Scaling up: the essence of effective agricultural research
J. B. PassiouraCSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: john.passioura@csiro.au
Functional Plant Biology 37(7) 585-591 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP10106
Submitted: 8 May 2010 Accepted: 17 May 2010 Published: 2 July 2010
Abstract
Successful scaling up from laboratory research to application in the field depends on practitioners being aware of the constraints and other interactions that arise as scaling up proceeds. Although exploration of promising ideas are often of intrinsic scientific interest, such ideas fail the test of utility if they do not get adopted by agronomists or plant breeders, and if practices and cultivars based on such ideas do not get adopted by farmers. This notion of scaling up is explored here using salinity tolerance of crops as a case study, with examples drawn from gene expression, tissue culture, controlled environment studies of plants grown in hydroponics and in pots, and the behaviour of plants at the field scale. The most effective research in this arena has resulted from a culture of collegiate dialogue between scientists working at different scales.
Additional keywords: abiotic stress, biological organisation, prebreeding, salinity, wheat.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Tim Flowers, John Kirkegaard, Rana Munns, Richard Richards, Richard Stirzaker, Anton Wasson and Michelle Watt for their penetrating comments on the manuscript and for countless highly illuminating conversations.
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