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bioRxiv · 10.1101/845214

Biodiversity-based innovations fortify agricultural growth in Asia-Pacific economies

Wyckhuys, K.·Lu, Y.·Zhou, W.·Cock, M. J.·Furlong, M. J.
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Abstract

The Green Revolution (GR) is widely credited with alleviating famine, mitigating poverty and driving aggregate economic growth over the past 6 decades. In Asia, GR technologies secured a tripling of rice output, with one-off germplasm improvements providing benefits beyond US$ 4.3 billion/year. Here, we unveil the magnitude and macro-economic relevance of parallel biodiversity-induced productivity growth in non-rice crops from 1918 to 2018. We empirically demonstrate how biological control (BC) defused invasive pest threats in multiple agricultural commodities, ensuring annually-accruing (on-farm) benefits of US$ 22.6 billion/year. Scientifically-guided BC permitted 73-100% yield-loss recovery in critical food, feed and fiber crops including cassava, banana, breadfruit and coconut. As such, BC promoted rural growth and prosperity even in marginal, poorly-endowed, non-rice environments. By placing agro-ecological innovations on equal footing with input-intensive measures, our work provides lessons for future efforts to mitigate invasive species, restore ecological resilience and sustainably raise output of global agri-food systems.

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Wyckhuys, K., Lu, Y., Zhou, W., Cock, M. J., Furlong, M. J.. 2019-11-16. Biodiversity-based innovations fortify agricultural growth in Asia-Pacific economies. https://doi.org/10.1101/845214

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