We need more support in the field of biotechnology in the next 2 decades, to exploit the genetic potential of seed banks
Copenhagen, Denmark (October 3, 2011)-The African leaders call for new tools to address climate change impacts on food production, CGIAR research on climate change, agriculture and food security (CCAFS) has published a series of studies focusing on ' Climate-proofing 'of crops critical for food security in developing countries.
The studies represent different stages of a new book called The crop adaptation to climate change, John Wiley & Sons, which was developed by an international team of global climate change and adaptation strategies for agricultural researchers to provide more than a dozen crops, including potatoes, beans, bananas and cassava, which depend on the billions of people around the world.
The studies describe how climate change could threaten food production and as a specific adaptation strategies that can neutralize or at least significantly reduce. They argue that the investments are urgently needed to identify important genetic traits such as tolerance to drought and pest resistance, which is essential to help farmers adapt to new conditions of growth.
"In these studies, we have assembled the best climate science with the best knowledge of crop improvement to specify how crops are affected and what varieties of plants can be done to avoid or at least mitigate the potentially devastating blows" said Julian Ramirez, a scientist at the British Columbia Centre for Agricultural Research based in Tropical (CIAT) and one of the authors.
Studies show that many of the fundamental characteristics of the farmers have to deal with the hottest, driest, and in some cases, the wet conditions that could live in the seeds is now guaranteed in international gene banks crops. But, the researchers note, which makes use of plant genetic resources, especially in a rich vein features include wild relatives of key crops, requires a better implementation of the cutting edge of biotechnology, including new tools for rapidly developing fields of genomics and transgenics.
"These results provide a solid foundation breeders to establish research priorities for the next two decades, which is about the time needed to develop new generations of crop varieties adapted to changing environments farm," said Bruce Campbell, CCAFS Director.
Studies suggest that the most direct impact on crop yields will come from changes in temperature and precipitation. But they also warn that the indirect effects of climate change may result from the impact of changing pest and disease, although these changes are not always for the worse.
Researchers report that the potato, for example, a staple food for millions of people worldwide are particularly vulnerable to heat stress, reducing growth and the formation of starch. Rising temperatures in southern Africa and tropical highlands in the world can be particularly dangerous. Scientists believe that the development and distribution of heat tolerant varieties of potato can reduce climate-related damage about 65 percent (7.7 million hectares) of crops of potatoes in the world.
Also of concern is the potato tuber moth, which could spread to the north and as high as a result of climate change. But the drier, hotter summers, some areas may discourage the incidence of the worst diseases of potatoes - blight that caused the Irish potato famine in the 19 st century.
Data on the projected impacts of climate change on bananas, beans, cassava and potatoes are available at the site of adaptation has recently launched the Knowledge Network and mitigation (AMKN) (www.amkn. org). This online platform includes a great deal of knowledge from different sources on mitigation and adaptation and associated with the interactive maps. Users can access tools and information such as weather patterns, drought indices, and socioeconomic data on agriculture, farmers with comments on the video and photos of the pilot sites throughout the tropics .
"Until now, all this information is scattered, making it difficult for researchers, policy makers and civil society actors to get a good understanding of the complex interactions between agriculture and climate change," said Andy Jarvis, an agricultural geographer as CIAT also monitors research CCAFS in adapting to climate change. "By making important information free and easily accessible for the first time, AMKN greatly improve our understanding of the threat that climate change is influence food security and ultimately our ability to stop the threat. "
For many cultures, the development of the features needed to tackle climate change promises to be a long and arduous process, new studies suggest. After the cultivation of bananas and potatoes has focused on performance, product quality, and resistance to pests and diseases, while tolerance to drought and heat has received little attention.
Still, scientists are confident that the thousands of samples of traditional varieties and wild relatives of crops held in gene banks can hold a tolerance very different characteristics. Although largely neglected in modern farming crops, traditional varieties and wild relatives of crop plants, could play an important role in helping farmers adapt to climate change, despite the difficulties of crossing the species that are distantly related.
To overcome these obstacles, researchers say they need more detailed information on the characteristics described in the gene banks crops and more support for the deployment of biotechnology tools to collect and use this information.
"This groundbreaking research that considers culture by culture-how climate change will alter the food in the future, opens up new opportunities for research to meet the challenges that farmers face in the world," said Campbell. " But given the speed of change in growing conditions, these windows do not open too long. We must act now to ensure that in the coming decades, farmers have the technologies they need to maintain world food security. "
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