New project supports wheat conservation and genetic diversity
Wednesday, 2017/08/09 | 08:07:23
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CGIAR, Alexei Morgounov / August 4, 2017 ANKARA, Turkey (CIMMYT) – Farmers across Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey are benefiting from a recently launched project that aims to diversify wheat production and strengthen the crop’s resilience to climate change across the three countries.
The Wheat Landraces project was launched in early 2016 in support of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), an agreement ratified by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2001 that aims to achieve food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world’s plant genetic resources.
Figure: Community farmers in Konya province, Turkey, discuss the importance of on-farm genetic diversity with Beyhan Akin, CIMMYT wheat breeder (far right) during a visit in July. Photo: A.Morgunov/CIMMYT
By establishing a global system where farmers, plant breeders and scientists can access and contribute plant genetic materials, the Treaty makes improved, nutritious crops with traits resistant to drought, pests and other stresses easily available to participating countries.
Ensuring the participation of farmers and protection of landraces – traditional, locally-adapted varieties that are rich in diversity – is key to ITPGRFA’s success. Small farms in remote mountain areas of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey primarily plant wheat landraces due to their ability to provide stable yields and produce high quality food products.
However, farmers in these areas are also extremely vulnerable to climate change effects like changing rainfall patterns, drought and heat. Coupled with an inability to maintain and improve landraces and a growing expansion of modern varieties, these landraces are disappearing at an alarming rate reducing crucially important on-farm wheat diversity. … See more: http://www.cimmyt.org/new-project-supports-wheat-conservation-and-genetic-diversity/ |
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