FAO: Traditional Crops Need Protection from Climate ChangeThere is urgent need to protect traditional food crops and other plant varieties worldwide from climate change and other environmental stresses. Countries need to develop specific policies to conserve and make wider use of plant varieties. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf made this call during the tenth anniversary of the international treaty to protect and share plant genetic resources. "The conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are key to ensuring that the world will produce enough food to feed its growing population in the future," Diouf said. He mentioned that the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is an important tool for adapting agriculture to climate change. Its Benefit-sharing Fund supports farmers and breeders in 21 developing countries to adapt key crops to the new conditions brought on by climate change, floods, droughts, plant pests, plant diseases and other factors. View the FAO release at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/94530/icode/.
This article is part of the Crop Biotech Update, a weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA) View Crop Biotech Update (
November 18, 2011
) Newsletter |
