When going gets tough, crops that get growing

Millions of gene banks in the world will benefit from a new grant from the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

The money will support research in biodiversity, which is critical to safeguard food production against the ravages of climate change. Some 1,500 seed samples are in gene banks.

Among the beneficiaries is a venture in Southeast Asia and the Pacific against banana streak virus, which could become more problematic with climate change.

Also to benefit is a search for maize traits that are tolerant to heat and drought in Chilean collections; and a project in India to find pearl millet that can withstand high temperatures.

Then, also, is a project to increase the ability of maize to cope with erratic rains while increasing its nutritional quality. This project will benefit small-scale, marginal farms in sub-Saharan Africa.

Working together with the Trust will be the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity (GIPB).

“We want to support scientists to probe crop gene banks for natural traits that will allow farm production to stay one step ahead of climate change,” said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Trust.

“The data is clear that rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns and new infestations are on the horizon. We need to look to our crop gene banks for traits that will help us avoid a crisis.”

Scientists predict that by the end of the 21st century, growing seasons in the tropics and sub-tropics will be hotter than what are now considered extreme temperatures.

New data also shows drier conditions in many regions.

But there is widespread concern, particularly in the developing world, that plant breeding efforts are not moving fast enough.

The Trust, in partnership with the UN Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is supporting work to probe crop collections for critical traits such as drought and heat tolerance.

GCP is funding scientists to use molecular mapping technology to identify the “DNA fingerprint” of crop samples. The GIPB is supporting efforts by plant breeders to use such information to breed new, high-yielding varieties.

“It’s not enough to identify the trait,” says Humberto Gómez, Co-ordinator of GCP’s Genotyping Support Service. “To produce a viable crop variety, one has to conduct molecular analysis, and then the breeding work. This work can take up to 10 years.”

“These efforts will increase our readiness for climate change,” said Elcio Guimaraes of GIPB.

The grants cover projects initiated by scientists in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.

Scientists in Portugal and Angola are jointly investigating the ability of 100 samples of native or “landrace” wheat varieties and 15 modern varieties to withstand high temperature and drought.

In India, scientists are exploring a collection of pearl millet.

And scientists based in the United States are analysing sorghum germ plasm maintained by the India-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics for resistance to multiple diseases.

The work is being carried out by researchers based in Texas, where sorghum production generates $1 billion annually.

The African Centre for Crop Improvement will build on previous advances on maize, by adding in drought tolerance.

In the Philippines, the Institute of Plant Breeding will widen the genetic base available for improving bananas.

It will search among wild relatives of the crop for ways to eliminate the effects of viruses.