Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (Jan 2016)

Sustainable commercialization of new crops for the agricultural bioeconomy

  • N.R. Jordan,
  • K. Dorn,
  • B. Runck,
  • P. Ewing,
  • A. Williams,
  • K.A. Anderson,
  • L. Felice,
  • K. Haralson,
  • J. Goplen,
  • K. Altendorf,
  • A. Fernandez,
  • W. Phippen,
  • J. Sedbrook,
  • M. Marks,
  • K. Wolf,
  • D. Wyse,
  • G. Johnson

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000081

Abstract

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Abstract Diversification of agroecological systems to enhance agrobiodiversity is likely to be critical to advancing environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture. Temperate-zone agroecological systems that are currently organized for production of summer-annual crops can be diversified by integration of fallow-season and perennial crops. Integration of such crops can improve sustainability of these agroecological systems, with minimal interference with current agricultural production. Importantly, these crops can provide feedstocks for a wide range of new bio-products that are forming a new agricultural bioeconomy, potentially providing greatly increased economic incentives for diversification. However, while there are many fallow-season and perennial crops that might be used in such a “bioeconomic” strategy for diversification, most are not yet well adapted and highly-marketable. Efforts are underway to enhance adaptation and marketability of many such crops. Critically, these efforts require a strategic approach that addresses the inherent complexity of these projects. We outline a suitable approach, which we term “sustainable commercialization”: a coordinated innovation process that integrates a new crop into the agriculture of a region, while intentionally addressing economic, environmental and social sustainability challenges via multi-stakeholder governance. This approach centers on a concerted effort to coordinate and govern innovation in three critical areas: germplasm development, multifunctional agroecosystem design and management, and development of end uses, supply chains, and markets. To exemplify the approach, we describe an ongoing effort to commercialize a new fallow-season crop, field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.).

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