Biotechnology, Necessary to Climate Proof Crops

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has released a series of studies focused on "climate proofing" crops critical to food security in the developing world. The researchers of the study argue that investments are urgently needed for investigating significant genetic traits such as drought tolerance and pest resistance, which are very critical for helping farmers deal with hotter, dryer, and even wetter conditions. To search further for sources of tolerance traits on the wild relatives of key crops, more intensive application of cutting edge biotechnology is necessary, such as tools from genomics and transgenics.

"This pioneering research, which considers crop-by-crop how climate change will alter food production in the future, opens up new windows of opportunity for research to deal with the challenges that farmers face around the world," said Bruce Campbell, CCAFS director. "But given how rapidly growing conditions are changing, these windows won't be open for long. We must act now to ensure that in the coming decades farmers have the technologies they need to maintain a food-secure world," he added.

Read the complete news article at http://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/press-releases/scientists-eye-adapting-food-crops-climate-change.