Penn State, Chinese university establish root biology lab
July 31, 2007
University Park, Pa. -- For Jonathan Lynch, it's all about the roots.
For decades, the Penn State professor of plant nutrition has been studying how the roots of plants such as common bean, corn and soybeans can be designed, selected and developed to improve yields in the low-fertility soils of poor counties. His research into root architecture, formation and characteristics is critical for the world, Lynch believes, especially in parts of Africa, Asia and South America where people continually battle starvation.
"The United Nations estimates that 840 million people are undernourished, and the number of malnourished people is actually growing," he said. "Agricultural production in developing nations is primarily limited by drought and low soil fertility. Fertilizer use in these regions is low and is not likely to increase substantially in the foreseeable future. The development of crops with better yield on poor soil, therefore, has great promise to alleviate human suffering.
"If we understood roots better, we could give people seed for better plants and they could grow more food," Lynch added.
Underlining the importance of Lynch's work, Penn State President Graham B. Spanier recently stopped in Guangzhou, China, to sign an agreement creating a Joint Root Biology Laboratory with South China Agricultural University. The pact formalizes a collaboration between Lynch and Professor Xiaolong Yan, who have been partnering on root biology research for 25 years.
At South China Agricultural University, Lynch explained, Yan and his peers have concentrated on improving the roots of soybeans, which is a vital crop for that country. "Ten million Chinese farmers this year will plant soybean genotypes that Yan has developed," he said. "Yan's work has had a tremendous importance in his country.
"Here, we have focused our root biology work more on common beans and corn, trying to develop plants that will grow better and improve the food supply in Africa and Latin America. But our research and Yan's are collaborative and complementary."
Robert Steele, dean of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, agrees root biology research is vital to the world's future. "We are involved, obviously, in a wide range of important agricultural research," Steele said. "But perhaps none is as crucial as improving food supplies in developing nations where drought and poor soils are a reality. This project is bringing the best scientists from both universities together to tackle this important challenge."
Steele pointed out that this year the College of Agricultural Sciences celebrated 100 years of collaboration with South China Agricultural University. It is the oldest bilateral international agreement in Penn State history and one of the oldest cooperative programs between an American and a Chinese university. "The collaboration began in 1907, when Penn State professor George Groff visited Lingnan, China, to establish ties with South China Agricultural University," Steele said. "Groff made a return visit in the 1930s, and the two universities continued to exchange students and collaborate on research well into the 1940s."
As World War II ended and the communists rose to power in China, the partnership between Penn State and South China Agricultural University was suspended for several decades. But after President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in the 1970s helped pave the way for normalized relations, President Jimmy Carter re-established diplomatic ties in 1980, allowing the two institutions to restore their successful collaboration.
Lynch expects the world hunger situation to get worse in coming decades as the effects of global climate change become widely felt. "The real challenge is what is coming ahead," he said. "Droughts are expected to get worse in much of the developing world. It will become increasingly critical for people in those regions to have crops that can grow with little moisture in poor soils. To do that, the plants must have the right root traits."
Contact
Jeff Mulhollem
jjm29@psu.edu
814-863-2719