The Land Institute
The Land Institute is an American nonprofit research, education, and policy organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture, based in Salina, Kansas. Their goal is to develop an agricultural system based on perennial crops that "has the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops".[3]
Formation
1 August 1976[1]
Wes Jackson, Dana Jackson
Nonprofit organization
48-0842156
Agricultural and social research
Salina, Kansas
- 2440 E. Water Well Road, Salina, Kansas 67401[2]
Rachel Stroer
Tim Crews
Amy Cole
Tracie Thomas
Chairperson of the Board
Julia Ollmsted
$6 million USD
$6 million USD
50
History[edit]
The institute was founded on 11 hectares (28 acres) in 1976 by plant geneticist and MacArthur "genius grant" recipient Wes Jackson along with Dana Jackson, who has worked with the Land Stewardship Project in Minnesota.[1][4][5]
The Land Institute promotes "natural systems agriculture" through plant breeding.[6] Using selective breeding and other techniques, they are working to domesticate wild perennials.[7] The organization's concept of developing perennial crops is modeled after the ecological design of prairies, which are known for their soil quality, deep root systems, and self-sufficiency.[6][8][9] In an interview, Wes Jackson called the concept "an inversion of industrial agriculture."[6] Perennial polyculture systems may have a variety of benefits over conventional annual monocultures such as increased biodiversity, reduced soil erosion, and reduced inputs of irrigation, fossil fuels, fertilizers, and pesticides.[10][11] Perennial crops also show promise in root-based carbon sequestration.[12][13][14] The organization's achievement of productive and genetically stable perennial crop plants for use by farmers is expected to take several decades.[15][8] Critics note the future economic challenge in profitably harvesting perennial polyculture.[11]
Since 1979, The Land Institute has annually hosted its Prairie Festival, which includes lectures, art displays, tours, and music performances.[16][17]
Appearances in published works[edit]
The Land Institute's work was featured in Michael Pollan's New York Times best-seller The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.[26][27] The general modus operandi of developing a sustainable, high yield, low labor, agricultural model based on the culturation of crop polycultures, developed by The Land Institute forms the substance of the chapter "How Will We Feed Ourselves?" in Janine Benyus's book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.[28]