Genetic resources have a fundamental role to play in feeding the world, especially to advance climate change more rapidly than expected, warns recent FAO publication.
According to a new study published by the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), much remains to be done to study, conserve and use biodiversity that underpins global food production.
“Time is not on our side , ” says the publication: Confronting Climate Change: the role of resources genetic resources for food and agriculture. This emphasizes that “in the coming decades, millions of people whose livelihoods and food security depend on agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, forestry and livestock may face unprecedented weather conditions”.
The publication can be downloaded by clicking the following link: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3866e.pdf
The FAO reports that will be needed crops, livestock, forest trees and aquatic organisms can survive and produce in a changing climate, ability to be a direct result of their genetic diversity.
However, the study argues for greater efforts to study and use diversity as a survival mechanism, and support policies that are required.
“In a world with higher temperatures and more variable and severe weather, plants and animals for food must have the biological capacity to adapt more quickly than before,” said Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director General of FAO in a press release issued by the agency.
” To prevent further loss of resources she added agricultural genetic and pay more attention to study its potential will increase the ability of humankind to adapt to climate change , ” said Semedo.
For FAO , this adaptive approach will require updating the objectives of agricultural improvement programs and in some cases the introduction of varieties, breeds, species that have not been used before.
In addition, “urgently” improvements in conservation programs in the field (in situ) and elsewhere (ex-situ) of domestic species, wild relatives and others are necessary resourcesimportant wild genetic resources for food and agriculture along with policies that promote sustainable use.
Also of great importance to develop knowledge about resources genetic resources for food and agriculture: where they are, what their characteristics (eg resistance to drought or disease) and how they can be managed better, according to the study.
According to the reports, it is key to improve the knowledge, conservation and use of wild relatives of crops, “which are likely to have genetic traits that can be used to develop well adapted for use in food systems affected crops for climate change “appropriated the entity.
“We need to strengthen the role of genetic resources and help farmers, fishermen and foresters to addressing climate change , ” said Linda Collette, senior editor of the volume and Secretary of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture FAO, in the press release.
FAO reported that many varieties and breeds of crops and livestock -as well as locally adapted trees, fish, insects and microorganisms – are poorly documented and may be lost before their possible roles are recognized in adaptation to climate change .
“Efforts should be made to avoid practices that destroy the biodiversity or undermine the health of ecosystems farm. For example, the use of broad – spectrum insecticides that have negative effects on pollinating insects , “he said.
Help survive the evolution
FAO stresses that promote conservation of genetic diversity on farms and fields is as important as the maintenance of gene banks. Many forms of life used in agriculture have no equivalent in seeds and can only be maintained through human intervention.
An example is the banana a food base for millions of people. In addition, in situ conservation (including wild relatives of crops) it is a way to “allow further evolution” and continue generating achieve adaptive traits.
The company said in situ conservation can take many forms, but the close involvement of farmers is particularly effective, especially because it is increasingly clear that the consequences of climate change should be considered at the local level, plus level overall or regional.
For example, Ethiopia, where many microclimates, has an advanced program and decentralized based on banks Community seeds and germplasm through which farmers and researchers work together to test, adopt and preserve local varieties of major crops -barley, chickpea, sorghum and habas- who were about to be lost during the drought of the 1980s.
Research work never ends
According to FAO, knowledge on agricultural genetic resources needs to increase more rapidly, especially in less studied sectors such as forests , where fewer than 500 species of trees (a total of over 80 000) have been studied in depth. “The gaps in knowledge of invertebrates and microorganisms are even greater , ” he explained the agency.
Although often vilified as agents of diseases in crops and livestock, microorganisms provide a variety of functions, such as protecting plants against pests, drought, cold and salinity.
Meanwhile, appropriate genetic inventories intended to provide an “identity” to the currently stored in seed banks and other centers of ex-situ conservation in order to access the positive adaptive traits that may be necessary genetic heritage are needed.
“Faced with the effects of climate change is now more important than ever to exchange and share more agricultural genetic resources. There are local and national fairs seeds, but will have to expand and internationalize as climate change accelerates, “FAO said.
Genetic resources and the time factor
The international organization reported that one of the aspects of climate change with a direct impact on genetic diversity has to do with changes in biological time pressure.
For example, in the patterns of pollination it causes great concern, since insects are very sensitive to temperature and can not always synchronized with the times of flowering. In addition, increased temperatures may also favor species that can adapt to short generational cycles.
At the same time, it is estimated that an increase of 2 ° C in temperature allow insects complete up to five additional life cycles per season , according to the FAO study, which also notes that pathogens capable of shortening their cycles playback will be able likely to evolve faster and pose greater potential challenges to diverse organisms and ecosystems .
In wooded areas, invasive species could react more quickly to changing conditions, displacing existing types of trees.
A recent study using Arabidopsis thaliana, a weedy with mustard and the first plant to have its genome sequenced, showed how the seeds stored in banks can also help to understand that climate change is progressing faster than expected: variants of the plant obtained in Spain performed better in Finland than seeds originally they came from the Scandinavian country.
