Sustainable agriculture feeds a hungry planet
January 3, 2022—With climate change and food insecurity threatening a growing global population, sustainably producing and distributing safe, nutritious food has never been more important.
UC Davis’ long history as an agricultural powerhouse positions the university to solve these challenges with innovations to benefit both California and the world.
Learn more from three faculty working at the forefront of agricultural research, finding novel ways to protect precious resources while advancing food production—from feeding seaweed to cows, to growing plants vertically and finding ingenious methods for processing crops.
A very green diet for cattle
Last March, Ermias Kebreab, associate dean of global engagement in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and his team announced a discovery that could change the future of livestock production: adding just a small amount of seaweed to cow diets reduces their methane emission by as much as 82 percent.
“This is really a game changer,” said Kebreab, who is also a professor in the Department of Animal Science and director of the World Food Center. “There’s phenomenal potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a scale that we never thought would be possible.”
Cattle are the top agricultural source of methane in the U.S.—50 percent of anthropogenic methane emissions are released by cows and other ruminant animals.
Because methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long as other gases like carbon dioxide, reducing emissions now will have visible impact on the climate within the next decade.
“Our findings could help the cattle industry get to a climate neutral position much earlier than they are currently committed to,” Kebreab said.
Since 2018, he and graduate student Breanna Roque ’20, Ph.D. ’27 have been testing seaweed and other additives in beef and dairy cattle diets and measuring the methane emitted in their breath through an open-air contraption from which the animals feed.
They are the first in the world to test seaweed in cattle diets—a creative endeavor which, Kebreab noted, was helped made possible by the support of donors.
“Donor support gives us the freedom to think outside of the box,” said Kebreab, who currently holds the Sesnon Endowed Chair in Animal Science. “It really allows us to be much more flexible and take a risk that we might not be able to take otherwise.”
Kebreab’s research has generated interest from all over the world. He is collaborating with others in Spain and Australia and gave a TED Talk in Edinburgh in October on his research. He hopes that one day this breakthrough can be implemented on a larger scale for the benefit of the whole planet.
“Climate change is one of the biggest issues that we have to solve not just for us, but also for our children and grandchildren,” he said. “It’s our duty to find a solution and leave the planet better than when we found it.”
Growing plants vertically and indoors
In Plant Sciences, a 40-foot-long shipping container is home to one of the latest innovations on campus: an indoor vertical farming facility.
The facility, funded by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, features cutting-edge technology such as climate sensors and LED light strips and features rows of vertically hung panels filled with leafy greens like watercress and lettuce, and soon strawberries too.
This hydroponic system—the growing of plants without soil—has the potential to use 90 percent less water than traditional methods. Within the controlled environment, there is also significantly less need for pesticides and other chemicals.
“In the last five years or so there’s been increasing interest in indoor vertical growing systems. It’s driven by the requirement for more secure food across the world and the fact that many areas of the world aren’t viable for food production,” explained Gail Taylor, distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Plant Sciences. Taylor also holds the John B. Orr Endowed Chair in Environmental Plant Sciences.
“It’s also a great way to improve the nutritional value of the crops we grow, and they provide the potential to produce really high-quality food,” she added. “We’re trying to make the best varieties for indoor agriculture to help the nation have a healthier diet.”
The indoor system isn’t meant to compete with traditional agriculture methods, but it can help the areas where water shortage or urbanization make growing local foods difficult.
It also doubles as a teaching facility, providing students with a well-rounded, hands-on education in agriculture that includes technology, computer science and engineering skills. Faculty and students can even control the facility’s functions remotely on a smartphone app.
“Our students are naturally drawn to this project and find it exciting to be controlling our new ‘farm’ on their phones,” she said.
“Farming in the 21st century can be this high-tech endeavor and we need to train students in this multidisciplinary environment,” she explained. “It’s really important that we can expand this facility so that we can train the next generation of farmers for the food industry.”
The facility is partly funded by Taylor’s endowed chair, awarded to her in spring 2021—and its impact has been significant.
“I feel very privileged to hold an endowed chair and it energizes me to do great things, particularly to improve the sustainability of food supply systems,” she said. “The fund supports training and research in Environmental Plant Sciences, and it’s a wonderful legacy for the future.”
Caring for crops, reducing waste
Once crops have been grown and harvested, they must be properly stored, dried and processed before reaching everyday people. For Irwin Ronaldo Donis-González, research specialist in biological and agricultural engineering, finding sustainable methods for this process is a priority.
Donis-González, who is also the associate director of the Postharvest Technology Center, researches safe postharvest handling of crops like fruits, vegetables and tree nuts while finding ways to reduce food waste, assess and maintain their quality, and reduce energy use throughout the process.
“If we do not develop techniques to properly store and transport a product, everything we’ve done in the field—from labor to energy and resources—will be wasted. It’s important that we protect the great quality of what was grown,” he explained.
Recently his team looked at how to efficiently dry almonds after they have been picked. Traditionally, almonds are shaken off trees and left to be dried and picked from orchard grounds, but this can sometimes lead to potential pathogen contamination and create environmental dust.
Donis-González’s team created a stockpile of almonds on an A-frame structure and used a fan to properly dry them—an inexpensive, resourceful way to dehydrate the almonds outside of the orchard ground.
“Everything we do ties into the overarching concept of sustainability,” he explained. “We focus on ecologically and economically sustainable solutions that cost less for farmers and utilize less resources.”
“In certain instances, depending on where you are in the world, you can almost lose or waste up to 50 percent of the products grown, so we want to reduce that whenever possible,” he said.
Donis-González also noted the importance of students, who are often the backbone of the research happening across the university.
“I’ve learned so much from my students,” he said. “They go on to become the next leaders in agriculture, and investing in our research and students is also an investment in our future.”
Students, like faculty, come from all over the world to learn and contribute to the agricultural innovation at UC Davis.
“Being part of the faculty here is very humbling because we are surrounded by open-minded people who embrace that for us to move forward as a global population, we must have a multidisciplinary, multicultural mindset,” Donis-González said.
As we look forward, we look to you. Your partnership will help UC Davis strengthen our region as a nexus for ingenuity and forward-looking solutions that create a better world—from defining new artistic genres to reshaping our built environments to support tomorrow’s industries and communities.
