NEXT TALK: Next talk 31st of October, 7pm - Sesonal mood disorders
Cittie Of Yorke, 22 High Holborn, WC1V 6BN
Can science deliver more intensive food production and yet minimise impacts on the environment? 2012/12/18
Ever wondered if there was a solution to the ever-worsening food crisis? Scientists are working hard to come up with brilliant solutions to one of the biggest problems in human history, but there is a trade off between the efficiency of food production and its effect on the environment. Simply, to produce more crops we need to implement strategies to keep the pests away. However, these pests play an important role in the ecosystem and their elimination from the food chain has a serious impact on the environment.
Professor John Pickett is a world-renowned organic chemist who specialised in the so-called semiochemicals. These compounds affect the behaviour of specific insects and serve as an alternative solution to wide-spectrum pesticides. Recent practical successes include a programme for controlling stem borer pests and striga weeds in Africa, where thousands of subsistence farmers have already adopted systems for exploiting the natural product chemicals of certain companion crops. John now holds the first Michael Elliott Distinguished Research Fellowship at Rothamsted. As well as fulfilling this prestigious new role, he continues to lead research into the field of chemical ecology.
