Biotechnology for Sustainable and Competitive Agriculture and Food Systems

Lilia Ahrne

The research program ‘Mistra Biotech - Biotechnology for Sustainable and Competitive Agriculture and Food Systems’ is a four-year interdisciplinary research program funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

The vision of the researchers in Mistra Biotech is to contribute to processes that will enable the Swedish agriculture and food sector to produce an increased amount of high quality, healthy food at moderate costs, with less inputs, decreased environmental impact and healthier crops and livestock. The goal is sustainable production systems ̶ from ecological, social and economic perspectives. The program includes research in both the natural and the social sciences.

The aims of Mistra Biotech are to develop:

• new elite plant lines that have benefits for consumers, farmers, the food industry, and the environment;
• biotechnology tools that can be used to achieve new product qualities, healthier livestock and crops, and to solve environmental problems related to agriculture;
• a basis for sustainable production systems that contributes to increased competitiveness in Swedish agriculture and food production;
• tools for ethical scrutiny of agricultural biotechnology that combine high standards of safety with the encouragement of innovation; and
• a basis for improved regulatory approaches and private-public relationships.

With ability comes responsibility and the concerns that have been raised about potential negative effects of plant biotechnology applications on human health and the environment are taken most seriously. In Mistra Biotech safety, control and transparency are essential, regardless of which technology is used. The perspectives of various stakeholders in the food production systems are taken into account in the whole programme.

The research in the social sciences has its focus on the social, economic, and ethical aspects of the use of biotechnology in agricultural production. An ethics toolbox is created, the issues of naturalness, precaution, and sustainability are investigated, consumer attitudes and behaviours related to the use of agricultural biotechnology for food products are studied together with issues related to governance and regulation in the Swedish agrifood system.

The biennial wild species, Lepidium campestre (Field cress) is developed into an oil crop functioning as a catch crop which reduces soil tillage and decreases nutrient leaching. A potato with a low glycemic index (GI) will also be developed, as well as potato and barley with improved nitrogen use efficiency in order to reduce the use of fertilisers, and improved pathogen resistance in order to reduce the use of pesticides. Novel biotechnology breeding tools that can be used for both plants and livestock are also studied.

Communication is essential for the progress of Mistra Biotech. Open seminars and workshops, researchers’ participation in media, home page and news letters are some of the tools used for communication (see www.slu.se/mistrabiotech).

Professor Lilia Ahrné is Director, SIK – The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Chalmers University of Technology, Process and Technology Development, Box 5401, SE-402 29 Göteborg, Sweden; Email: lilia.ahrne@sik.se