Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges

Perennial grain crops could make a valuable addition to sustainable agriculture, potentially even as an alternative to their annual counterparts. The ability of perennials to grow year after year significantly reduces the number of agricultural inputs required, in terms of both planting and weed con...

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Main Authors: Elizabeth A. Chapman, Hanne Cecilie Thomsen, Sophia Tulloch, Pedro M. P. Correia, Guangbin Luo, Javad Najafi, Lee R. DeHaan, Timothy E. Crews, Lennart Olsson, Per-Olof Lundquist, Anna Westerbergh, Pai Rosager Pedas, Søren Knudsen, Michael Palmgren
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Plant Science
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.898769/full
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author Elizabeth A. Chapman
Hanne Cecilie Thomsen
Sophia Tulloch
Pedro M. P. Correia
Guangbin Luo
Javad Najafi
Lee R. DeHaan
Timothy E. Crews
Lennart Olsson
Per-Olof Lundquist
Anna Westerbergh
Pai Rosager Pedas
Søren Knudsen
Michael Palmgren
author_facet Elizabeth A. Chapman
Hanne Cecilie Thomsen
Sophia Tulloch
Pedro M. P. Correia
Guangbin Luo
Javad Najafi
Lee R. DeHaan
Timothy E. Crews
Lennart Olsson
Per-Olof Lundquist
Anna Westerbergh
Pai Rosager Pedas
Søren Knudsen
Michael Palmgren
author_sort Elizabeth A. Chapman
collection DOAJ
description Perennial grain crops could make a valuable addition to sustainable agriculture, potentially even as an alternative to their annual counterparts. The ability of perennials to grow year after year significantly reduces the number of agricultural inputs required, in terms of both planting and weed control, while reduced tillage improves soil health and on-farm biodiversity. Presently, perennial grain crops are not grown at large scale, mainly due to their early stages of domestication and current low yields. Narrowing the yield gap between perennial and annual grain crops will depend on characterizing differences in their life cycles, resource allocation, and reproductive strategies and understanding the trade-offs between annualism, perennialism, and yield. The genetic and biochemical pathways controlling plant growth, physiology, and senescence should be analyzed in perennial crop plants. This information could then be used to facilitate tailored genetic improvement of selected perennial grain crops to improve agronomic traits and enhance yield, while maintaining the benefits associated with perennialism.
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spelling doaj.art-f3f1faffe6cf4b3b93e9da28bd6b502f2022-12-22T02:05:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2022-07-011310.3389/fpls.2022.898769898769Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and ChallengesElizabeth A. Chapman0Hanne Cecilie Thomsen1Sophia Tulloch2Pedro M. P. Correia3Guangbin Luo4Javad Najafi5Lee R. DeHaan6Timothy E. Crews7Lennart Olsson8Per-Olof Lundquist9Anna Westerbergh10Pai Rosager Pedas11Søren Knudsen12Michael Palmgren13Department of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, DenmarkDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, DenmarkDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, DenmarkThe Land Institute, Salina, KS, United StatesThe Land Institute, Salina, KS, United StatesLund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund, SwedenDepartment of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology in Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SwedenDepartment of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology in Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SwedenDepartment of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, DenmarkPerennial grain crops could make a valuable addition to sustainable agriculture, potentially even as an alternative to their annual counterparts. The ability of perennials to grow year after year significantly reduces the number of agricultural inputs required, in terms of both planting and weed control, while reduced tillage improves soil health and on-farm biodiversity. Presently, perennial grain crops are not grown at large scale, mainly due to their early stages of domestication and current low yields. Narrowing the yield gap between perennial and annual grain crops will depend on characterizing differences in their life cycles, resource allocation, and reproductive strategies and understanding the trade-offs between annualism, perennialism, and yield. The genetic and biochemical pathways controlling plant growth, physiology, and senescence should be analyzed in perennial crop plants. This information could then be used to facilitate tailored genetic improvement of selected perennial grain crops to improve agronomic traits and enhance yield, while maintaining the benefits associated with perennialism.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.898769/fullbreedingdomesticationgenome editinggrain cropsperennialismspecies-wide hybridization
spellingShingle Elizabeth A. Chapman
Hanne Cecilie Thomsen
Sophia Tulloch
Pedro M. P. Correia
Guangbin Luo
Javad Najafi
Lee R. DeHaan
Timothy E. Crews
Lennart Olsson
Per-Olof Lundquist
Anna Westerbergh
Pai Rosager Pedas
Søren Knudsen
Michael Palmgren
Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges
Frontiers in Plant Science
breeding
domestication
genome editing
grain crops
perennialism
species-wide hybridization
title Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges
title_full Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges
title_fullStr Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges
title_full_unstemmed Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges
title_short Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges
title_sort perennials as future grain crops opportunities and challenges
topic breeding
domestication
genome editing
grain crops
perennialism
species-wide hybridization
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.898769/full
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