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Perennial cereal crops are often described as a utopian vision for agriculture; crops that don’t need replanting every year, protect soil health, and reduce farming inputs. But are they realistic, scalable, and economically viable?
In this blog, we explore the current state of perennial arable crops, including Kernza, perennial rice, and perennial sorghum, their advantages and limitations, and how they could shape the future of both regenerative agriculture and hydroponic growing systems.
Most of the world’s staple grains; wheat, barley, rice, and maize are annual crops, meaning they must be planted and harvested every year. Perennial cereal crops, by contrast, regrow year after year from the same plant, much like grasslands or prairies.
While still niche, several perennial grains have moved beyond pure research and are now grown commercially at small scales.
The most well-known perennial cereal is Kernza®, a trademarked crop developed from intermediate wheatgrass by the Land Institute in Kansas.
Perennial cereals like Kernza offer several compelling benefits:
In colder climates such as the UK, overwintered root systems could give perennial grains a significant early-season advantage.
Despite these benefits, Kernza yields are significantly lower than annual wheat in many environments. There are also major challenges in:
A single disease outbreak, such as barley yellow dwarf virus, could remain in the crop until the stand is destroyed.
One of the most promising perennial cereals is perennial rice, particularly in parts of China.
By 2020, over 9,000 hectares were planted, increasing to 15,000 hectares by 2021, largely on smallholder farms.
In regions where labour availability is a major constraint, perennial rice could offer transformative benefits.
Perennial sorghum is another exciting area of research, particularly in Uganda and parts of the United States.
Sorghum is:
Perennial sorghum could allow farmers to:
Its main limitation is climate, it lacks winter hardiness in cooler regions like the UK and is better suited to southern US states or Mediterranean climates.
The future of perennial cereals likely depends on advances in plant breeding, gene editing, and CRISPR technology.
Key breeding targets include:
A major question for researchers is whether:
Gene editing, rather than traditional genetic modification, could potentially make small, targeted changes that induce perenniality without introducing foreign DNA.
One of the biggest advantages of perennial grains lies below the surface.
Annual wheat typically produces roots up to 0.5 metres deep, whereas perennial grains like Kernza can develop root systems extending three metres or more.
This delivers:
In perennial systems, investing in soil biology and microbial inoculation suddenly becomes worthwhile.
Surprisingly, perennial cereals may also have a future in controlled-environment agriculture.
Potential advantages include:
In hydroponic systems, a stable perennial grain crop could be harvested repeatedly, much like cut-and-come-again leafy greens; a concept that is still largely unexplored but full of potential.
Perennial cereal crops are not ready to replace annual wheat tomorrow. Yields are lower, agronomy is complex, and breeding is still catching up after centuries of selection in annual crops.
However, with:
Perennial grains may well become an important complement to conventional arable farming, and possibly a breakthrough crop for future hydroponic systems.
The perennial grain revolution is still in its early stages, but momentum is clearly building.
Article by Dr Russell Sharp
If you would like to keep up to date with subjects just like this, you can listen to both our podcasts! Links can be found bellow:
Hydroponics Daily Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hydroponics-daily/id1788172771
Cereal Killers Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cereal-killers/id1695783663