Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ei cient in their use of mineral plant
nutrients (including N), fuel, water and
arable land (high yields), but they should
also be able to use the sun's energy more
ei ciently and unlimited plant nutrients
from the air (such as N
2
and CO
2
; see Table
1.4). Non-legumes should also be able to use
N from the air for N-i xing symbiosis.
Furthermore, the genetic pool available in
plants, animals and microorganisms should
contribute to optimizing plants and animals
for a more ei cient conversion of limited
resources into feed and food. Maintaining
the biodiversity of the available genetic pool
is also a very important aspect of sustainable
agriculture. Losses of biodiversity may have
dramatic consequences in the future for
plant breeding including plant biotechnology
(HLPE, 2012; see also Table 1.4).
Subsequent animal feeding studies are
necessary to demonstrate the digestibility/
availability of the changed composition of
the plants or the newly, or higher amounts
of, expressed nutrients (see Fig. 1.3 and
Chapter 5 for some examples).
Possible climate change may be an
additional challenge for plant breeders and
for sustainable development (Potthast and
Meisch, 2012). Some authors (e.g. Easterling
et al
., 2007; Reynolds, 2010) predict a
15-20% fall in global agricultural production
by 2080 as a consequence of the expected
climate change. h e following climate
change-related problems could be expected
(Whitford
et al
., 2010):
Adaption to greater extremes in climate
conditions and higher temperatures.
h e water supply may become limited or
more variable; better adaptation of
plants to drought resistance (Cominelli
and Tonelli, 2010; Deikman
et al
., 2012).
Increasing soil salination.
Higher disease infection and pest
infestations (Wally and Punja, 2010).
A rapidly changing climate will require rapid
development of new plant varieties. h e
negative ef ects of climate change could be
greater than possible solutions by con-
ventional plant breeding. h erefore, a large
'technology gap' between solutions by
conventional breeding and the need for
Table 1.4.
Potential to produce phytogenic
biomass and its availability per inhabitant when
considering the increase in population. (From The
Royal Society, 2009; Flachowsky, 2010.)
Plant nutrients in the air (N
2
, CO
2
)
Solar energy
Agricultural area
Water
Fossil energy
Mineral plant nutrients
Variation of genetic pool
Note:
= increase;
= decrease;
= no important
infl uence.
Fink-Gremmels, 2012). h erefore, a decrease
of undesirable substances in plants is also an
important objective of plant breeding. From
the perspective of human nutrition, an
increase of essential nutrients (e.g. amino
acids, fatty acids, trace elements, vitamins,
etc.) could be very favourable in meeting the
requirements for essential nutrients (see
Chapter 7). But this aspect is not so
important for animal nutrition in some
parts of the world such as Europe because of
the availability of the large amount of feed
additives on the market. Furthermore,
potential aspects of climate change (HLPE,
2012; IPCC, 2012; Schwerin
et al
., 2012)
should be considered by plant breeders, and
'new' plants should be adapted to such
changes (Reynolds, 2010; Newman
et al
.,
2011). It is possible to fuli l the objectives of
plant breeding mentioned above with
conventional breeding (Flachowsky, 2012),
but in the future, methods of 'green'
biotechnology may be more l exible, more
potent and faster (Tester and Langridge,
2010; Whitford
et al
., 2010). 'New' plants,
newly expressed proteins in plants and/or
changed composition of plants are real
challenges for animal and human nutrition-
ists for safety and nutritional assessment of
such products (see Fig. 1.3).
Increasing feed/food demands requires
higher plant yields and/or larger areas for
production (see Table 1.2). Because of some
limited resources, low-input plants are an
important prerequisite to solving future
problems and to establishing sustainable
agriculture. Such plants should be very
