EPSO’s role in the future of global plant science challenges – vision of our new president

Let me, as the new president of EPSO, thank Willi Gruissem once again for his engagement and hard work for EPSO over the past six years.

Since its foundation ten years ago, EPSO has achieved a great deal. EPSO has not only become the most important organisation of European plant biologists, but it has also achieved to be accepted as an independent body of expertise by academic, industrial, government and non-government organisations. On this basis, EPSO will tackle the future challenges of plant biology in this century.

Now what are these challenges and what is the role of EPSO?

One key challenge is that agriculture will be required to produce 50% more food in the next decades to feed 9 billion people on this planet by the year 2050. Whereby global food production was sufficient until now and hunger was mainly a question of distribution and access, food production will have to increase substantially in the future. Strikingly, due to the expansion of roads, housing and soil losses, more food will have to be produced on less land and particularly with less water than is currently available.

As the end of the oil era is appearing at the horizon, food production will heavily compete for land with agriculture that will produce crops for our carbon-based chemical industry and for the production of biofuels. And if this was not enough, plant biology will be asked to rapidly develop new crops that will withstand highly different local conditions produced as the consequence of global climate change. This means that in addition to feeding the world, agriculture will also become a very important player in the energy and raw materials sector.

But not only quantity counts.

The quality of plant ingredients is equally important and EPSO will support all efforts in plant biology to improve food and feed quality. These challenges for future agriculture require a major investment in both fundamental and applied plant research.

So far, a major redirection of investments into plant biology research has not taken place and it will be one of the key tasks of EPSO to convince the European political leaders of this opportunity and necessity.

Another key issue for EPSO will be to accept the responsibility of European plant biologists not only to solve the problems in Europe but also in countries with much  poorer research conditions. A master plan for 21st century agriculture is needed that should embrace researchers of all fields, using all technologies, irrespective of colour, belief and religion.

Even though it is unrealistic that EPSO or any of us individually will solve the big problems of the world, coordinating our efforts through EPSO can help provide the necessary contacts and means to convince the decision makers of this world that no human being on this planet should die from hunger and that this will only be possible by a major investment in future agriculture. 

Heribert Hirt