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| A panel dialogue as a part of the “Innovation in Agriculture and Food” symposium, held in Hà Nội on December 3. — Photo courtesy of the organiser |
HÀ NỘI — Global specialists have sounded a transparent name for innovation in farming as Việt Nam hosts a high-level symposium on the way forward for sensible and sustainable agriculture, a area now central to feeding a fast-growing world whereas defending the planet.
World-leading specialists mentioned the way forward for sensible and sustainable agriculture at the Innovation in Agriculture and Food symposium, held in Hà Nội on December 3.
The worldwide discussion board passed off inside the Science for Life symposia below the framework of the 2025 VinFuture Sci-Tech Week, working in the capital metropolis from December 2 to 6.
At the occasion, leading audio system shared their complete perspective on humanity’s biggest challenges in the twenty first century, together with guaranteeing meals safety, growing productiveness and lowering environmental influence.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), by 2050, world agricultural manufacturing should improve by at the very least 70 per cent to meet the wants of almost 10 billion folks. Meanwhile, yields of many main crops are on the decline and up to half of present crops aren’t used straight for meals.
In addition to the strain on productiveness, agriculture can also be one in every of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, with vital impacts on land, water, biodiversity and the high quality of pure habitats.
Participants centered discussions on how to improve productiveness sustainably in addition to how to make agriculture extra resilient to local weather change.
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| Professor Pamela Christine Ronald, University of California, Davis (USA), speaks at the occasion. — Photo courtesy of the organiser |
Professor Pamela Christine Ronald, University of California, Davis (USA), member of the VinFuture Prize Council and a scientist who received the VinFuture Special Prize for Women Scientists in 2022, shared groundbreaking analysis on re-engineering rice crops to cut back methane emissions and adapt to local weather change.
According to Professor Ronald, the agricultural sector contributes a big proportion of greenhouse gasoline emissions. Rice crops emit methane, accounting for 12 per cent of the world’s complete emissions. In a flooded soil surroundings, rice roots lack oxygen, creating situations for anaerobic microorganisms to develop and produce methane.
Her crew discovered that rice varieties carrying the PSY1 gene had sooner rising root methods and, when examined below beneficial situations, lowered methane emissions by up to 40 per cent in contrast to standard varieties.
From this research, she advised that it’s obligatory to create crops which can be useful to the surroundings, cut back emissions and thereby step by step improve productiveness.
“To create more environmentally friendly crops, it is necessary to deeply analyse the soil microbial community and identify rice genes that control root secretions and interactions with soil microorganisms, which will create crops that are beneficial to the environment and reduce emissions,” mentioned Professor Ronald.
However, Professor Ronald added that for the technology to grow to be sensible, new instruments are wanted to assess adjustments in soil carbon over lengthy intervals of time in addition to large-scale trials throughout a variety of soils and farming methods.
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| Prof. Raphael Mercier, from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Genetics in Germany, speaks at the occasion. — Photo courtesy of the organiser |
Professor Raphael Mercier from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Genetics in Germany shared a brand new answer for creating asexual seeds, one in every of the essential developments that goals to enhance crop productiveness.
In nature, some plant species, corresponding to dandelions, can produce seeds with out pollination. This reproductive mechanism helps the plant preserve the desired traits over many generations.
From there Professor Mercier’s analysis crew developed a technology to convert the meiosis division course of into mitosis, permitting the creation of asexual seeds with the identical genome as the mom plant.
According to Professor Mercier, this answer helps farmers use wholesome F1 hybrid crops for a lot of seasons with out worrying about the high quality of the mother or father crops whereas shortening the time to create pure traces. The technology is being examined on main crops corresponding to rice, barley, soybeans and guarantees to be expanded to many different species, contributing to enhancing productiveness and adapting to various soil and local weather situations.
Professor Mercier additionally emphasised that if broadly deployed, asexual seed manufacturing technology might carry a breakthrough to world agriculture, particularly in international locations below nice strain on productiveness and emissions, together with Việt Nam.
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| Professor Ermias Kebreab, from the University of California, Davis (USA), speaks at the occasion. — Photo courtesy of the organiser |
Professor Ermias Kebreab, additionally from the University of California, Davis (USA), emphasised the function of sensible farming in enhancing productiveness, diet and circularity whereas lowering greenhouse gasoline emissions, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.
He additionally launched options utilizing native agricultural by-products corresponding to Vietnamese forest tea, seaweed and cassava leaves and residues to course of feed for dairy cows. Research outcomes present that including seaweed to the feed ration helps cut back methane emissions by 30–90 per cent whereas guaranteeing dietary worth and milk yield. Precise feeding and dietary evaluation are key components to obtain optimum effectivity.
The panel discussions confirmed a typical view: No single answer can remedy the complete drawback of meals safety and local weather change. Only the integration of applied sciences from plant genetics, bio-peptides, asexual replica, intercropping, regenerative agriculture to sensible livestock can create a breakthrough.
Scientists additionally spotlight the function of soil microorganisms, genetic engineering, precision agriculture and AI in livestock and crop manufacturing. These options assist optimise diet, cut back fertilisers and pesticides, thereby lowering air pollution and growing crop resilience.
Experts harassed the want to promote analysis funding, bridging technology and worldwide cooperation to put experimental outcomes into apply. They additionally agree that science and technology would be the key to unlocking sustainable agriculture, securing livelihoods for billions of individuals and defending the planet for future generations. — VNS