Perennial Grain Crops Show Promise for Future
Earth-friendly perennial grain crops grow with less fertilizer, herbicide, fuel, and erosion than grains
planted annually. These new crops are being developed now and will be coming in two decades,
according to researchers writing in the journal Science.
Perennial grains would be one of the largest innovations in the 10,000 year history of agriculture, and
could arrive even sooner with the right breeding programs, said John Reganold, a Washington State
University Regents professor of soil science and lead author of the paper with Jerry Glover, a WSU-
trained soil scientist now at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas.
Perennial grains have longer growing seasons than annual crops and deeper roots that let the plants
take greater advantage of precipitation. Their larger roots, which can reach ten to 12 feet down, reduce
erosion, build soil and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. They require fewer passes of farm
equipment and less herbicide, key features in less developed regions.
By contrast, annual grains can lose five times as much water as perennial crops and 35 times as much
nitrate, a valuable plant nutrient that can migrate from fields to pollute drinking water and create “dead
zones” in surface waters.
“Developing perennial versions of our major grain crops would address many of the environmental
limitations of annuals while helping to feed an increasingly hungry planet,” said Reganold.
Perennial grain research is underway in Argentina, Australia, China, India, Sweden and the United
States. Washington State University has more than a decade of work on perennial wheat led by Stephen
Jones, director WSU’s Mount Vernon Research Center. Jones is also a contributor to the Science paper,
which has more than two dozen authors, mostly plant breeders and geneticists.
The authors say research into perennial grains can be accelerated by putting more personnel, land and
technology into breeding programs. They call for a commitment similar to that underway for biologically
based alternative fuels.
http://www.wsunews.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=20510&TypeID=1
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Earth-friendly perennial grain crops grow with less fertilizer, herbicide, fuel, and erosion than grains
planted annually. These new crops are being developed now and will be coming in two decades,
according to researchers writing in the journal Science.
Perennial grains would be one of the largest innovations in the 10,000 year history of agriculture, and
could arrive even sooner with the right breeding programs, said John Reganold, a Washington State
University Regents professor of soil science and lead author of the paper with Jerry Glover, a WSU-
trained soil scientist now at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas.
Perennial grains have longer growing seasons than annual crops and deeper roots that let the plants
take greater advantage of precipitation. Their larger roots, which can reach ten to 12 feet down, reduce
erosion, build soil and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. They require fewer passes of farm
equipment and less herbicide, key features in less developed regions.
By contrast, annual grains can lose five times as much water as perennial crops and 35 times as much
nitrate, a valuable plant nutrient that can migrate from fields to pollute drinking water and create “dead
zones” in surface waters.
“Developing perennial versions of our major grain crops would address many of the environmental
limitations of annuals while helping to feed an increasingly hungry planet,” said Reganold.
Perennial grain research is underway in Argentina, Australia, China, India, Sweden and the United
States. Washington State University has more than a decade of work on perennial wheat led by Stephen
Jones, director WSU’s Mount Vernon Research Center. Jones is also a contributor to the Science paper,
which has more than two dozen authors, mostly plant breeders and geneticists.
The authors say research into perennial grains can be accelerated by putting more personnel, land and
technology into breeding programs. They call for a commitment similar to that underway for biologically
based alternative fuels.
http://www.wsunews.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=20510&TypeID=1
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