The role of science and technology in addressing challenges to food

security and biodiversity…

TOBY BRUCE

The Challenges

The Challenges - Food

• POPULATION GROWTH

• DEMAND GROWTH

• CLIMATE CHANGE

• BIODIVERSITY DECLINE…

• RESOURCE USE e.g. water

• BEDDINGTON – PERFECT STORM

• GREEN REVOLUTION 2

Will future demand be met?…without more environmental damage?

0

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

7000000

8000000

9000000

10000000

1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031 2036 2041 2046P

op

ula

tio

n (

1000

s);

Cer

eal P

rod

uct

ion

(x

500

ton

nes

)

Source: FAOSTAT

Bruce (2010) Food Security 2: 133-141

To keep pace with growing

demand, global food production

needs to increase by an estimated 70%

by 2050 [United Nations]

Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history –

and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (2019)WWF Living Planet report (2012)

Around 1 million animal and plant species are now

threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before

in human history

The Challenges - Biodiversity

400 MILLION

years of plant

insect co-evolutionLabandeira (2013) Curr.

Opin. Plant Biol. 16: 414

huge diversity of

insects –

less than 1% are pests

¾ of animal

species on Earth

More than 1 million

species!

at least 10,000 years ago

wild einkorn wheat (Triticum urartu)

wild goat grass related to Aegilops speltoides

wild emmer wheat,(Triticum diccocoides)

prehistoric times

goat grass (Aegilops tauschii)

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Chen et al. (2015) Ann Rev. Entomol 60: 35-58

Agricultural ecosystems are unnatural

Agricultural environments are simplified and are vulnerable to pests

Lush monocultures of artificially selected high yielding varieties grown with fertiliser

“High yielding varieties”

Sure?

Pesticides have been used for 6000 years (e.g. sulphur)

Agricultural production has become more reliant on pesticides in the last 60 years

There is increasing concern about off target effects…

But harvests still need protecting

Farmers have fewer pesticides availableNEW SOLUTIONS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED

Bruce (2012) J. Exp. Bot. 63: 537-541

Choosing between food security and biodiversity is an unacceptable choice,we need to find ways to achieve both

Deforestation in Madagascar

Here is a situation where there is neither food security nor biodiversity conservation…

Forest clearance for low intensity agriculture leading to floods and water shortages due to lack of trees. Huge loss in biodiversity.

Something different is needed…

… this requires innovation

THIS is the role of science and technology

Can we embrace science and technology as an agent of change to move beyond the status quo?

New directions for Agriculture in the 21st Century

Royal Society: “There is a pressing need for the ‘sustainable intensification’ of global agriculture in which yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the cultivation of more land”.

Royal Society (2009) Policy document 11/09

A second green revolution which is knowledge intensive rather than input intensive?

• Stemborers and Fall armyworm• attracted to trap plants

(pull)

• driven away from the main crop by repellent intercrop (push).

• Parasitic wasps• Attracted to intercrop

“Push-Pull”

“Push-Pull”➢maize yields up from 1 t/ha up to 3.5 t/ha

➢achieved with minimal inputs

➢ adopted by > 100,000 small farmers in E. Africa

1= (E)-ß-ocimene; 2= α-terpinolene; 3= β-caryophyllene; 4= humulene; 5= (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene; 6= α-cedrene; 7= hexanal; 8= (E)-2-hexenal; 9= (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol; 10= (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate ; 11= 5,7,2′,4′-tetrahydroxy-6-(3-methylbut-2-

enyl)isoflavanone (uncinanone A); 12= 4′′,5′′-dihydro-5,2′,4′-trihydroxy-5′′-

isopropenylfurano-(2′′,3′′;7,6)-isoflavanone(uncinanone B);

13= 4′′,5′′-dihydro-2′-methoxy-5,4′-dihydroxy-5′′-isopropenylfurano-(2′′,3′′;7,6)-isoflavanone (uncinanone C), and

14= di-C-glycosylflavone 6-C-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-β-D-glucopyranosylapigenin.

Khan et al. (1997) Nature 388: 631-632

Khan et al. (2010) J. Exp. Bot. 61: 4185

Khan et al. (2011) JXB 61: 4185-4196

Midega et al. (2015) Field Crops Research 180: 118 - 125

2-3 x yield increase on farmers fields

Orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM), Sitodiplosis mosellana

OWBM Resistant crop varieties

Females lay eggs, but larvae die when they start to feed

A wound plug is formed at the feeding site due to lignification

Now approx. 60% of UK wheat is resistant

OWBM Resistant crop varieties

Gra

in D

amag

e

Good thing there’s resistance because chlorpyrifos was BANNED in March 2016!

Over 600 highly diverse Faba bean varieties screened in LINK project…

…None of them were resistant!

Bean Seed Beetle, Bruchus rufimanus

0

20

40

60

80

100

Desiree Stoloniferum1

Stoloniferum2

% Nymph survival - 7 days

Wild potatoes resistant to aphids

Is transfer of genes from wild relatives “harnessing nature”?

10 fungicide sprays to protect

No pesticide needed

(image courtesy of Jonathan Jones)

Desiree + Rpi-vnt1 Desiree (untransformed)

Aphid parasitoids

Biological control of pests - either by release in glasshouses or encouraging natural populations outside.

• Proven success in greenhouses with artificial release

• Conservation biocontrol strategies needed in outdoor cropping environments• Growth rate and arrival rate

slower than pests

• Can arrival be speeded up?

Biocontrol

Government inquiry:

The role of science and technology is to solve challenges to food security and biodiversity

(it is part of the solution not part of the problem)

BUT more progress is needed…

Conclusion.

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