Correcting Bias Against Drylands Can Help Solve Food Crisis

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Director General William Dar warned that policy bias against dryland agriculture may contribute to the global food crisis and worsen the situation of poor farmers. In a policy paper, Dr. Dar pointed out that less than 1 percent of public spending goes to agricultural research, “which is vital to the innovation that is the engine for new livelihood opportunities”. Of that, only a small proportion is invested in dryland agriculture. Dryland agriculture is also struggling against a headwind of policies that are biased in favor of lands with plenty of water. In addition, policies tend to favor urban populations and the familiar cereal grains that they consume: rice, wheat and maize.

“We suspect that the world may come to regret its under-investment in dryland grain crops as climate change kicks in, increasing the need for more robust, drought-hardy crops and crop traits for plant breeding”, Dar said. He also stressed that over-dependence on a few crops creates agro-ecological risks, such as vulnerability to climate change and crop disease epidemics, such as the new Ug99 strain of stem rust currently threatening wheat.

Read the complete article at http://www.icrisat.org/Media/2008/media17.htm