Breeding Cultivars for Heat Stress Tolerance in Staple Food Crops

Abstract

Food and nutritional security will be worsened by climate change-induced high temperatures, droughts and reduced water availability in most agricultural food crops environments, particularly in developing countries. Recent evidences indicate that countries in the southern hemisphere are more vulnerable to food production due to greater frequency of extreme weather events. These challenges can be addressed by: (i) adoption of climate mitigation tools in agricultural and urban activities; (ii) development of heat and drought tolerant cultivars in major food crops; (iii) bringing back forgoten native minor food crops such as millets and root crops; and (iv) continued investment in agricultural research and development with the strong government policy support on native crops grown by small holder farmers. The native crops have inherent potential and traits to cope with adverse climate during the course of its evolution process. Therefore, diversifying the crops should be a prime framework of the climate-smart agriculture to meet the global food and nutritional security for which policy-driven production changes are highly required in developing countries. The adverse efects of climate change on agricultural production need to be addressed by multidisciplinary team and approaches through strong network of research consortium including private sectors and multinational governments for global impact.