Research & Scientific Publications - Page 9
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.
If you’re looking for popular media mentions of The Land Institute, visit our Media Coverage page.
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…
Perennial Grains: Food Security for the Future
Perennial versions of our major grain crops would address many of the environmental limitations of annuals while helping to feed an increasingly hungry planet. Download PDF
Progress in Breeding Perennial Grains
Abstract: Annual cereal, legume and oilseed crops remain staples of the global food supply. Because most annual crops have less extensive, shorter-lived root systems than do perennial species, with a…
Increased Food and Ecosystem Security via Perennial Grains
Perennial grains hold promise, especially for marginal landscapes or with limited resources where annual versions struggle. Access SummaryAccess Full Text
Missing domesticated plant forms: can artificial selection fill the gap?
Perennial grain crops do not exist because they could not have evolved under the original set of conditions; however, they can be deliberately developed today through artificial phenotypic and genotypic…
Harvested perennial grasslands: Ecological models for farming’s perennial future
Humanity’s unprecedented global demand for farm products poses one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity and ecosystem function. This demand will almost certainly increase as the human population continues…
Chapter 1: Crop domestication and the first plant breeders
If the story of modern humans from the beginning to the present day could be compressed into a feature-length movie, the era of crop domestication would occupy a scene approximately…
No-tillage conversion of harvested perennial grasslands to annual cropland reduces root biomass, decreases active carbon stocks, and impacts soil biota
Landscape conversion to agricultural use historically began with tillage, a practice now known to dramatically and often negatively affect soil properties and ecosystem processes in grassland dominated ecosystems. However, converted…
Long-term impacts of high-input annual cropping and unfertilized perennial grass production…
Abstract: Soil ecosystem properties and processes which simultaneously maintain native fertility and sustain plant yields are of principal interest in sustainable agriculture. Native prairies in Kansas are relevant in this…
Harvested perennial grasslands provide ecological benchmarks for agricultural sustainability
Perennial vegetation can provide multiple ecosystem services essential for sustainable production more effectively than production systems based on annual crops. However, the ability of annually harvested, unfertilized perennial systems to…
Agricultural and biofuel implications of a species diversity experiment with native perennial grassland plants
Bicultures including adapted legumes so far appear to be an adequate starting point for plant breeding programs targeting low input perennial production systems. As the science develops, the species developed…
The Necessity and Possibility of an Agriculture Where Nature is the Measure
Conn Nugent, Wes Jackson, David W. Orr, Norman L. Christensen, Jr., and Courtney White each contributed to “Five articles on American land use, agriculture, climate change, forestry and ranching.” Open a PDF of…