Critical Zones Food and Agriculture Perspectives Sonny Ramaswamy

Interstellar, The Movie "The world doesn’t need any more engineers. We didn’t run out of planes and television sets… we ran out of food.” Starring: Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway Kepler Habitable Zone Mission

Nutritional SecurityAn Existential Threat

Malthusian Necessities of Life Food, Shelter, Fiber, Fuel > 9 billion

Population Climate Health Extreme Weather Poverty Hunger Changing Incomes & Diet PipelineAnti-Science Funding Anti-Intellectualism Land & Water Resources Perfect Storm

Path Forward Transformative discoveries –Critical Zones 21 st Century Extension Farming systems Education Policies, regulation, marketing Human dimensions Communications

Critical Zones Ecosystem in which complex interactions between rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms affect availability of life sustaining resources Connect high-priority research Earth Sciences with hydrology, biology, and oceanography –Terrestrial carbon cycle and climate change –Microbial interactions in mineral weathering, soil formation, and mobilization of nutrients and toxins

Benefits of ecosystem services Impacts on critical zone From above: Agriculture From below: Extractive industries, e.g., fracking Need to identify critical thresholds of critical zone so that we sustainably manage our activities Conservation tillage approaches: advantages/disadvantages NIFA’s approach to critical zones: Systems approach, including biophysical, human, social, and economic perspectives Food and Agriculture Considerations

NIFA’s Focus Plant-biotic interactions and rhizosphere/root-soil microbiome Water and nitrogen use efficiency; drought tolerance Improve photosynthesis Alternative photosynthetic pathways adapted to drier environments Improve nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency Salt tolerance Integrated Crop, Soil, and Pest Management Feed use efficiency Nutrient cycling Belowground soil water interface Inorganic particle surface interactions with water and air Release of organic materials Impacts of colloidal movement and dissolved interfaces

Critical nutrient loading thresholds –Conundrum: Carbon sequestration accompanied by nitrogen movement, but we want nitrogen to be transported to the plant –N overloaded soils: How to return soil conditions to desirable state How feasible? –Economics, regulation, and culture regulate human behavior Need data to understand how these drive human behavior –Need to incentivize different land management practices Reward quality versus yield If quality rewarded, farmers may be motivated to properly manage their lands and consequently reduce their nutrient loadings May require changing how agriculture is marketed –Compensate farmers/land managers for providing broader ecosystem services—but, expensive

Concluding Remarks NIFA supports systems approaches to effectively protect and manage critical zones Driver is sustainability Focused on photosynthesis, nitrogen and water use efficiency, salt and drought tolerance, management Help develop market-based solutions, particularly in regards to regulations, economics, and cultural aspects that drive human behavior Develop path forward to ensure critical zone is protected

Opportunities: Big Data Open Data is a powerful, evidence-based tool for long- term sustainable development by improving economic opportunities for farmers and health of consumers. Open access to research, meta- analysis, and open publication of data are vital resources for nutritional security. Iain Chalmers: Cochrane Collaboration Transparent, Collaborative, Participatory Archibald Cochrane

Big Data: Challenges Ownership –Open Ag Technology Systems Decision Support Tools –Open Ag Toolkit – NIFA funded –FarmBot Cost Bandwith Quality Curation Disambiguation Connectivity Cybersecurity Storage Courtesy: Dennis Buckmaster;

Opportunities Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Nexus of Food, Water, and Energy Interagency