Make a landmark ‘plant pledge’ to increase biodiversity for the future of humanity

Adri Bom-Lemstra, President of the greenhouse horticulture industry body Glastuinbouw Nederland said: “Flowers and plants are vital for the Dutch economy. But apart from providing food, there’s too little attention given to the many benefits plants bring to our planet.”

Speakers at the Plantum Peptalk event, held in the Hague on 23 May, urged industry, universities, and government to sign a ‘landmark plant pledge’ to become genuine custodians of plants. They argued that the solution to any problem begins with plants. Plants help tackle global challenges. More plants mean more biodiversity, less nitrogen-based pollution, a healthier diet, and more well-being.

Moderator Esther Molenwijk announced Professor of Plant Physiology at Amsterdam University Michel Haring as the first speaker. In his ‘What do we know about plants’-themed mini-lecture, Haring explained that from the 400,000 plant species on Earth, a meagre 1,000 had been brought into cultivation since the domestication of plants first began.

The world has an estimated 50,000 edible plants. Just three of them, rice, maize, and wheat, provide 60 per cent of the world’s food energy intake. Plants, Haring continued, adapt in many ways so that they can survive in different habitats. “So, take care of our plants. Today’s plant breeding is primarily conducted in a traditional context with little focus on root-soil interaction because farmers use fertilisers and pesticides. Resistance breeding and plant breeding driven by a good interaction between the soil microbiome and the plant is a future strategy for reducing crop losses and the dependency on chemical crop protection products.”

Maria Geuze, director of Slow Food Youth Network.

Green (Plant) Deal

Sijas Akkerman, director of Nature and Environment in the province of Noord-Holland, urged his audience to sign a ‘Plant Deal’. Increase biodiversity by using multi-crop systems, alternate season crops and rotation. He also encouraged growing 500.000ha of Lupins instead of maize for cattle. “Lupins can take nitrogen from the air. As a sector, we need to step up and use plant-based products to tackle global challenges,” Akkerman said.

Maria Geuze, director of Slow Food Youth Network, referenced the keynote speaker Haring’s presentation: “Today, 75 per cent of the world’s food originates from only 12 plants. Our Planet Earth cries for diversity and resilient cropping systems. Soil and humans thrive when there’s biodiversity. Food consumption must diversify, with a plant-based diet playing a major role. I would like to invite the Netherlands to tap into the potential of protein innovation and start trialling crops such as beans, peas, and chickpeas as they perfectly fit the global protein transition.”

Rick van de Zedde, project manager of the Netherlands Plant Eco-phenotyping Centre at Wageningen University & Research, said climate change offers opportunities. He recommends Dutch growers grow quinoa because it’s exceptionally nutritious and robust. He explained, “Farmers grew quinoa on the slopes of the Andes mountains more than 7,000 years ago. Since 1990, WUR has been involved in quinoa research using digital phenotyping. It focuses on finding quinoa which can adapt to Dutch circumstances. However, farmers still need to learn how to grow the crop, while consumers must become more acquainted with using it in mealtimes. But the crop grows literally everywhere.”

Adri Bom-Lemstra, President of the greenhouse horticulture industry body Glastuinbouw Nederland said: “Flowers and plants are vital for the Dutch economy. But apart from providing food, there’s too little attention given to the many benefits plants bring to our planet. Trees and plants are the best air conditioning you can imagine. Planting urban trees and creating urban green spaces help reduce high temperatures, improving air quality. Research also found that greenery can improve physical and mental health. Plants improve concentration and productivity among office workers, students, and children. And when you put plants in a medical environment, patients tend to feel better. So, I urge everyone to bring more plants into our life.”

Plant Peep Show

Plantum hosted the Plants Peptalk during the Fascination of Plants Day.

Launched in 2015 as the first-ever global horticultural event, the Fascination of Plants Day celebrates the manifold uses of plants for food, nutritional security, paper, medicine, chemicals, energy, and enjoyable landscapes.

The Fascination of Plants Day is officially on the 18 May. Still, many lectures, open days, conferences, and workshops continue at universities, botanical gardens, museums, schools, public spaces, city centre squares and parks throughout May.

Between 23-24 May, Plantum, the Dutch association for the plant reproduction material sector and co-organiser of the Dutch Fascination of Plants Day, invited visitors to their purpose-built Plant Peep Show in the Anna van Bueren Square in the Dutch city of The Hague. Inside, six small rooms, larger than a traditional phone box, they encouraged the audience to get excited by the wonder of plants. Biologist Charlotte Nederpel was available to answer questions and highlight the importance of plants and plant science. Especially considering climate change, population growth, stressed plants, a global crop protection market in motion, and a new generation interested in plant-based foods.

PLANT FACT ONE	Plants are immortal. Scientists have found a refugee population of seaweed aged around 16,500 years old. There is also a 9,500-year-old Norway spruce. This Picea abies has regenerated new trunks, branches, and roots over millennia, so it is a clonal tree rather than an individual tree of great age – but still very impressive survival.
Sugarcane is considered the most successful plant worldwide because it is used to make sugar and biofuel. Soya beans come second. An estimated 90 per cent of soya beans are grown to produce cattle food. Will this change in the next ten years?	PLANT FACT TWO
PLANT FACT THREE	Many plants bloom in May. Humans relax when they smell the scent of freshly mown grass. However, this odour is a defence mechanism triggered by a chemical released by freshly cut grass – a sign that the plant is unhappy. The pertinent question is if we humans care for the happiness of plants, maybe we should ‘listen’ to them more. Initiatives such as ‘No Mow in May’ are helping to raise awareness and protect pollinator populations. Also, it is a given fact that ‘blooming kerbsides’ make people happier.

This article was first published in the July-August edition of FloraCulture International.