Scientists suggest sustainable solutions to challenges facing agriculture

Winners of the Bunge Foundation Award present alternatives for the sector at a workshop at FAPESP.

By Diego Freire

Agência FAPESP – In the face of the population’s growing demand for food, knowledge regarding the vast and, as yet, little explored universe of microorganisms that inhabit the soil and plants may help to increase agricultural production in a sustainable way. So says Fernando Dini Andreote, a researcher at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (Esalq) at the University of São Paulo (USP) and winner of this year’s Bunge Foundation Award in the Youth category.

Andreote visited FAPESP on September 23, 2014, to take part in the Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Workshop carried out in partnership with the Bunge Foundation to involve researchers from the sector in discussions on the topic. For him, the microbiomes of the soil and plants can hold important answers to the challenges facing agriculture.

“The largest source of genetic and metabolic biodiversity on Earth is found in soil and plants. There are nearly one billion living cells for every gram of soil, and there are 30,000 different species. The metabolic capacity of these organisms needs to be studied so that we can understand more about how to use them for the benefit of sustainable production,” he told Agência FAPESP.

Andreote headed the FAPESP-funded research study “Microbial diversity in soils cultivated with sugarcane in the state of São Paulo: a biogeographic approach,” which identified groups of microorganisms and correlated them with factors such as the type of crop management, the nature of the soil and climatic features such as humidity and temperature.

The study found that there are significant distinctions between groups of microorganisms in different areas, even in similar crops. “They are important distinctions, more significant in fungi than in bacteria, and our work is to understand whether these groups, despite being different, have the same functionalities,” he said.

By inducing the growth of certain microorganisms, made possible by knowledge of soil microbiology, we could facilitate plant nutrition and growth by using natural resources from the area as a sustainable solution.

In the workshop, Andreote pointed out that we also need to consider the action of these organisms in an integrated manner. “[We need to] try to understand their collective functions, not just their individual ones, by looking at the microbial group as a tissue that interacts with the host and finding functions that are not identified when looking only at each individual component.”

To this end, Andreote is also studying microbial consortia involved in the degradation of material found in agricultural biowaste, and specifically, the residue from sugarcane and corn crops.

In the study “Microbial consortia for biowaste management: life cycle analysis of novel strategies of bioconversion (microwaste),” carried out by Andreote together with researchers from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), he proposes identifying the effects of incorporating biowaste into the biogeochemical processes in soil.

“We’re trying to understand how incorporating sugarcane and corn residue into the soil works, not only through the action of a specific organism but also through the joint activity of the microbiota. The idea is to identify groups that are responsible for a set of activities and that, as a result of this complementary effort, accelerate the process of incorporation,” he explained.

Biodiversity

According to Andreote, the diversity of microorganisms involved in the metabolic processes of plants is related to the biodiversity of the environment in which the plants are found, which further indicates the importance of preserving them.

“Plants select the microorganisms that will become associated with them. If the biodiversity of the environment is high, selection is more efficient. If the diversity is reduced, the chance of colonization by opportunistic organisms, or pathogens, increases, which explains the higher occurrence of root diseases in areas with monocultures because biodiversity is limited,” he said.

The researcher thinks that this is why we need to find alternatives for the current trend toward homogenization of the system. “If you trade a native plant area for a sugarcane plantation, you are homogenizing the environment, even if you didn’t plan to, and through natural selection, you’re further limiting the biodiversity that colonizes that environment,” he explained, citing crop rotation and direct planting as alternatives for maintaining active microbial biodiversity in the soil.

For Hiroshi Noda, a researcher at the National Institute for Research in the Amazon (Inpa) nominated for the Bunge Foundation Award in the Life and Work category, some lessons can be learned from the agroecological practices adopted by traditional farming in managing plants.

“The challenge is to increase levels of agricultural sustainability in the face of the gradual process of environmental deterioration and to slow or even stop the process of agrobiodiversity loss,” he said at the workshop.

In partnership with the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Inpa uses genetic engineering and in situ conservation strategies to preserve the genetic variability of plants cultivated on managed agricultural properties, including horticultural species such as pumpkin, cocona, guinea arrowroot, yam bean and winged bean, in the Amazon region.

All of the research activities take local traditional practices into account, including rotating the use of fields and leaving some fallow, or stopping cultivation for a period of rest. In the copse, the area designated for rest, wild species are introduced according to the spatial arrangement of the plants.

“These traditional strategies have ensured alimentary self-sufficiency, sustainability in the production process and maintenance of the cultural values of these human populations,” Noda said.

The scientist further pointed out the characteristics of traditional production that lead to in situ conservation. “In community areas where conservation occurs or where communities share preserved species through community management and harvest, there is a higher level of genetic variability among the crops.”

The shared propagating material – seeds and seedlings – is incorporated and maintained by the farmers. “This sharing of the agrobiodiversity resources through a sociocultural network reinforces the mechanisms for maintaining genetic variability and food security in the communities,” he explained.

Dialogues

For Noda, the interaction between researchers and farmers has established new dialogues between science and traditional knowledge. “The knowledge derived from this relationship has led to important benefits in understanding the evolutionary dynamic in domestication of the cultivated species.”

Jacques Marcovitch, President of the Bunge Foundation, which coordinated the presentation of the workshop, highlighted the importance of expanding the dialogue to agriculture’s entire scientific community.

“On the one hand, these discussions present the need to increase efficiency and production, while on the other hand, they present the immediacy of conserving and protecting the environment, a global problem that demands the involvement of everyone,” he said.

For Marcovitch, the awards to Andreote and Noda are connected to the reality of national agricultural production and its challenges. “We will not be able to achieve our goal of sustainable productivity for a growing population without a consistent agricultural policy, knowledge of, and sensitivity to, extreme climate events, and measures that ensure that productivity is able to expand planting and harvesting, together with mitigation and adaptation initiatives recommended by science and by our winners,” he said.

FAPESP President Celso Lafer, who attended the lectures, said that the workshop is proof of concern about making sure that the Bunge Foundation Award is more than just a tribute.

“Our objective is also to offer opportunities for substantive discussion of the topics, and the award-winning researchers contribute significantly to involving the scientific community in the search for sustainable solutions for agriculture,” he said.

More information about the winners of the 59th edition of the Bunge Foundation Award is available at www.fundacaobunge.org.br/projetos/premio-fundacao-bunge.