Detection and conservation of wild food crops

(Scientists have just published the most complete data concerning wild plants with relatives with today's popular food crops.

These wild plants have the closest genetic link to the food crop we are using. They grow wild on a large scale and live in different natural environments, which makes them more resilient and adaptable.

However, many of those species live in areas of conflict like the Middle East, leading to the preservation of them becoming more difficult than ever.

The research team from Birmingham University conducted a research project on species of food families and emphasized the 'hot spots' globally - where many different species are concentrated. Here, they are preserved in good security conditions to ensure food for the world in the future.

Farmers will conduct breeding of wild food and popular food crops available for production and to diversify vegetables, fruits, and grains with stronger adaptability. with local climatic conditions.

Leading the research, Dr. Nigel Maxted of the University of Birmingham said: 'Our goal is not only to preserve the plants with wild food families, but also to promote the use of these plants. A variety of hybrids are diverse to develop more diverse crops while being resilient to climate change '.

These wild plants contain useful traits such as adapting to drought or the ability to recover quickly after raging diseases or pests.

Dr Nigel also said: 'We have not had the opportunity to preserve and use these wild food plants on a global scale, because there are still gaps in species identification and their distribution area. Through the implementation of resource inventories, we can discover and locate the richest and richest countries and territories of priority wild food crops, then we have can make cultivation and conservation more effective in these areas'.

According to research groups, urbanization, climate change and conflict in hot spots are the reasons that 12% of all food relatives are threatened with extinction or loss of genetic diversity.

This project, aimed at preserving the genetic information of wild food plants in genetic banks. However, according to Dr. Nigel: "Preserving these species in genetic institutions is very important, but it is also necessary to preserve them in the natural environment so that they continue to adapt to the changes of climate as well as pests and diseases'.

'The world population is at 7.3 billion, and by 2050, this number will increase to 9.6 according to calculations. Therefore, the urgent need to conserve wild food species will have to become an essential part of addressing future world food security issues. '