3. Insertion of plants of interest into sustainable farming systems

For some years, productivity has not been the sole aim, although it is the best documented (Eurostat, 2016). Environmental requirements uphold high yields for the three main uses of food, chemistry and energy, but rules governing environmental impacts on the soil, water, greenhouse gas emissions, improved energy balance, and reduced use of chemicals for plant protection also need to be followed. Complementarity and competition with fossil carbon sources mean that much attention needs to be paid to these criteria which will, at the end of the day, be the basis of consumer choices.

Two drivers for innovation need to come together: the genetics discussed in the earlier sections, and cropping systems. The aim is to insert the plants targeted above into pre-existing sustainable cropping systems, or to create new ones for emerging plants.

In multipurpose...