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 A report released on Tuesday presented the results of a six-year
quest to collect thousands of wild seeds that could play an
important role in feeding a rising global population at a time
when global warming is jeopardizing crop production.
Traveling by foot, four-wheel drive, canoe, horse and even
elephant to reach remote corners of the world, more than 100
scientists secured 4,644 seed samples of 371 wild relatives -
many endangered - of 28 globally important crops.
"The expeditions were not a walk in the park. They were perilous
at times, and physically demanding, with heat, dust, sweat and
danger from wild animals - from blood-sucking leeches to
tigers," said Hannes Dempewolf, senior scientist and the head of
global initiatives at the Crop Trust.
"The stories these seed collectors brought back from the field
often resemble scenes from an Indiana Jones movie.”
The project, managed by the Crop Trust in partnership with the
Royal Botanic Gardens and Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) and
with Norwegian funding, is the most ambitious coordinated global
effort yet to collect and conserve crops' wild relatives.
Scientists that took part in the seed quest came from 25
countries in four continents.
The sturdier cousins of widely grown crops have evolved to
survive harsh conditions such as low rainfall, flooding,
temperature extremes and poor soils, and offer a largely
untapped source of diversity for climate-proofing crops.
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Crops have been threatened by extinction due to rampant
deforestation, climate change, urban sprawl and conflict, and losing
this diversity could endanger global food security.
"Bananas are a great example of a crop that is potentially
threatened because of increasing incidents of disease and we've been
through this before," said project manager Chris Cockel.
"In the post-war period the banana (that) people were familiar with
was virtually wiped out by a disease that is now making inroads
again. So it's important to use the seed material...to breed back in
the lost genetic traits that will help to make bananas more
resistant to that particular disease."
Food supplies are under severe threat, according to a United Nations
report, given the number of animal and plant species fast
disappearing as the world grapples with how to feed a soaring
population.
At the same time people are relying on fewer species for food,
according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, leaving
production susceptible to shocks like pests or disease, droughts and
other extreme weather linked to climate change.
(Reporting by Stuart McDill; Writing by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Mark
Heinrich)
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