eXtra Botany FOOD SECURITY Global crop improvement networks to bridge technology gaps Matthew P. Reynolds 1, *, Jonathan Hellin 1 , Bram Govaerts 1 , Petr Kosina 1 , Kai Sonder 1 , Peter Hobbs 2 and Hans Braun 1 1 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT, Int.). Km. 45 via Me ´ xico-Veracruz. Texcoco, CP56120, Edo de Me ´ xico, Me ´ xico 2 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: m.reynolds@cgiar.org Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 63, No. 1, pp. 1–12, 2012 doi:10.1093/jxb/err241 Abstract To ensure future food security, there is an urgent need for improved co-ordination of agricultural research. While advances in biotechnology hold considerable promise, significant technology gaps exist that may reduce their impact. Examples include an incomplete knowledge of target breeding environments, a limited understanding and/or application of optimal crop management practices, and underfunded extension services. A better co-ordinated and more globalized approach to agricultural research through the implementation of Global Crop Improvement Networks (GCIN) is proposed. Such networks could underpin agricultural research and development by pro- viding the following types of services: (i) increased resolution and precision of environmental information, including meteorological data, soil characteristics, hy- drological data, and the identification of environmental ‘hotspots’ for a range of biotic, abiotic, and socio- economic constraints; (ii) augmented research capacity, including network-based variety and crop management trials, faster and more comprehensive diagnosis of emerg- ing constraints, timely sharing of new technologies, opportunities to focus research efforts better by linking groups with similar productivity constraints and comple- mentary skills, and greater control of experimental variables in field-based phenotyping; and (iii) increased communica- tion and impacts via more effective dissemination of new ideas and products, the integration of information glob- ally to elicit well-timed local responses to productivity threats, an increased profile, and the publicity of threats to food security. Such outputs would help target the translation of research from the laboratory into the field while bringing the constraints of rural communities closer to the scientific community. The GCIN could provide a lens which academia, science councils, and development agen- cies could use to focus in on themes of common interest, and working platforms to integrate novel research approaches on crop adaptation and rural development. Key words: Agricultural development, analogue sites, breeding, crop management, extension, food security, networks, partnership, technology gaps. Introduction Current trends in population growth suggest that global food production is unlikely to satisfy future demand under predicted climate change scenarios unless the rates of crop improvement are accelerated or radical changes occur in the patterns of human food consumption. The situation is generally more serious in less developed countries (LDCs) where many of the agro-ecosystems are already over- stretched or fragile, investment in agriculture is limited, and climate change is predicted to have its most devastating effects (Jones and Thornton, 2003; Lobell et al., 2008). Just three staple crops, wheat, maize, and rice, provide approximately 50% of the calories and 42% of the protein for human consumption in LDCs (Braun et al., 2010). Even without climate change, the real cost of wheat, maize, and rice is expected to increase by 60% or more between 2000 and 2050, driven by population and income growth; when climate change is factored in the figures are substantially greater (Nelson et al., 2009). Crop productivity could be further eroded by declining soil quality, water limitations, increasing fertilizer prices, and genetic susceptibility to new pests and diseases (Gregory et al., 2009; Jarvis et al, 2010). Rosegrant and Agcaoili (2010) predict that, in the absence of unprecedented, co-ordinated measures to raise produc- tivity, consumers will pay more than double for their staple food by 2050 in real terms. Nelson et al. (2009) estimated that, in developing countries, an additional annual invest- ment of US$7.1 billion in agricultural research is needed just to counteract the impact of climate change on child nutrition. Abbreviations: LDCs, less developed countries; GCIN, Global Crop Improvement Networks; CGIAR, Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research; G3E, Genotype by environment; GHG, greenhouse gas; ESSP, Earth System Science Partnership; SMINET, Sorghum Network; ECARSAM, Millet Network; IWIN, International Wheat Improvement Network; IMIN, International Maize Improvement Network; RENACO, West and Central African Cowpea Research Network; IBYAN, International Bean Yield Assessment Network; CIMMYT, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center; MasAgro, Modernizacio ´ n sustentable de la agricultura tradicional; AGSF, Agricultural Management, Marketing and Finance Service. ª The Author [2011]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/63/1/1/552118 by guest on 29 January 2023