{"id":14479,"date":"2019-04-01T15:01:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T13:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/axfoundation.misc.jishi.se\/projekt\/perenna-grodor-det-flerariga-vetet-kernza"},"modified":"2025-12-16T22:51:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T21:51:38","slug":"perennial-wheat-kernza","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.axfoundation.se\/en\/projects\/perennial-wheat-kernza","title":{"rendered":"Perennial Wheat \u2013 An Agricultural Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \"Perennial\n

Perennial wheat can store more carbon in roots and soil than their annual relatives, which may result in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of climate change.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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The Issue<\/h2>\n
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Crops have been improved through breeding for hundreds of years with such a strong focus on high yields that they have lost properties that now are important for adapting to climate change. This makes the food systems of the future vulnerable. All cereal grains grown today in temperate climates are annual. This means that they are planted and harvested all in one year, and this is repeated the next year. In an annual cropping system, the farmers plow the soil regularly which can lead to nutrient losses, erosion, decreased soil quality, and release of greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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Our Solution<\/h2>\n
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Perennial crops, with the ability to grow year after year without replanting or annual plowing, could make a valuable addition to sustainable agriculture. With their deep and well-developed root systems, present all year round, perennial crops protect the soil from erosion and nutrient leakage. Among the core benefits are also their ability to use the full long growing season for carbon uptake for photosynthesis and growth, and the storage of carbon in roots and soil, which may result in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of climate change.<\/p>\n

The cultivation of perennial cereals is still in an early stage. Therefore, they are not grown on a large scale. For example, the yields are still lower compared to annual crops. To develop the crops and address the challenges, several plant breeding programs are ongoing. At Tors\u00e5ker Farm<\/a>, Axfoundation’s test farm and development center for the sustainable food systems of the future, populations of perennial wheat with significant genetic variation from three different plant breeding programs are currently being tested.<\/p>\n

Perennial wheat at Tors\u00e5ker Farm has been produced by the domestication of a perennial relative to wheat, (Thinopyrum intermedium). The initial work was done by plant breeders at the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania, USA. Since 2003, researchers at The Land Institute in Kansas, led by Dr. Lee DeHaan, have further developed a perennial wheat; Kernza. By choosing the best plants based on for example number of seeds, seed size and other harvest traits, improved populations have been achieved.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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