Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by 2030 (2019) / Chapter Skim
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9 Strategy for 2030
9 Strategy for 2030
Pages 179-200
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From page 179... ...
Food loss and waste remains at an estimated 30-40 percent, with key resources lost primarily at the retail and consumer stages (Buzby et al., 2014)
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From page 180... ...
and how to effectively gain producer and consumer acceptance. In other cases, it appears that there are promising opportunities in allied fields such as data science and sensors, but it remains unclear how researchers from these disparate disciplines will be enticed to collaborate on research programs to provide solutions that benefit food and agriculture.
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. Food and agricultural research would greatly benefit from incorporating convergent approaches, as convergence merges diverse areas of expertise to stimulate innovation ranging from basic science discoveries to translational scientific applications (NRC, 2014a)
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developing precision livestock production systems, (7) early and rapid detection and prevention of plant and animal diseases, (8)
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3.2 Science Breakthroughs and Recommendations Solving the most vexing problems in the next decade will require a strategy that promotes convergent problem-solving approaches and scientific and technological breakthroughs that span across disciplines. The previous chapters identified challenges and opportunities by research disciplines and recommended specific research directions in those fields.
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Some of these are in the early stages of development, and others are on the cusp for widespread application to food and agriculture. The five areas identified as the most promising science breakthroughs for food and agricultural research are intended to facilitate the recommended research directions and serve the overarching goals of efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability.
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FIGURE 9-2 Convergent approaches to address animal disease and food safety. Precision livestock farming makes animal agriculture safer and healthier for animals, people, the envi ronment, and the economy.
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. The NSF INFEWS and most recent USDA grants on Sustainable Agricultural Systems have relatively larger budgets that can support convergent team science.
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A multidimensional systems approach will be essential for addressing policy and regulation. A systems approach can be used to consider the design and assess the effects of proposed agricultural policies and incentives to influence human behaviors that can support the desired systemslevel sustainability outcomes (such as eliminating groundwater mining or mitigating nutrient loading to receiving streams)
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is paramount to accelerating food system models. Sensing Technologies Breakthrough 2: The development and validation of precise, accurate, field-deployable sensors and biosensors will enable rapid detection and monitoring across various food and agricultural disciplines.
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One possibility might be to model sharing of sensor information and development on the European Viral Archive project, in which scientists from government and university laboratories from multiple countries worked together to create a virtual archive that would be available for the next emerging viral disease outbreak. After several years of collaboration and cooperation, an archive was available at the time of the Zika virus outbreak, and the archive allowed scientists from all over the world to make rapid progress on disease diagnosis and control.
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The ability to more quickly collect, analyze, store, share, and integrate highly heterogeneous datasets will create opportunities to vastly improve our understanding of the complex food system, and ultimately to the widespread use of near-realtime, data-driven management approaches. Recommendation 3: Establish initiatives to nurture the emerging area of agri-food informatics and to facilitate the adoption and development of information technology, data science, and artificial intelligence in food and agricultural research.
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Recommendation 4: Establish initiatives to exploit the use of genomics and precision breeding to genetically improve traits of agriculturally important organisms. Genetic improvement programs in crops and animals are an essential component of agricultural sustainability.
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Detecting miniscule amounts of volatile materials -- production of chemicals associated with spoilage -- could lead to decreased food loss and waste and prompt preemptive removal to chilled conditions. Microbiome Breakthrough 5: Understand the relevance of the microbiome to agriculture, and harness this knowledge to improve crop production, transform feed efficiency, and increase resilience to stress and disease.
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Enhanced understanding of the basic microbiome components and the roles they play in nutrient cycling is likely to be critical for ensuring continuing and sustainable crop production globally. 4. FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS The science breakthroughs alone cannot transform food and agricultural research, as there are other factors that contribute to the success of food and agricultural research.
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Recognizing and reinforcing that value through the provision of resources is essential for integrating agricultural scientific breakthroughs into the fabric of everyday life. 4.2 Funding Considerations Conclusion 3: Current public and private funding for food and agricultural research is inadequate to address critical breakthrough areas over the next decade.
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and thus expand the total funding available to support research. Other examples of new institutions include the Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership Foundation formed to develop public–private collaborations around USDA research discoveries technology transfer, including linkage to venture capital and business expertise.
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Recruiting talented individuals into food and agricultural research will require a demonstration and shift in perception that food and agriculture can be innovative. There are efforts under way to merge traditional agricultural disciplines with other areas of expertise to bring about convergent approaches, such as the new undergraduate program in computer science and crop sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in fall 2018 (UIUC, 2017)
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. 5. CLOSING REMARKS At this pivotal time in history with an expanding global population requiring more from an increasingly fragile natural resource base, science breakthroughs are needed now more than ever.
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2014. The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States.
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2017. New Degree in Computer Science Plus Crop Sciences Melds the Worlds of Agriculture and Data Technology.
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