Cultivate biodiversity to harvest food security and sustainability

Renard, Delphine; Tilman, David

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.082

Cited by 21 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Polycultures and varietal mixtures benefit multiple facets of sustainability (Renard & Tilman, 2021). Importantly, polycultures increase yield stability and tend to yield more than the average of composing monocultures (Renard & Tilman, 2021). Spatial diversification is thus a sustainable strategy to increase crop yields (Li et al, 2020).…”

Section: Research Gaps and Their Relevance To Sustainable Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic evolution of agricultural crops

Milla

2023

Functional Ecology

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1. Food crops are a vital source of nutrition for humans and domestic animals, with an estimated 4 billion metric tons of food produced per year. Crops do not only provide yields, but their traits also play a significant role in regulating the ecosystem processes of croplands, affecting local biotas, water balance, nutrient and carbon cycling. Domestication has led to significant changes in crop traits, making it important to understand the recent evolution of crops and how they differ from wild plants.2. In this paper I review the evidence on how the ecological traits of herbaceous crops have evolved during and after domestication. Loss of seed dispersal mechanisms, increased plant and organ sizes, high rates of consumption by herbivores and fast decomposition of residues by decomposer microbes in the soil, all have evolved independently in domestication processes of different crops.3. I also point out types of traits for which we have not identified common responses to domestication, be it because domestication processes of the different crop species are disparate, or because of lack of strong evidence. Those traits include resource acquisition rates of leaves and roots, and whole-plant growth rates.Then, I discuss research gaps in the field, including how to advance knowledge for those traits that show apparently idiosyncratic responses to domestication. 4. Finally, I emphasize the importance of understanding the interactions of crops with other organisms and the environment to breed crops that deliver yield and other services required from croplands. To this end, I introduce an ideotype for sustainable agriculture, which might inspire the breeding of multipurpose herbaceous crops, in the same way than the ideotypes of the Green Revolution inspired the breeding of elite varieties to foster yields under conventional agriculture.

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Section: Research Gaps and Their Relevance To Sustainable Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic evolution of agricultural crops

Milla

2023

Functional Ecology

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“…Abundant empirical evidence suggests that greater biodiversity can support more resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems (Altieri, 1999; Lin, 2011; Massawe et al., 2016; Zimmerer & de Haan, 2017). Greater wild and/or domesticated biodiversity (hereafter agrobiodiversity) notably enhances yield and its stability, disease and pest resistance, nutrient cycling and human nutrition (Beillouin et al., 2019; Renard & Tilman, 2021). Much attention has focused on the ecological and agronomic benefits conferred by agrobiodiversity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social strategies to access land influence crop diversity in northwestern Morocco

Demongeot,

Hmimsa,

McKey

et al. 2024

People and Nature

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Much evidence supports the ecological and agronomic benefits of diversity, of both crops and environments, for building resilience and sustainability in agroecosystems. Farmers' knowledge about crop diversity is well‐documented, but aside from studies on how farmers exchange seeds and knowledge through networks, the interactions of social factors and the diversity of crops and cultivated environments have been mainly overlooked. One factor receiving attention is farmers' access to land, but in only one of its dimensions, the security of access. Here we address the different strategies by which farmers gain access to land. How does the plurality of modes of access to land influence crop choices, and thereby crop diversity? How does this plurality influence the range of environments available to individual farmers for cultivating crop diversity? Analysing data from 51 interviews with farmers and 312 plots in agrosilvopastoral systems in northwestern Morocco, we described eight different modes of access. Each mode offers different opportunities and constraints concerning the kind of crops that can be grown on the plot. We found that an increase in the number of modes of access to land increases the crop diversity of farmers' holdings, regardless of the total area each farmer cultivates. Accessing additional plots contributed to both environmental heterogeneity and to crop diversity of farms. In striving to gain access to land and to grow diverse crops, farmers are motivated by their notion of what it means to be a ‘real farmer’, that is, the relation to their identity. Farmers mobilize not only their economic power but also their social relationships to gain access to plots of land. Their choices are also based on their relationships to tree crops such as olive, which are economic and cultural keystone species, as well as markers of land ownership and control. Multiple modes of access to land characterize many smallholder farming systems, which support a large fraction of the world's population. Recognizing diverse social practices of access to land that allow farmers to continue to mobilize multiple modes of access can increase resilience against unpredictable events and help maintain sustainable agroecosystems. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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“…The generation of local and global food security conditions simultaneously requires the promotion and conservation of biodiversity (Fischer et al, 2017;Glamann et al, 2017;Ulian et al, 2020). In other words, the use of biodiversity resources for food security should focus on solving the sustainability problems caused by modern intensive agriculture (Renard and Tilman, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Byrsonima crassifolia L. Kunth a bio-resource with potential: Overview and opportunities

Martín-Hernández

Martínez-Téllez

Valenzuela-Amavizca

et al. 2023

Folia Horticulturae

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Byrsonima crassifolia L. Kunth is a plant native to the Americas that grows in tropical and subtropical areas. Fresh B. crassifolia fruits are a good source of ascorbic acid and carotenoids and contain volatile compounds such as butyric and caproic acids. Although B. crassifolia is commonly exploited from wild natural ecosystems, it exhibits the potential to become a crop plant. When optimal agronomic management systems support propagation by seed, fruits with more homogeneous characteristics can be produced compared to those obtained from wild or backyard plants. B. crassifolia fruits can be found in local markets in Central and South America. The pulp, peel, and other B. crassifolia fruit components can be processed to make traditional and innovative food products, namely candies, cookies, cakes, candied fruits, ice creams, sorbets, jellies, juices, liqueurs, jams, nectars, pickles, and fruit drinks as an alternative to avoid the waste of overripe fruits. Additionally, the woody fraction of the B. crassifolia tree is used as a source of firewood, as shade, and for constructing living fences. These uses also allow the maximum use of biomass by establishing support for cultivation with the circular economy and strengthening food security. Therefore, this review aims to provide insights into the generation and dissemination of knowledge supporting the development of strategies in the areas of agronomy, postharvest management, and technological processing of B. crassifolia to promote its sustainable use and exploitation.

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Cultivate biodiversity to harvest food security and sustainability

Cited by 21 publications

References 37 publications

Phenotypic evolution of agricultural crops

Phenotypic evolution of agricultural crops

Social strategies to access land influence crop diversity in northwestern Morocco

Byrsonima crassifolia L. Kunth a bio-resource with potential: Overview and opportunities

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