A presentation by Prof. Claudia Sorlini - Presidente Comitato Scientifico per EXPO – Comune di Milano

1. Il ruolo della ricerca scientifica nell’innovazione
e sostenibilità delle filiere alimentari
Prof. Claudia Sorlini - Presidente Comitato Scientifico
per EXPO – Comune di Milano

2. SLIDE 2
State of nutrition in the world
805 million people suffer from hunger.
About 2 billion suffer from hidden
undernutrition because of mineral and
vitamins deficiency (iron, zinc, vitamin
A…).
30% food is lost and wasted.
SLIDE 2

3. SLIDE 3
The challenge is hard because…
SLIDE 3
Food demand is increasing more rapidly
than food offer because of
• the expansion of world population
• the increasing demand for animal
proteins (which required a higher
quantity of vegetal proteins)
Moreover, the agricultural production does
not grow with the same trend of the past.
2050 Forecast
• 9 billion people
• Food Demand +70%
• Water Consumption +71%

4. SLIDE 4
La sfida
La sfida per i prossimi decenni è di produrre cibo sufficiente per
tutta l’umanità senza compromettere le risorse indispensabili perché
le generazioni future possano continuare a produrre cibo.
SLIDE 4

5. SLIDE 5
The major issues
SLIDE 5
Fresh water in the world
69% is consumed by agriculture
Almost 800 million people drink not
sanitized water; 1,2 billion live in areas
with water shortage.
Biodiversity
Nowadays, only about 30 plant
species supply 95% of the global
demand for food; over 75% of genetic
diversity has been lost in the
nineteenth century (FAO, 2010).

6. SLIDE 6
The major issues
SLIDE 6
Energy and arable soils
It is estimated that they could be
only slightly enlarged , while now a
lot of fertile soils are cultivated for
energy biomass and not for food.
Climate change
Agriculture is responsible for 14%-
17% of the Greenhouse Gasses
emissions.
Food waste and losses
30% food is lost.

7. SLIDE 7
The contribution of scientific research
We are aware that scientific reseach cannot find a solution to all the problems of hunger,
poverty and iniquity , to which politics and governments must give an answer. However the
research can give an important support to resolve these problems.
One of the most important scientific contributions can come from the investigations on the
genome of plants and animals: that allows a sustainable improvement of the productions.
With the biomolecular techniques it is possible to identify, among the existing organisms,
(also without genetic modification) the most resilient to the environmental conditions.
SLIDE 7

8. SLIDE 8
Reducing water consumption in agriculture
Identification of genes responsible for drought resistance has allowed the researchers
to find varieties of rice able to grow with a common irrigation and not under water.
SLIDE 8
Traditional rice culture in underwater New variety cultivated in “dry”

9. SLIDE 9SLIDE 9
Reducing the use of agrochemicals
By identification of
• plants with a high efficiency in the
absorption of nutrients. (they grow
well also in nutrients deficient
soils).
• Plants able to accumulate active
biomolecules (such as
polyphenols) against pests and
microbial infections.

10. SLIDE 10
Reducing the use of agrochemicals
By Plant Growth Promoting Rizobacteria (PGPR)
• Biofertilizers: to provide nutrients
• Biostimulants: to modulate the hormonal
balance
• Biocontrol: to protect the plants from the
phytopatogens
SLIDE 10

11. SLIDE 11
Increasing the food quality and nutrition value
(biofortification)
SLIDE 11
Orange Potatoes (Mozambico)
Variety obtained by breeding with potatoes
from Uganda. Resistant to biological agents
and rich in pro-vitamin (beta-carotene).
Blue Maize
Rich of flavonoids, more resistant to fungi
attacks, it protects against cardiovascular
diseases.
Both products are useful against hidden
undernutrition.

12. SLIDE 12SLIDE 12
Improving Food Nutritional Values
The wild ancestral tetraploid wheat,
Triticum turgidum ssp.
Dicoccoides has the allel Gpc-Bl,
associated to iron, zinc and proteins
bioaccumulation.
This variety could be a potential gene
donor to other plants.

13. SLIDE 13
Detecting and disseminating the use of plants resilient to climate
change (drought, soil salinity, increase of temperature...)
SLIDE 13
In northern Africa recent researches
showed the presence of some leguminoses
(peas and beans) varieties with a good
adaptability to drought and climatic
variability and the capacity to activate a
mechanism for iron adsorption, also under
conditions of iron-deficiency in the soil.

14. SLIDE 14
The region of the Med basin
The heritage
Facing the problems arising from climate change, the countries of the southern
Mediterranean basin and other regions with the same climate characteristics have
exceptional resources: they are owners of a heritage represented by plants and microbial
genes of resistance to drought and climate variability. The genes of this biodiversity still need
to be discovered, investigated and exploited.
The risks
To be invaded by new phyto-pathogens and parassites (Phytoplasma).
SLIDE 14

15. SLIDE 15SLIDE 15
Bioenergies
We need to increase both food
production and renewable energy
sources sfrom biomass and at the
same time to reduce the carbon
footprint.
An alternative to maize is the
vegetal biomass cultivated on marginal
soils not adapted to food plants, such
as Arundo donax (PlosOne, 2014),
and other cellulose sources (Nature,
2011).

16. SLIDE 16
Other interesting fields of scientific research
• ICT and precision agriculture
• Robotics
• Fertility soil and culture rotation
SLIDE 16

17. SLIDE 17SLIDE 17
Reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses
• Agriculture is responsible for 14 to
17% of total greenhouse gas
emissions and concurs to the
climate change which brings to an
increasing drought and
desertification.
• Ruminants belching contribute
significantly with their methane
emissions.
Interesting researches showed that
an appropriate diet led to a
reduction of methane production.

18. SLIDE 18SLIDE 18
The food of the future
To face demand of proteins without destroying natural resources.

19. SLIDE 19SLIDE 19
Reducing food losses and waste
Research and technology to improve conservation (cold chain)
and distribution systems in developing countries to improve
packaging systems (“smart” and “intelligent” packaging) to
extend the food shelf life for all countries.
New ways of processing: novel thermodynamic cycles and
non-thermal to reduce water and energy consumption and
GHG emissions (food irradiation, high-pressure processing,
pulsed electric fields, membrane processing and
supercritical fluid processing) novel heating processes.
Reuse of by-products
Nanotechnologies

20. SLIDE 20SLIDE 20
L’impegno del Parlamento e della Commissione
Europea - La Steering Committee for Expo
1. Migliorare la salute pubblica attraverso
la nutrizione
2. Migliorare food safety e qualità
3. Ridurre gli sprechi
4. Gestione sostenibile della terra per uno
sviluppo sostenibile delle aree rurali
5. Incremento sostenibile della produzione
di alimenti
6. Mercato globale degli alimenti
7. Incrementare l’equità dei sistemi
alimentari

21. Evento 20 luglio 2015
Convegno Ager Comitato Scientifico per EXPO 2015
In occasione dei nuovi bandi AGER.
www.foodandfeedforwellbeing.com