Paris, France
January 20, 2011
Source
As the world has changed during the past 50 years, so has agriculture. And so has agricultural research, which continues to confront new challenges, from food security to ecological concerns to land use issues. Indeed, as Guy Paillotin, the former president of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) has noted, agricultural research “has reached new heights in biology and is exploring other disciplines. It is forever changing, as are the needs of the society”.
The changing challenges faced by agricultural research were examined in depth at a conference organised by the OECD’s Co-operative Research Programme on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, together with the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Agriculture. Participants came from all agricultural sectors and included farmers, industry, scientists and decision makers, as well as other stake holders.
This publication presents the twenty papers delivered at the conference. They highlight recent major progress in agricultural research outcomes and address the challenges that lie ahead.
www.oecd.org/agriculture/crp
Table of contents:
Foreword
Abbreviations
Executive Summary
Report from the CRP Reflection Group meeting on “Vision for the Future”
PART I. COPING WITH PRESSURES ON NATURAL RESOURCES (WATER AND SOIL)
Chapter 1. Balancing Global Agricultural Water Supply and Demand by Charlotte de Fraiture, International Water Management Institute, Accra, Ghana
-More food
-More water because of changing diets
-Scenarios of future water for food demand
-Role of rainfed agriculture
-Productivity improvements in irrigated areas
-Trade
-Challenges
Chapter 2. Effect of Reduced Water Supplies on Food Production Economies by Claudia Ringler, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington
-Drivers for water scarcity
-Importance of "new" challenges for agricultural water availability
-Role of agricultural productivity
-Conclusions
Chapter 3. Global Soil Resource Base: Degradation and Loss to Other Uses by R. Lal, Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
-Introduction
-World population and soil resources
-Soil degradation, land degradation, and desertification
-Determinants of soil degradation
-Processes of soil degradation
-Cause of soil degradation
-Assessment of soil degradation, land degradation, and desertification
-Soil degradation by land misuse and soil mismanagement
-Conversion to other land uses
-Strategies to reverse soi and land degradation trends
-Conclusion
Chapter 4. Soil Resources: Science-Based Sustainability by Pedro A. Sanchez, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, United States
-Myth 1. Agriculture should mimic natural systems
-Myth 2. Mineral fertilisers are bad
-Myth 3. Organic farming can be done anywhere
-Myth 4. We know quantitatively the effects of soil use on food production, environmental degradation, and climate change
PART II. DELIVERING AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES FOR PRODUCTION AND BIODIVERSITY OUTCOMES
Chapter 5. Managing Agricultural Landscapes for Production and Biodiversity Outcomes by Les Firbank, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
-Introduction
-The ongoing declines in biodiversity
-Current approaches to managing interacctions between agriculture and biodiversity
-Conclusion
Chapter 6. The Role of Genetically Modified Plants in Sustainable Crop Protection by Franz Bigler and Jõog Romeis, Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station ART, Zurich, Switzerland
-Crop losses by pests and food security
-Sustainable crop protection: the concept of IPM
-Pest-resistant plants and sustainable crop protection
-Pest-resistant plants in an IPM perspective
-Conclusions
-Challenges to use GM plants in sustainable crop protection
Chapter 7. Science-Based Policy Issues to Enable Sustainability on the Ground by Pedro A. Sanchez, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, United States
-Food comes from the supermarket
-Food prices are too high
-Purchasing seed every year is a conspiracy by multinational corporations
-Rich country agriculture is extremely efficient and thus sustainable
-Africa has no chance
PART III. COMPETITION IN AGRICULTURE FOR FOOD, FIBRE, AND FUEL
Chapter 8. Economic Balance on Competition for Arable Land between Food and Biofuel: Global Responsibilities of Food, Energy and Environmental Security by Dr. József Popp, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, Budapest, Hungary
-Food security
-Energy security
-Biofuels
-Challenges
-Environmental security
Chapter 9. Genetic Technology, Sustainable Animal Agriculture and Global Climate Change by John P. Phillips, Dept of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
-The global environmental challenge
-Global pork production
-Pigs and phosphorus pollution
-Enhancing phosphorus utilisation and reducing P output in port production
-The Enviropig™: a genetic technology for meeting the global environmental challenge
Chapter 10. Challenges and Opportunities for Further Improvements in Wheat Yield by Gustavo A. Slafer, Catalonian Institution for Research and Advanced Studies and Department of Crop and Forest Sciences, University of Lleida, Spain
-Introduction
-Can we breed for yield potential with benefits in realistic growing conditions?
-What physiological traits may be useful in future improvements of wheat yield potential?
Chapter 11. Replacement of Fish Meal in Aquaculture Diets with Plant Ingredients as a Means of Improving Seafood Quality by Konrad Dabrowski, School of Environmental and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
-Fish metabolic advantages over terrestrial animals
-Human health advantages resulting from seafood consumption
-Csot of feeds in agriculture
-Cost of individual dietary components
-Fish meal replacement
-Fish oil replacement
-Plant ingredients with novel functions: gossypol, saponins, quercetin, hydroxytyrosol, steriod-inhibitors
-Research needs to facilitate wider/larger use of plant ingredients in aquafeeds
PART IV. FOOD SAFETY TODAY AND TOMORROW: THE CHALLENGES IN CHANGING FOOD AND FARMING PRACTICES
Chapter 12. Major Trends in Mycotoxin Research by László Hornok, Szent István University, Mycology Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Plant Protection, Gödöllö, Hungary
-Introduction
-History of mycotoxins and mycotoxicoses
-Major mycotoxins
-Other important mycotoxins
-Research and development priorities
-Conclusions
Chapter 13. Food without Zoonotic Agents: Fact or Fiction? by Jaap A. Wagenaar, Department of Infection Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Danilo M. A. Lo Fo Wong, Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses, Health Security and the Environment, World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland; and Arie H. Havelaar, Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, National Institute Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands and Division of Veterinary Public Health, Insitute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
-Introduction
-Control of infectious diseases
-(Re)emerging infectious diseases
-Challenges in the control of foodborne diseases
-International co-operation and communication
-An integrated approach to food safety and zoonese: global foodborne infections network
Chapter 14. Altering Foods Derived from Animals for the Future? by Stefan de Smet, Laboratory for Animal Production and Animal Product Quality, Ghent University, Belgium
-Decrease production and consumption of animal-derived foods or alter their composition?
-Gross composition of animal products
-New genetic selection approaches needed
-Fatty acid composition of animal-derived foods
-Side-effects of improved fatty acid composition
-Altering the content of other minor compounds in animal-derived foods
-Conclusions and additional considerations
Chapter 15. Plants for the Future by Dulce E. de Oliveira ad Marc Van Montagu, Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries, Department of Molecular Genetics, Ghent University, Belgium
-Ten thousand years of genetically modified plants
-Biotechnology as a coherent answer to these challenges
-Policy framework priorities
-Public perception and regulatory framework
Chapter 16. Genetic Resources as the Building Blocks for Breeding: Current Status and Challenges by Dr José T.Esquinas-Alcázar, Polytechnical University of Madrid, Spain; Director of the "Catedra" of Studies on Hunger and Poverty, University of Cordoba, Spain
-Introduction
-Current Status
-Challenges ahead
-Conclusions
PART V. REGULATORY CHALLENGES
Chapter 17. Animal Biotechnology in the United States: the Regulation of Animal Clones and Genetically Engineered Animals by Larisa Rudenko, Senior Advisor for Biotechnology, Center for Veterinary Medicine, US Food and Drug Administration, United States
-Introduction
-Regulation of animal clones
-Regulation of gentically engineered animals
-Summary
Chapter 18. Animal Cloning and Transgenesis by Dr. Louis-Marie Houdebine, Joint Research Unit for Developmental Biology and Reproduction, INRA, France
-Introduction
-Animal cloning
-Animal transgenesis
-General conclusions
Chapter 19. The Biotechnology and Biosafety Activities at the OECD by Peter Kearns, Yukihiko Fukase, and Bertrand Dagallier, OECD's Biosafety Team, Paris, France
-Introduction
-Environmental risk/safety assessment of transgenic organisms
-Risk/safety assessment of foods and feeds derived from transgenic organisms
-Conclusions
Chapter 20. Biosafety Assessment of the EFSA GMO Panel by Dr. Detlef Bartsch, Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Germany
-Introduction
-The role of the scientific panel on GMO
-Risk assessment of GMO
-Legal background for the risk assessment of GMOs, GM food and GM feed at European Community level
-Outlook
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