b'MAJOR CHALLENGES: DISEASES AND PESTS sanitary and ecotoxicological profiles remain to be completed. It Le Buanec says one of the reasons why the control of pests andis not because that they are natural, that they are safe.diseases is an increasing challenge is the decrease in the numberThe competitiveness of cultivated plants is also a path under of pesticides allowed. During the past 10 years, the number ofdevelopment. A first approach is the choice of varieties with pesticides has dropped from 800 to 400.early vigour and a high covering power to compete with weeds. Of course, some of these bans were justified but, in thatThose characters may be improved by plant breeding. Another situation, farmers have to use the same products more frequentlyapproach is the priming of the seed that is used industrially and this causes the emergence of tolerances or even resistances oftoday for high value crops such as vegetables or sugar beets. many diseases and pests to the pesticides. To avoid that evolution,Once again, we see the importance of plant breeding and the we need more phytosanitary products. Le Buanec believes pro- seed industry.gress exists with the high throughput screening of new molecules, but the main obstacle remains the cost, in particular that of the dossier for marketing authorisation. The procedures should be more balanced between advantages and risks instead of focussing too much on risks that do not necessarily mean danger. In addition, politicians do not always follow the advice ofGENOME EDITINGthe specialised agencies. Progress is also made in biocontrol, but its effectiveness is in general still inferior and more irregularTECHNIQUES WITHOUT USING than that of synthetic molecules.According to Le Buanec, several other solutions exist. TheRECOMBINANT DNA SHOULD control of pests and diseases includes three phases: prophylaxisNOT BE CONSIDERED(including the use of resistant plant varieties) to reduce the risk, then the characterization of the risk to act wisely throughAS REGULATED GMOS.decision support tools when the risk is proven and at a last resort only the direct fight with phytosanitary products. Prophylaxis needs an agronomical approach based on the cropping system and the crop rotation. The tools of modelling and simulation of the growth of plants make it possible now to model the rotations taking into account the cycles of development of parasitic attacks. Digital technologies bring significant pro- LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD gress but raise some ethical issues regarding the use of big data. Plant breeding, including the new plant breeding techniques Le Buanec says that huge progress is also made in deci- such as gene-editing and CRISPR, can provide relief to several sion support tools and farm machinery, allowing a better use ofchallenges such as faster and more efficient development of pesticides. But the more promising way of improvement is theresistant plant varieties. development of resistant varieties. For many decades plant breeding has been proven to create parasite-resistant varieties, says Le Buanec. The tools available MAJOR CHALLENGES: WEEDS to breeders have diversified as knowledge has progressed in var-In terms of the need to allow for a broader application of glypho- ious fields, including biology, but also in electronics, computing sate, the group did not focus particularly on one product. Someand biophysics. Effectively the working group, among all those of the interviewed farmers said that the ban of glyphosate innew technologies, has discussed in depth the new possibilities 2022 will raise serious difficulties as, in many cases, there areof genome editing including CRISPR. At the very beginning of no alternative solutions at the moment, in particular for conser- our work, in January 2016, we have adopted an opinion indicat-vation agriculture. This was confirmed by the president of INRAing that, according to our analysis, genome editing techniques during a roundtable at the French Senate in 2018. without using recombinant DNA should not be considered as reg-Le Buanec states it is likely that waivers will be given inulated GMOs according to the directive 2001/18/CE. This opin-some cases until 2023, which is the date of the ban for Europe.ion has been endorsed by the French Academies of Agriculture As you know, based on the opinions of the European evaluationand Technologies, as well as by the UEAA (Union of European agencies, the proposal of the Commission was to reconduct theAcademies for Science Applied to Agriculture, Food and Nature) authorisation up to 2028. To our specialists it is unlikely thatin October of the same year. This was also the opinion of the new total herbicides will be developed and marketed in the nearGeneral Advocate of the CJEU, but not followed by the court. future. Genome editing is a very efficient tool for allele replacement and Similar to pest and diseases, the control of weeds includeswill facilitate plant improvement.three phases: prophylaxis to reduce the risk, then characteri-sation of the risk through decision support tools and then theWATER STRESSdirect fight when the risk is proven.Le Buanec states water stress can significantly lower yields For direct control several possibilities exist. Mechanicalas became apparent in 2018 and 2019. Several solutions exist, weeding is making progress thanks to precision farming andincluding water stress tolerant varieties. The high throughput the current evolution allows us to foresee in the coming yearsphenotyping allows to detect the best varieties under water the use of weeding robots. stress and then detect chromosomes or chromosomal areas (so He says biocontrol, using antagonistic microorganisms iscalled Quantitative Trait Loci or QTLs) implicated in drought starting to be implemented. The search for so-called naturaltolerance. The knowledge of these genes and QTLs then makes molecules, because extracted from plants, is also under develop- it possible to quickly select interesting candidate varieties. ment. However, if some of these products are effective on certainTransgenesis and gene editing offer also good possibilities. species, they have a limited duration of action and are dependingResults have already been obtained in maize at the International of climate conditions, as often in biocontrol. In addition, theirMaize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). As detailed EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 25'