Although I am a big fan of fruits such as apples.....not to mention wine..... most of the world is fed through the cultivation of annual crops. This annual bias in agriculture dates back to our very first efforts at domesticating wild plants. Converting a perennial plant into an annual one is one sure pathway to increasing yield. Why do you think that is? However, from a broader sustainability perspective annual agriculture can create some potential problems such as fostering soil erosion and requiring intensive energy inputs. Some have argued that we might be able to create perennial versions of our staple crops that would improve the overall sustainability of agricultural systems. Wes Jackson is probably the undisputed leader of this perennialization movement. Check out this interview with him that just appeared in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/opinion/bittman-now-this-is-natural-food.html?smid=pl-share
The picture above is of Jerry Glover, a prominent crop perennialization researcher. A story about him (with more cool pictures) is here: http://libarts.wsu.edu/nexus/issues/2010/02/jerry-glover.asp
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