New, groundbreaking research shows how, at a local scale, agricultural research and development led to improved crop varieties that resulted in global benefits to the environment and food system sustainability.
New, groundbreaking research shows how, at a local scale, agricultural research and development led to improved crop varieties that resulted in global benefits to the environment and food system sustainability. The Purdue University study appears in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“At the global level, we see a reduction in cropland use from these technology improvements leading to gains in terrestrial carbon stock and avoided loss of threatened plant and animal species,” reported the team led by Purdue’s Uris Baldos, research associate professor of agricultural economics.
The study is the first to undertake a fine-scale analysis back to the early 1960s. The analysis incorporated global data from approximately 100,000 grid cells. Each cell covers an area measuring 27.2 square kilometers (10.5 square miles) at the equator. Grid cells farther north and south of the equator become smaller because of the Earth’s curvature.
“You need that spatial resolution to get at the biodiversity question, because biodiversity is not evenly spread around,” said study co-author Thomas Hertel, Distinguished Professor of Agriculture. In another first, the study revealed how agricultural land-use changes have affected biodiversity. The analysis found that, globally, reduced agricultural land use resulting from improved crop varieties saved 1,043 animal and plant species.
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Purdue University’s Uris Baldos, research associate professor of agricultural economics and leader of a new study assessing the impacts of agricultural research investments on biodiversity and land use. (Photo Credit: Purdue Agricultural Communications/Joshua Clark)
