XIX EURAGRI Members Conference The Knowledge Challenge: Research and Innovation

1. XIX EURAGRI Members ConferenceThe Knowledge Challenge:Research and Innovation François HoullierINRA, Scientific Director for Plant and Plant Products

2. Outline • Difficulty to cover such a wide topic, at the crossroads • of the evolution of agriculture per se • of global social, economic and environmental changes • of the progress of science and technology • A sample of ‘research challenges’ from three types • generated by the joint dynamics of agriculture, societies and environment • related to the inner ‘natural’ scientific and technological trends • resulting from changes in the organization of R&D systems

3. ‘Global’ context and trends • Agriculture as a major policy and economic issue • Trade of agricultural products • Europe is a major exporter and the first importer of agricultural products • Demographic pressure and the need to feed the world population • Increased competition for arable land in some countries • Need to increase the productivity and competitiveness of agriculture • Other agriculture-related megatrends • Urbanization changes ‘our’ relationship to Nature and to rurality • An increasing aversion to risks: cf. ‘precautionary principle’ • From quantity towards quality and safety of food and agricultural products • Changes in, and variability of diet regimes • Environmental changes

4. Environmental changes • Global changes … • Land use and land use changes • Climatic changes • Atmospheric pollution • Biological invasions • including emerging animal and plant diseases • Overexploitation of renewable resources • … but also local and diffuse changes such as pollutions • including those related to agriculture

5. Living Beyond Our Means? • Observed and predicted decline of resources and of ecosystem services (http://www.millenniumassessment.org/) • Threats to natural renewable resources … • … that are either affected by agriculture (and/)or key factors for the development thereof • genetic diversity, water, … • Predicted decline of fossil energy resources • Opportunities for agriculture • if a good link is established between producers and industries • Renewed research questions • In engineering sciences, biology and genetics … • … but also in agronomy, ecology, economy and social sciences (systemic approaches)

6. The need to jointly consider the evolution … • … of the agricultural systems • … of the food systems • … and of the environment • Natural and cultivated ecosystems • Biodiversity and (renewable) natural resources (soil, water, air, etc.)

7. … and to articulate and couple various approaches • Biophysical approaches • of the structure, diversity, functioning and dynamics of cultivated and natural ecosystems • Technical and technological approaches • of agricultural systems, of their production and products • Territorial, social and economic approaches • of agricultural activities and of their insertion in the society

8. 1st challenge: agriculture and sustainable development • From ‘sustainable agriculture’to ‘agriculture as a component of sustainable development’ • Agriculture as a component of a larger system • Three standpoints for research • New questions, new topics linked to sustainability issues • e.g. incorporation of risk analysis into the economic assessment of agricultural systems • Sustainable development as a new research object per se • e.g. joint appraisal of the immediate and long-term environmental, social and economic performance of agricultural systems; trade-off analysis • Sustainable development as a driver for renewing research practices and relationships between science and action • e.g. the focus on innovation (cf. Lisbon Strategy “Innovation as the motor for economic change”) leads to new ways of doing research • Products, processes, organizations, marketing • Management and impacts of innovation (systemic approaches)

9. Changes in, and variability of diet regimes • Long-term evolution of food energetic inputs in France Total Glucides Cereals – Starchy food Calories/person/day Lipids Animal products – Fruits and vegetables Fat – Sugar Proteins Source: J.-C. Toutain, FAO-STAT

10. Changes in, and variability of diet regimes • With links with human health and epidemiology • E.g. variation ofobesity among countries Source : OECD 2003

11. 2nd challenge: diet transitions and the focus on consumer • Links between diet and lifestyle • Links with demographic and epidemiological transitions Colon Cancer, Stroke, Coronary Heart Disease, and Type II Diabetes Potentially Preventable by Life-Style Modifications From: Willett, WC. Science 296:696, 2002.

12. Diet transitions and the focus on consumer (2) • ‘From fork to farm’ • More emphasis on food safety and on food quality • Food and diet as complex systems • The necessity to avoid naïve views Courtesy X. Leverve (INRA, DS NHSA)

13. A few scientific and technological trends • High throughput biology • Ecological in situ observations and experiments • Computer sciences and modeling

14. High throughput biology • From genomics to metabolomics • Large international genome sequencing consortia • Bioinformatics as a major component • New investigation techniques (in situ cell imagery, …) • The need of dedicated biological and genetic resources • Natural resources • Mutants Data Bases

15. 3rd challenge: towards integrative biology • Genomics are in a highly productive, but still descriptive phase • There is a strong need to develop integrative biology • Horizontal integration • From the gene to the function and back using exhaustive data • Linking quantitative and molecular genetics • Vertical integration (systems biology) • Up- and down-scaling across organization levels • Strong need of models • Transversal integration • Comparative approaches across species

16. Ecological in situ observations and experiments • The capability to trace the in situ functioning of ecosystems • Greenhouse controlled experiments • Isotopic techniques • In controlled systems • In natura • Long-term ecological experiments • Population genetics and evolutionary biology • From ‘neutral’ to ‘selected’ markers Climatic tunnels (courtesy J.-F. Soussana, INRA, Clermont-Ferrand) Canopy crane research facility in Oregon A FACE system in New Zealand (courtesy J.-F. Soussana, INRA, Clermont-Ferrand)

17. 4th challenge: biodiversity ↔ ecosystem functioning • Assessing biodiversity, at various scales and levels of life organization, as a driver and/or as an indicator of ecosystem functioning, or per se • Inventories • Functional role of biodiversity • Impacts of agriculture • Understanding and controlling biodiversity dynamics • Monitoring • The need of long-term experiments and of links with large-scale operational surveys • Impacts of agriculture (and of other human activities) • The need of models and of experiments

18. Information sciences and technologies, and modeling • Spatial representation of ecosystems • GIS & Remote Sensing • Systemic approaches of complex situations • UML models • Bioinformatics • Databases, data mining, algorithms, … • Models of networks • Gene regulation • Metabolic functioning • Ecological food web networks, … • Simulation systems • Virtual plants, crops, landscapes, …

19. 5th challenge: complex systems • Conceptualization of systems • Many elements and many interactions • Data management • Organization and storage of, and access to, very large (massive) and distributed datasets • Capability to model networks of interactions and retroactions • The need of analytical tools • The need of models and data • The capability to integrate knowledge into simulators

20. 6th challenge: ‘Knowledge economy’ and agriculture • Linking research, education and extension • A key for innovation and long-term competitiveness • Harmonization of diploma throughout Europe • Bologna, 1998 • Linking agricultural research organizations to the agricultural higher education system … • Polarization of the research system … and networking • … and to the industries and the associated technical R&D centres • Cf. European Technology Platforms

21. Thank you for your attention!