1. XIX EURAGRI Members Conference The Knowledge Challenge: Research and Innovation
François Houllier INRA, Scientific Director for Plant and Plant Products

2. Outline Difficulty to cover such a wide topic, at the crossroads
of the evolution of agriculture per se
of global social, economic and environmental changes
of the progress of science and technology
A sample of ‘research challenges’ from three types
generated by the joint dynamics of agriculture, societies and environment
related to the inner ‘natural’ scientific and technological trends
resulting from changes in the organization of R&D systems

3. ‘Global’ context and trends
Agriculture as a major policy and economic issue
Trade of agricultural products
Europe is a major exporter and the first importer of agricultural products
Demographic pressure and the need to feed the world population
Increased competition for arable land in some countries
Need to increase the productivity and competitiveness of agriculture
Other agriculture-related megatrends
Urbanization changes ‘our’ relationship to Nature and to rurality
An increasing aversion to risks: cf. ‘precautionary principle’
From quantity towards quality and safety of food and agricultural products
Changes in, and variability of diet regimes
Environmental changes

4. Environmental changes
Global changes …
Land use and land use changes
Climatic changes
Atmospheric pollution
Biological invasions
including emerging animal and plant diseases
Overexploitation of renewable resources
… but also local and diffuse changes such as pollutions
including those related to agriculture

5. Living Beyond Our Means?
Observed and predicted decline of resources and of ecosystem services (
Threats to natural renewable resources …
… that are either affected by agriculture (and/)or key factors for the development thereof
genetic diversity, water, …
Predicted decline of fossil energy resources
Opportunities for agriculture
if a good link is established between producers and industries
Renewed research questions
In engineering sciences, biology and genetics …
… but also in agronomy, ecology, economy and social sciences (systemic approaches)

6. The need to jointly consider the evolution …
… of the agricultural systems
… of the food systems
… and of the environment
Natural and cultivated ecosystems
Biodiversity and (renewable) natural resources (soil, water, air, etc.)

7. … and to articulate and couple various approaches
Biophysical approaches
of the structure, diversity, functioning and dynamics of cultivated and natural ecosystems
Technical and technological approaches
of agricultural systems, of their production and products
Territorial, social and economic approaches
of agricultural activities and of their insertion in the society

8. 1st challenge: agriculture and sustainable development
From ‘sustainable agriculture’ to ‘agriculture as a component of sustainable development’
Agriculture as a component of a larger system
Three standpoints for research
New questions, new topics linked to sustainability issues
e.g. incorporation of risk analysis into the economic assessment of agricultural systems
Sustainable development as a new research object per se
e.g. joint appraisal of the immediate and long-term environmental, social and economic performance of agricultural systems; trade-off analysis
Sustainable development as a driver for renewing research practices and relationships between science and action
e.g. the focus on innovation (cf. Lisbon Strategy “Innovation as the motor for economic change”) leads to new ways of doing research
Products, processes, organizations, marketing
Management and impacts of innovation (systemic approaches)

9. Changes in, and variability of diet regimes
Long-term evolution of food energetic inputs in France
Total
Glucides
Cereals – Starchy food
Calories/person/day
Lipids
Animal products – Fruits and vegetables
Fat – Sugar
Proteins
Source: J.-C. Toutain, FAO-STAT

10. Changes in, and variability of diet regimes
With links with human health and epidemiology
E.g. variation of obesity among countries
Source : OECD 2003

11. 2nd challenge: diet transitions and the focus on consumer
Links between diet and lifestyle
Links with demographic and epidemiological transitions
Colon Cancer, Stroke, Coronary Heart Disease, and Type II Diabetes Potentially Preventable by Life-Style Modifications
From: Willett, WC. Science 296:696, 2002.

12. Diet transitions and the focus on consumer (2)
‘From fork to farm’
More emphasis on food safety and on food quality
Food and diet as complex systems
The necessity to avoid naïve views
Courtesy X. Leverve (INRA, DS NHSA)

13. A few scientific and technological trends
High throughput biology
Ecological in situ observations and experiments
Computer sciences and modeling

14. High throughput biology
From genomics to metabolomics
Large international genome sequencing consortia
Bioinformatics as a major component
New investigation techniques (in situ cell imagery, …)
The need of dedicated biological and genetic resources
Natural resources
Mutants
Data
Bases

15. 3rd challenge: towards integrative biology
Genomics are in a highly productive, but still descriptive phase
There is a strong need to develop integrative biology
Horizontal integration
From the gene to the function and back using exhaustive data
Linking quantitative and molecular genetics
Vertical integration (systems biology)
Up- and down-scaling across organization levels
Strong need of models
Transversal integration
Comparative approaches across species

16. Ecological in situ observations and experiments
The capability to trace the in situ functioning of ecosystems
Greenhouse controlled experiments
Isotopic techniques
In controlled systems
In natura
Long-term ecological experiments
Population genetics and evolutionary biology
From ‘neutral’ to ‘selected’ markers
Climatic tunnels (courtesy J.-F. Soussana, INRA, Clermont-Ferrand)
Canopy crane research facility in Oregon
A FACE system in New Zealand (courtesy J.-F. Soussana, INRA, Clermont-Ferrand)

17. 4th challenge: biodiversity ↔ ecosystem functioning
Assessing biodiversity, at various scales and levels of life organization, as a driver and/or as an indicator of ecosystem functioning, or per se
Inventories
Functional role of biodiversity
Impacts of agriculture
Understanding and controlling biodiversity dynamics
Monitoring
The need of long-term experiments and of links with large-scale operational surveys
Impacts of agriculture (and of other human activities)
The need of models and of experiments

18. Information sciences and technologies, and modeling
Spatial representation of ecosystems
GIS & Remote Sensing
Systemic approaches of complex situations
UML models
Bioinformatics
Databases, data mining, algorithms, …
Models of networks
Gene regulation
Metabolic functioning
Ecological food web networks, …
Simulation systems
Virtual plants, crops, landscapes, …

19. 5th challenge: complex systems
Conceptualization of systems
Many elements and many interactions
Data management
Organization and storage of, and access to, very large (massive) and distributed datasets
Capability to model networks of interactions and retroactions
The need of analytical tools
The need of models and data
The capability to integrate knowledge into simulators

20. 6th challenge: ‘Knowledge economy’ and agriculture
Linking research, education and extension
A key for innovation and long-term competitiveness
Harmonization of diploma throughout Europe
Bologna, 1998
Linking agricultural research organizations to the agricultural higher education system …
Polarization of the research system … and networking
… and to the industries and the associated technical R&D centres
Cf. European Technology Platforms

21. Thank you for your attention!