution of diversity, molecular basis and variability of relevant traits to develop tools for pre-breeding and breeding activities (MAS). The release of performing varieties is one of the key issue to allow sufficient food production with the less arable land used (in Europe and in the world).
- Strong link with all stakeholders need to be ensured – conservationists, farmers, research, public and private breeding…
• But seeds/genetic resources are only a part of the agriculture sustainability equation : cannot miss the production, the cropping system, the agronomic techniques, the use of resources…
Final comments
FP7/Theme 2: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/kbbe/home_en.html
EU AGRINET Research portal: http://ec.europa.eu/research/agriculture/index_en.html
DG RTD: http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?lg=en
DG AGRI: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/index_en.htm
Europe 2020: http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/index_en.htm
Innovation Union communication: http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/index_en.cfm?pg=keydocs
Sources of information
Thank you for your attention!
Contacts
[email protected] , Project Officer Plant Breeding and Agronomy, Unit E4
[email protected] Head of Unit E.4 Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Aquacualture
[email protected] Directorate E Biotechnologies, Agricuture, Food