Language
Country/Area
No result found
Agriculture's Hidden Weapon: How Wild Relatives Can Save Our Crops?
As the challenge of global climate change becomes increasingly severe, agriculture faces unprecedented threats. However, scientists and agriculturists are beginning to reclaim the resources of their wild relatives, bringing hope and change to our crops. These plants from nature are closely related to familiar crops and possess many untapped characteristics that could play a key role in future food security.
"Wild relatives are an important resource for improving agricultural productivity and maintaining sustainable agro-ecosystems."
Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) refer to wild plants that are closely related to domestic crops. As a result of natural selection, these plants have accumulated a wealth of useful traits that can be introduced into crops through hybridization techniques. Russian botanist Nikolai Vavilov first recognized the importance of wild relatives in the early 20th century and discovered that humans could improve the quality and yield of crops through their genes.
For example, in Mexico, wild corn (Zea mexicana) is often grown alongside cultivated corn to promote natural mating and increase yields. With the advancement of modern breeding technology, scientists have successfully introduced many CWR genes into crops such as rice, tomatoes, and cereal beans. These genes can enhance crop disease resistance, stress resistance, and nutritional value.
"Most major modern crop varieties contain genes from their wild relatives."
However, natural populations of these wild relatives are facing increasing threats. Habitat loss, deforestation, overgrazing and the rise of industrial agriculture are destroying CWR habitats. According to the latest research, 29% of wild relative plant species were completely missing from global gene banks in 2016, making further collection and preservation an important task at present.
CWR protection strategies usually consider two methods: in situ and ex situ protection. These two methods are complementary means of CWR protection, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In-situ protection can support the natural evolution of CWR in the wild, but cannot protect its genes from threats; ex-situ protection can protect genes, but may limit its ability to adapt to new environmental challenges.
For example, scientists have found genes in wild relatives of cereals such as oats and wheat that can improve drought and disease resistance, which is crucial to combating the effects of climate change. In addition, many vegetables and fruits also have wild relatives, such as Solanum chilense, a wild relative of tomatoes, which contribute to the nutritional value of the fruit.
"Effective protection and utilization of CWR is an important element in improving food security."
From an overall ecosystem perspective, CWR is not only crucial to crop prosperity but also a key part of maintaining ecological health. Their conservation and sustainable use are indispensable for improving agricultural production, increasing food security and protecting the environment. Efforts to conserve these plants include both efforts in the field and refrigeration and documentation in gene banks.
In addition, countries and international organizations are also actively cooperating to share and protect germplasm resources. For example, the European CWR Diversity Assessment and Conservation Forum is a platform established to promote this work and aims to increase awareness and actions for CWR conservation.
As humans pay more attention to our wild relatives, we may be better able to cope with future challenges. Maybe you are also thinking, how can we make better use of these natural resources to further solve the problem of global food crisis?
