Disease and Climate Resistant Wheat Varieties for the Global South – Global Issues
NAIROBI, Aug 26 (IPS) – Shocking research indicates that wheat’s wild relatives can be transformed into a long-lasting crop capable of preventing people at risk of hunger and starvation, thanks to its ability to withstand climate and disease. Wheat is a staple for more than 1.5 billion people in the Global South.
The review looked at two different studies and found that using different genes from relatives of wild wheat, which provides 20 percent of the world’s calories and protein, could lead to a variety of plants that are resistant to climate and disease. This can ensure global food security.
Research led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center reveals that “long-neglected” wild wheat relatives have the potential to revolutionize wheat breeding, with new varieties that are more resilient to climate change and associated threats, including heat waves, droughts, floods, and droughts. and current pests and diseases.
Relatives of wild wheat, which have endured environmental stress for millions of years, have genes that modern varieties do not have – features that, when combined with common varieties, can make wheat cultivation more feasible in hostile environments, a study published today (August 26) , 2024) explains.
By cultivating drought-resistant wheat, productivity could increase by an estimated USD 11 billion of additional grain annually, say the authors in a review paper titled ‘Wheat genetic resources for disease prevention, improved food security, and reduced environmental footprints: A review of historical impacts and future opportunities.‘ published by the journal Wiley Global Change Biology.
The review suggests that the use of plant genetic resources (PGR) helps to combat various diseases such as wheat rust and protects against diseases that cross species boundaries, such as wheat blast. It offers nutritious varieties and polygenic traits that create climate stability.
The study points to a large, largely untapped pool of nearly 800,000 wheat seed samples stored in 155 gene banks worldwide that include wild varieties and those developed by ancient farmers that have been able to withstand various environmental stresses over the millennia. This is despite the fact that only a fraction of this genetic diversity has been used to breed modern plants.
This discovery, according to Mathew Reynolds, the author, will have a major impact on food security, especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, where many people in need of food live in the world.
“The findings are very promising, as Africa has many new areas for wheat cultivation,” he told IPS..
Based on research findings, significant environmental benefits have been achieved as a result of various scientific efforts that have successfully combined wild genes into modern species.
Studies agree that the use of PGR in wheat breeding has improved the nutrition and health of underserved farmers and consumers in the Global South, where wheat is often more popular in parts of Asia and Africa.
“We’re in a critical situation,” Reynolds said. “Our breeding strategies have worked well for us, but now they must face the difficult challenges posed by climate change.”
He notes that breeding that helps maintain genetic resistance to various diseases improves “yield sustainability” and avoids epidemics of devastating plant diseases that eventually threaten food security for millions.
“Furthermore, post-Green Revolution yield gains are generally achieved with little (in the Global North) and generally no fungicides in the Global South, and without increasing the input of fertilizers or irrigation water, except in some highly productive areas. ,” argues the study.
As a result, there has been an increase in grain yield and millions of hectares of “natural habitat” have been saved from cultivation for grain production. This includes millions of acres of forests and other natural habitats, Reynolds and his colleagues found.
Equally promising are the discovery of other experimental wheat lines that include wild traits that show 20 percent more growth under hot and dry conditions compared to current varieties, and the development of the first plant ever bred to interact with soil microbes that have shown potential. in reducing the production of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas. This enables plants to use nitrogen more efficiently.
“The use of PGR wild relatives, cultivars, and single breeding gene pools has had a significant impact on wheat breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stress while increasing nutritional value, end-use quality, and grain yield,” the review found.
Without the use of PGR-derived disease resistance, fungicide use to combat fungal diseases, a major threat to crops, would easily double, greatly increasing the selection pressure that will come with the need to avoid fungal resistance, the review finds.
Significantly, it is estimated that in wheat, billions of liters of fungicide have been avoided, saving farmers billions that would have gone into the purchase and use of chemicals, it added.
The authors note that as the climate worsens, gene pools for plant breeding will need to be enhanced with new adaptive traits from PGR to survive climate change.
This ‘definitely’ includes stubborn diseases that plague wheat cultivation in tropical regions, such as Ug99, a devastating stem rust fungal disease, which destroys entire crops in Africa and parts of the Middle East, Reynolds said..
Today’s plant breeding, he says, is very concentrated in a small pond famous athletes-superior cultivars that already have high quality and known, predictable genetics.
The genetic diversity of wild wheat relatives, on the other hand, provides complex climate adaptation traits that have been difficult to implement because they are more time-consuming, expensive, and risky than traditional breeding methods used for superior varieties.
“We have the tools to rapidly assess genetic diversity that was previously inaccessible to farmers,” explains Benjamin Kilian, co-author of the review and coordinator of the Crop Trust’s Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) project, which supports conservation and development. use of plant diversity around the world.
Among the tools are next-generation genetic sequencing, big data analysis, and remote sensing technology, including satellite imagery. This allows researchers to constantly test traits such as plant growth rate or disease resistance at an unlimited number of sites around the world.
Although the collection and storage of PGR since the beginning of the 20th century has played an important role, especially in breeding disease-resistant plant varieties, the study concludes that great potential remains untapped.
Since related wild species have survived millions of years of climate variability compared to recent crop species, systematic testing is recommended to identify new and better sources of traits needed not only for wheat but also for other crops, the study advises.
It requires more investment in studying hardy wild species of common plants, taking advantage of widely available, proven and non-controversial technologies that bring more impacts and greater return on investment.
“With new technologies emerging all the time to facilitate their use in plant breeding, PGR should be considered the best bet to achieve climate sustainability, including its biotic and abiotic components,” said the authors.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
