Speaker
Description
Introduction. Global climate change requires that the agriculture sector adapts and mitigate its impacts. The present awareness that six of the nine planetary boundaries have already been exceeded implies that agricultural and food systems reconcile with the environment from which they get natural resources that are depleting (e.g., soil, biodiversity) or whose access is becoming irregular and competitive (e.g., water). Agroecology refers to ecologically and socially responsible agricultural practices that link agronomy and ecology. There are practices that rely on the functionalities offered by diversity and interactions within and across ecosystems with the aim of reducing pressure on the environment and the use of inputs, preserving natural resources (air, water, soil, biodiversity) and reducing the work load and complexity. The agroecological transition takes place in the context of rapidly changing conditions that impact agricultural production: climate change and in particular the increasing frequency of extreme events (drought, floods, temperature variations such as heat waves, cold or frost, etc.), changing consumer demands in terms of naturalness. The government roadmap “France 2030” aims at enhancing innovation in various sectors in France, and has identified the agroecological transition among its top priorities.
Methods. Public and private stakeholders together with scientists from various agricultural sectors and disciplines (agronomy, genetics, data sciences, social sciences, etc.) elaborated a national acceleration strategy referred to as SADEA for “Sustainable agricultural systems and agricultural equipment contributing to the ecological transition”, as part of the France 2030 roadmap.
Results. Three large-scale programs have started and support research and infrastructure projects on three complementary themes that contribute to SADEA. The program “Growing and Protecting crops Differently” (2019-2026) aims at finding new crop protection strategies for an alternative to pesticides. The program “Agroecology and ICT” (2023-2031) aims at promoting ICT as a lever for agroecology with four axes that include: 1) Shaping a socio-ecosystem conducive to responsible research and innovation; 2) Characterizing genetic resources to assess their potential for agroecology; 3) Conceiving new generations of agricultural equipment; 4) Developing digital tools and methods for data processing in agriculture, agricultural equipment and decision support. The program “Advanced plant breeding” (2023-2031) focuses on evaluating the potential contribution of plant genome editing (excluding transgenesis) as a complement to current selection tools to rapidly make available a wider range of plant varieties that respond to current and future conditions, in order to meet the urgent challenges facing agriculture (reduction in pesticide use, limited access to natural resources, water scarcity). This program focuses on the genome editing on a panel of agricultural species and agroecological traits, the introduction of genome editing into breeding schemes, and identification of the socio-economic and regulatory dynamics around genome editing. Up to now a total of 27 5- or 6-years projects have been launched by the three programs (see references for internet links).
Discussion. Drawing desirable and sustainable agriculture systems by considering the non-negotiable environmental constraints is an interdisciplinary and intersectoral challenge that needs to identify disruptive solutions and to run exploratory research based on sound scientific knowledge. SADEA provides an unprecedented research framework to address issues at the forefront of science that will provide results reducing knowledge gaps and promoting innovative solutions. Collaborations are main avenues to be elaborated by joining public and private actors and by fostering partnerships at European and worldwide levels
References: https://www.cultiver-proteger-autrement.fr; https://www.pepr-agroeconum.fr/pepr-agroeconum-eng/funded-projects; https://www.pepr-selection-vegetale.fr/les-projets-de-recherche/les-projets-cibles
| Keywords | agroecological transition; climate change; adaptation; mitigation; France 2030 |
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