{"id":963,"date":"2017-12-07T17:20:32","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T09:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/?p=963"},"modified":"2017-12-07T17:20:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T09:20:32","slug":"science-plant-breeding-needs-think-practically-read-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2017\/12\/07\/science-plant-breeding-needs-think-practically-read-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the science of plant breeding needs to think practically"},"content":{"rendered":"
Keywords:\u00a0Plant breeding, Market research<\/div>\n
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The International Tropical Agriculture Conference 2017<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0held in Brisbane from November 20 to 22. The world\u2019s leading scientists and researchers for innovation in plant, animal, and food sciences were brought together to discuss the issues and breakthroughs for the sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On day one of the conference, a panel discussion on market-driven approaches to plant breeding highlighted the gap between science and demand in breeding \u2014 particularly in developing countries where some new breeds are being rejected by farmers and consumers because they are not practical to their way of life.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For scientists and researchers breeding new plant varieties, there are key questions they must consider to ensure their work can improve livelihoods in developing countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Vivienne Anthony is a senior scientific advisor with the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agricultur<\/a>e working in Africa. She spoke with Devex about the development challenges she has seen in plant breeding. That fails to take into account market needs, consumer needs, and industry needs.<\/span> And she urged for plant design to become a common fixture in education for breeders and researchers in this space.<\/p>\n

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The importance of market research in plant breeding<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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The nature of scientific approaches to plant breeding, Anthony explained to Devex, is a barrier to developing plants that are practical for their intended audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlthough common sense should prevail, it is not always easy,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cIf scientists are focused on achieving breakthroughs, they are too busy to talk to people, which could influence what it is you should be doing. Most scientists aren\u2019t used to going out and doing market research, but they need to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The importance, she explained, was to eliminate waste \u2014 in research time, money, and food.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe area I work in for the Syngenta Foundation in Africa works with plant breeders. We knew there was a gap between science and need. Because many of the new plant breeds were not being adopted,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cInstead, people were carrying on growing things their grandparents had been growing. And we asked, why is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In Mali, scientists believed the green revolution could be replicated locally for rice. \u201cBut what they didn\u2019t understand was they harvest is done by women who often have infants with them \u2014 usually carrying them \u2014 and this makes it difficult to bend down,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cThe new breeds were not practical. But unless you are in these communities and know exactly how farming is taking place, how would you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anthony said this was a classic case where scientists could spend eight years trying to improve yield, only to see their scientific breakthrough rejected on the ground. In East Africa, new breeds of sorghum had also been rejected due to impracticality during cooking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In West Africa, plant breeding is creating fruits and vegetables that grow in a standard shape and size. But when aubergines in a uniform shape are packed, for example, they do not fit together tightly, producing more air in bags. With less produce per truck, this increases transport costs and reduces profitability. \u201cSo again scientists need to know how vegetables are transported to get the optimal shape,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cThe whole thing is about communication, making science practical, and meeting people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Collating the literature for improved knowledge<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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While there are many cases like these that show the gap between the lab and the land, Anthony said they are difficult to find in literature and project reviews. \u201cPeople are not going to write that their products are not being taken up. When you hunt for examples you actually have to talk to people. Scientists often say they learned a lot, but it is not being written down.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anthony is urging plant design to become mainstreamed. \u201cScientists need to think more about \u2014 which is what we all tend to do,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to spend more time really researching what people want, what is the best design and who we are breeding this for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But when Anthony looked into who was teaching the design of plant varieties, she drew a blank. \u201cThere was no one,\u201d she said. In response, she has been working in sourcing the expertise of researchers, scientists, and the private sector to develop resources to assist the best postgraduate breeding educators in Africa in developing training \u2014 including putting all of the best practice together in a teaching textbook, The Business of Plant Breeding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The aim, she said, is to encourage greater entrepreneurial approaches in determining the relevant new varieties needed within the public sector plant breeding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIf you start to look at smaller crops, especially in Africa where there is limited plant breeding apart from corn, that there needs to be more entrepreneurial spirit in public breeding and perhaps start-up type breeding organization that are more customer focused,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cThey can use a business style approach to doing the science and benefit from early stage funding to support their research.\u201d<\/p>\n

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An action plan for changing approaches<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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Anthony\u2019s work, based in Africa and targeting the needs in Africa, will be investing in a range of training programs and workshops targeting early stage breeders through workshops. And the new training will be embedding the curriculum of a range of programs supporting plant breeding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe next step we feel is really, really important \u2014 aside from training \u2014 is implementing ideas of best practice, supporting scientists in making the change and seeing how they are getting on,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cAnd in trying to support scientists to communicate through the value chain. This means talking to farmers, going to markets, speaking with transporters as well as consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It also means talking to the rapidly growing urban consumer population and learning what they need and want to eat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She will also be advocating for a greater mandate of practical results of scientific research and funding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere are two parts of science. You need science that is about breakthroughs in knowledge, but you also need science that has a practical application or it won\u2019t be used. I believe more mandate is needed on this. It\u2019s important because science takes so long.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Devex<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keywords:\u00a0Plant breeding, Market research The International Tropical Agriculture Conference 2017\u00a0was\u00a0held in Brisbane from November 20 to 22. The world\u2019s leading scientists and researchers for innovation in plant, animal, and food sciences were brought together to discuss the issues and breakthroughs for the sector. On day one of the conference, a panel discussion on market-driven approaches… Continue reading Why the science of plant breeding needs to think practically<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy the science of plant breeding needs to think practically - agrinoon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2017\/12\/07\/science-plant-breeding-needs-think-practically-read-chinese\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the science of plant breeding needs to think practically - agrinoon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Keywords:\u00a0Plant breeding, Market research The International Tropical Agriculture Conference 2017\u00a0was\u00a0held in Brisbane from November 20 to 22. 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