What’s a Pulse?

Legumes are the 3rd largest family of flowering plants

• Second only to grasses in agricultural importance

• Keystone family for nutrition

Pulses are legumes of which we eat the seed

N

NO NH

2

4

+

3

-

C-N

1

3

4

5

2

6

Legumes &

rhizobia

Why legumes?

Of particular importance in food

insecure regions of the world

A key source of humankind’s protein nitrogen

• High Protein content of seed

• Enrich soil in vital nitrogen

In non-legume systems, nitrogen derives primarily from industrial processes that depend on fossil fuels.

Nitrogen drives agricultural costs, is among the world’s most significant pollutants and major contributor to greenhouse gases.

Humans co-domesticated legumes and grasses

Courtesy of Pulse Canada

The predominance of legumes in developing world diets, makes them key vehicles for delivery of both micro and macro-nutrients

Iron, zinc, fiber, oils and fats, caloric intake …

Feeding a growing world

• A large and growing population in which malnutrition is the

most widespread human malady.

• Large disparities in production, capacities, income.

• Urgent need to increase the efficiency of agricultural

systems, while reducing environmental impact.

• Longstanding challenges to agriculture – disease,

drought, variable inputs, etc.

• Increasing planetary warming, with more extreme and

less predictable weather.

• Need for increased investment in research and

development.

Since the Green Revolution, legumes received significant underinvestment.

The best land and the major financial investments have been in grasses: rice, wheat and maize, for examples.

In the developed world, animal protein has replaced legumes, despite significant upsides of legumes for health and sustainability.

Agriculture under stress

70% of the freshwater used by humans is for agricultural purposes, often exceeding local regeneration rates. Irrigation alone is not sustainable.

“Meeting humanity’s increasing demand for freshwater and protecting ecosystems at the same time will be one of the most difficult and important challenges of this century”

Mekonnen and Hoekstra Sci. Adv. 12 Feb 2016

66% of the human population (4.0 billion people) lives under severe water scarcity (WS > 2.0) at least 1 month of the year. Of these, half a billion people face severe water scarcity all year round.

Year-in, year-out, water availability is the major factor limiting agricultural yields

The changing climate will impact developing countries most

• Countries close to the equator will suffer declines in productivity.

– heavily depend on agriculture

– already warm environment

– lack of infrastructure to adapt to changes

– lack of capital to invest in innovation adaptation

• Commodity prices will increase due to the reduction in production.

• Higher commodity prices would increase farm revenue, but hurt poor

farmers who consume more than they produce.

The problem of climate is more than just drought

• Drought

• Heat

• Cold

• Pests and Disease

• Nitrogen fixation

Planta ertherains.Producecroponresidualsoilmoisture.Exposescroptodrought.

Terminal drought is the most consistent threat to chickpea production

… in Ethiopia, farmers plant AFTER the summer rains conclude, which exposes the crop to drought. WHY?

Ascochytablightisaclimate-drivendisease,ando enthelimi ngfactorinchickpeaproduc on

Fusariumwilt

Podborer

•Nitrogen fertilizers are not

an option.

•Degraded soils compound

plant nutrition.

Most of the world’s poor live in the semi-arid

tropics …

… where drought and heat

are most severe

Drought and heat suppress

legumes’ potential for N-

fixation

Global Context

• Severe hunger and poverty affects nearly 1 billion people

around the world.

• By 2050, it’s estimated that the earth’s population will reach 9

billion. Global food production will need to increase

significantly to 100 percent to feed these people.

• Two billion people in the developing world are malnourished

-- the world’s most serious health problem.

The power of investing in agriculture is clear: Agricultural

development is two to four times more effective at reducing

hunger and poverty than any other sector.

How do we address these challenges?

• Partnerships: governments, foundations, international

organizations, scientists, engineers, farmers, etc.

• Sustained investment with a variety of time horizons

• Recognize the importance of scale: “local problems and

priorities are not necessarily global problems and priorities”

• Embrace diverse scenariosInfrastructure (Roads, seed systems, etc)

EducationDiplomacy and capacity buildingNutritionScience

The example of chickpeaDeveloping crops that yield efficiently

under conditions of limiting water

Science has a role to play

In development?

In agriculture, bridging yield gaps, increasing resilience to climate and disease, increasing sustainability, …

Chickpea is among the world’s most important pulse legumes and critical to food security in

much of the developing world

•Stagnant yields•Susceptible to pathogens, pests and abiotic stress

• Drought

• Heat

• Pests and Disease

• Nitrogen fixation

• Nutrition

• Soil adaptation

• Agronomic traits

• Domestication

11

countryArea (Ha) harvested

Production (tonnes)

Yield (Kg/Ha)

India 9,600,000 8,832,500 920

Australia 573,600 813,300 1,418

Pakistan 992,000 751,000 757

Turkey 423,557 506,000 1,195

Myanmar 335,000 490,000 1,463

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

550,000 295,000 536

Ethiopia 122,248 249,465 2,041

Mexico 115,551 209,941 1,817

Canada 72,000 169,400 2,353

United States of America

86,441 157,351 1,820

Top 10 countries account for 95% of world production. Source: FAO Stat. 12

USAID

NSF

GRDC

SPG

GCDT

VIR

USA

USA

Australia

Canada

Norway

A multi-institutional, multi-national initiative

National Programs Private foundations

>27 partners in 10 countries

Russia Pakistan HEC

Terminal drought: year in, year out, most serious constraint.

Terminal drought

Chickpea production is limited byDrought, heat, disease and low genetic diversity

Terminal drought: year in, year out, most serious constraint.

Drought and heat:

Predispose the crop to disease.

Reduce rates of nitrogen fixation.

Requires a multi-faceted approach.

~95% of variation in the crop was lost during domestication and modern breeding

Drought tolerance

Heat tolerance

Nitrogen fixation

Plant architecture for mechanical harvesting

Seed nutrient density

Fusarium resistance

Pod borer resistance

Improve farmer livelihoods and increase agricultural productivity

For crop improvement, the way forward is genetics

Breeding: novel alleles typically come from domesticated germplasm, … landraces and wild relatives are largely ignored.

Biotechnology: accesses alleles from a broader set of organisms (transgenics), and to modify endogenous genetic components (cisgenics).

Accessing, characterizing and

utilizing genetic variation

Breeding needs variation

We explored chickpea’s center of origin over 56 days

in 2013 and 100 days in 2014/15 at ~50 sites

Egil

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C.

arietin

um

C. re

ticula

tum

C. echin

osperm

um

Wild systems: Starting in south-eastern Turkey

~15,000 unique lineages entering into field trials and breeding

• Engage international networks of breeders.

• Combine developing world needs with developed world capacities.

• Massively leverage new funding sources.

Mobilize the genetic capacity of wild relatives

India, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Morocco, Turkey, US, Canada, Australia

Post-domestication diversification: landraces

Nik

ola

y V

avilo

v

Innovate and think outside of the box!

Microbes impart functional properties (i.e., “health”) to their plant hosts.

… but we lack a solid understanding of these phenomena

Micronutrient uptake

Drought Tolerance

Phosphate solubilization

Disease Tolerance

Nitrogen Fixation

Micronutrient uptake

Drought Tolerance

Phosphate solubilization

Disease Tolerance

Nitrogen Fixation

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Implement and deliver

NSF and BMGF

USAID

National Programs

Industrial partners

Legumes are key to meeting the world’s challenges in agriculture and the environment

Global coalitions.

Broad investment.

Relevant technologies.

Appropriate goals and pathways for delivery.

True partnerships with technology transfer and capacity building.