Research & Scientific Publications - Page 8
The Land Institute’s work advances research and agricultural scientific knowledge and is conducted in an innovative yet rigorous professional context. Explore our findings and ideas via articles authored or co-authored by members of our staff and published in research and peer-reviewed journals.
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A Pipeline Strategy for Grain Crop Domestication
Abstract: In the interest of diversifying the global food system, improving human nutrition, and making agriculture more sustainable, there have been many proposals to domesticate wild plants or complete the…
Crop diversity and disease
Abstract: Global demand for transportation fuels will increase rapidly during the upcoming decades, and concerns about fossil-fuel consumption have stimulated research on renewable biofuels that can be sustainably produced from…
Genome evolution of intermediate wheatgrass
Abstract: Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey), a segmental autoallohexaploid (2n = 6x = 42), is not only an important forage crop but also a valuable gene…
The strong perennial vision: a response
Abstract: This article was written as a response to Chris Smaje’s review, “The Strong Perennial Vision: A Critical Review”. In his review, Smaje argues that society in general, and the…
Perennial Food Security
In August 2013, our scientists helped the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations organize a workshop in Rome on the role of perennial crops in providing food security….
New roots for ecological intensification
To meet the global food challenge of 2050, and well beyond, there is a growing consensus that farmers will need to produce more food using fewer and fewer chemical, energy…
Useful insights from evolutionary biology for developing perennial grain crops
Abstract: Annual grain crops dominate agricultural landscapes and provide the majority of calories consumed by humanity. Perennial grain crops could potentially ameliorate the land degradation and off-site impacts associated with…
Reflective plant breeding paradigm
Abstract: Over the last half-century, crop breeding and agronomic advances have dramatically enhanced yields in temperate summer-annual cropping systems. Now, diversification of these cropping systems is emerging as a strategy…
Changes in soil phosphorus, perennials versus annuals
To achieve robust phosphorus sustainability in agriculture, it will be necessary to reduce unintentional P losses through erosion and leaching, improve P availability and synchrony, and cycle the P that…
Wild Plants to the Rescue
Efforts to domesticate new, high-yield, perennial grain crops require patience and persistence—but such plants could transform agriculture “You had to spend all those years in graduate school to do this?”…
Perennial cereal crops: An initial evaluation of wheat derivatives
Abstract: This study evaluated over 150 wheat × wheatgrass derivatives in a series of field experiments. The objective was to assess their capacity to regrow post-harvest and yield grain over…
Plant breeding for harmony between agriculture and the environment
Abstract: Plant breeding programs primarily focus on improving a crop’s environmental adaptability and biotic stress tolerance in order to increase yield. Crop improvements made since the 1950s – coupled with…