Farming has been around for tens of thousands of years – and through those years, innovations have helped improve the ways farmers go about the business of growing food. The innovation that goes into creating tools, such as pesticides, improved seeds and GMO crops, is called plant science.
What is plant science – and why does it matter?
Broadly speaking, plant science is the study of any plant system. Within agriculture, plant science is used to uncover innovations that will protect crops, or make them even better. These improvements ensure we can continue to grow food in Canada to feed not only our population, but also the rest of the world, while at the same time protecting or improving the environment. Plant science innovations cover a broad range of techniques, but they often focus on making crops more resilient, more useful or more appealing to consumers.
How do plant science products such as pesticides help farmers?
Plant science helps farmers grow more crops, safely and sustainably. Advances in plant science over the last 50 years have meant that farmers have more and more sophisticated tools at their disposal. For instance, pesticide products can manage a pest but not affect the growth of the crop itself, or only control specific insects while not harming beneficial ones. The resilient and adaptive nature of weeds, disease and insects means that they are constantly evolving, so we have to keep innovating in plant science to stay ahead of them and help farmers grow crops around the world.
What is the role of plant breeding in producing better crops?
Another way that plant science can help farmers is by breeding crops for better and specific qualities. This certainly isn’t a new practice. Plant breeding – which deliberately crosses plants of the same or different species in order to create crop varieties with desirable properties – has been used to improve plants for thousands of years. For example, at one time, bananas were just 10 per cent edible because of their tough skins and seed-filled interiors. Over thousands of years humans were able to create the sweet, soft fruit many of us love today.[1] On Charles Keddy Farms in Nova Scotia – featured in our documentary series Real Farm Lives – they breed a number of varieties of raspberry, blackberry and strawberry roots in their on-site lab and monitor these in order to select the strongest plants to grow in their fields.
Did You Know?
In 600 BCE, Italian farmers began using plant breeding to reproduce traits from the kale plant in order to create and produce what we now know as broccoli.[7]
What about genetic modification and gene editing?
Today, plant breeders have access to a toolbox of state-of-the-art ways to improve seeds and create better crops that are good for farmers, the environment and consumers. One tool is genetic modification – which produces GMOs. This method uses precise plant breeding to achieve crop benefits such as resistance to certain insects and diseases or herbicide-tolerance. Recently, for example, scientists have developed the Arctic apple, a new type of apple that doesn’t bruise or brown. Traditionally, around 40% of apples go to waste because people won’t buy them if they look unappealing – the Arctic apple could put an end to this kind of waste by reducing bruising.
Another exciting new technique is gene editing. This scientific technique involves altering a plant’s DNA for a specific benefit.[2] Scientists can use it to make food taste better, improve its safety, or make it healthier. For instance, tomatoes have cancer-fighting lycopene. Now, by adjusting the plant’s own DNA, it is possible to breed varieties that are richer in this powerful antioxidant.[3]
It’s worth keeping in mind that the Government of Canada has some of the highest standards for health and safety when it comes to food. That means Canadians enjoy one of the safest and most abundant food supplies in the world and that includes food produced using plant science innovations.
How can plant science help crops stand up to climate change?
Plant science ultimately helps farmers grow healthier and more abundant crops, especially in the face of climate change. And when thinking about the world’s growing population and the future of food, it’s clear that we need it. By 2050, the world’s population will surpass nine billion people – which means farmers will need to grow a whopping 70 per cent more food.
At the same time, climate change is threatening the world’s food supply. Extreme weather and droughts are more and more common, so we need to ensure farmers can grow crops that stand up to tough conditions. That’s where plant science comes in.
Plant science also plays a vital role in combatting malnutrition,[4] something the Government of Canada raised with the World Trade Organization in 2018 when it stated that gene edited crops can help farmers produce “safe and affordable food, feed, fibres, and energy in the 21st century.”[5]
Finally, the plant science industry is developing crops that are tolerant to heat, drought and salinity (saltiness), so we can continue to depend on our food supply in the face of climate change.[6]
As farmers face changing weather and harsher growing conditions, plant science remains important. And because of this innovation, all of us can experience the benefits through the tasty food on our plate.
[1] https://croplife.ca/plant-science-delivers-table/future-innovations/
[2] https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2017/06/28/biotechnology-confusion-differences-among-gmos-gene-editing-genetic-engineering/
[3] https://croplife.ca/plant-science-delivers-table/future-innovations/
[4] https://croplife.ca/plant-science-delivers-table/why-we-need-plant-science/
[5] https://www.producer.com/2018/11/canada-joins-support-for-gene-editing/
[6] https://croplife.ca/plant-science-delivers-table/why-we-need-plant-science/
[7] https://croplife.ca/plant-science-101/