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Redesigning crop varieties to win the race between climate change and food security
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Redesigning crop varieties to win the race between climate change and food security

Kevin V. Pixley, Jill E. Cairns, Santiago Lopez-Ridaura, Chris O. Ojiewo, Maryam Abba Dawud, Inoussa Drabo, Taye Mindaye, Baloua Nebie, Godfrey Asea, Biswanath Das, …
Molecular plant, Vol.16(10), pp.1590-1611
10/02/2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2023.09.003
PMID: 37674314
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Open Access CC BY-NC-ND V4.0
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2023.09.003View
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Abstract

crop breeding cropping systems expert survey Climate Change Food Security Sub-Saharan Africa
Climate change poses daunting challenges to agricultural production and food security. Rising temperatures, shifting weather patterns, and more frequent extreme events have already demonstrated their effects on local, regional, and global agricultural systems. Crop varieties that withstand climate-related stresses and are suitable for cultivation in innovative cropping systems will be crucial to maximize risk avoidance, productivity, and profitability under climate-changed environments. We surveyed 588 expert stakeholders to predict current and novel traits that may be essential for future pearl millet, sorghum, maize, groundnut, cowpea, and common bean varieties, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. We then review the current progress and prospects for breeding three prioritized future-essential traits for each of these crops. Experts predict that most current breeding priorities will remain important, but that rates of genetic gain must increase to keep pace with climate challenges and consumer demands. Importantly, the predicted future-essential traits include innovative breeding targets that must also be prioritized; for example, (1) optimized rhizosphere microbiome, with benefits for P, N, and water use efficiency, (2) optimized performance across or in specific cropping systems, (3) lower nighttime respiration, (4) improved stover quality, and (5) increased early vigor. We further discuss cutting-edge tools and approaches to discover, validate, and incorporate novel genetic diversity from exotic germplasm into breeding populations with unprecedented precision, accuracy, and speed. We conclude that the greatest challenge to developing crop varieties to win the race between climate change and food security might be our innovativeness in defining and boldness to breed for the traits of tomorrow. Stress-tolerant crop varieties for cultivation in innovative cropping systems will be crucial under climate-changed environments. A survey of 588 experts predicted traits that will be essential for pearl millet, sorghum, maize, groundnut, cowpea, and common bean, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This review discusses the status of breeding and novel approaches to use genetic resources for the prioritized traits, and concludes that the greatest challenge to developing varieties to win the race between climate change and food security will be our foresight in defining, and boldness to prioritize breeding for future-essential traits.

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