Med truslen om voldsomme klimaændringer, der vil ramme jordbruget, ikke mindst i verdens u-lande, er det et kapløb med tiden at finde nye, bedre og mere modstandsdygtige afgrøder – også gerne som alternativ til de génsplejsede.
JOHANNESBURG, 7 November 2012 (IRIN): As temperatures soar (stiger) and droughts increase in frequency, scientists around the world are working to create food crops tolerant of extreme temperatures – often an expensive and laborious process.
But a cheaper and quicker alternative could be in sight, new research suggests.
Fungi (svampe) and other microbes could enable food crops like maize, wheat and rice to grow in high temperatures and salty soils, and even withstand erratic rainfall, say microbiologists.
They have begun to look at the relationship between plants and micro-organisms for clues (nøgle til forståelse) to their mutual survival through thousands of years of climate change.
Making food crops tolerant to climatic stresses could be as simple as coating (belægge/overtrække) seeds with micro-organisms that can confer (overføre) desired traits (egenskaber).
A matter of urgency
Helping food crops weather climate change is a matter of urgency, said experts from 15 research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research’s (CGIAR) Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
The programme had been asked by the UN to summarize the effects of climate change on 22 of the most important agriculture crops, from staple cereals (grundnæringsmidler indenfor korn) to potatoes, lentils (linser) and commercial fruit crops like bananas.
Time is of the essence, as droughts have already become more frequent and rainfall more erratic in various parts of the world.
By 2050, climate change could cause irrigated wheat yields (afgrøder) in developing countries to fall by 13 percent, says a CGIAR review by senior scientist Philip Thornton.
Irrigated rice yield could fall by as much as 15 percent. In Africa, many farmers of maize could lose 10 to 20 percent of their yields.
Some temperature-tolerant new crops are already being grown in Asia, developed by subjecting grain plants to stresses such as drought conditions, then isolating genes from those that survive.
But this kind of conventional breeding is long-drawn process, often taking 10 to 15 years to develop a successful crop variant. It is widely used because many Asian and African countries do not accept genetically modified (GM) products.
Micro-organisms could provide a faster option.
Microbiomes aid survival
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96727/CLIMATE-CHANGE-Fungi-offer-non-GM-way-to-enhance-food-crops
