That’s how much farmers have saved this century, through use of disease-resistant wheat varieties. Modern wheat can thank its “wild relatives” �

Wild wheat: The key to food security in a warming world

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2024-10-08 15:00:05

That’s how much farmers have saved this century, through use of disease-resistant wheat varieties. Modern wheat can thank its “wild relatives” — grassy cousins millions of years old and tested through extremes of earth’s climate — for most of its resistance genes.

Despite such remarkable achievements in wheat breeding, we’ve only scratched the surface of the genetic potential in wheat’s wild relatives. With climate change intensifying and the rapid evolution and spread of pathogens — a new strain of fungus can circulate in the jet stream—it’s imperative that we increase investment in researching this largely untapped genetic diversity. Doing so could revolutionize wheat production, ensuring food security while dramatically reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint.

Without such efforts, epidemics or pandemics could devastate yields, potentially leading to massive applications of toxic agrochemicals and increased selection pressure for pests and diseases to develop resistance. The consequences would be far-reaching, impacting not only food security and the environment, but also geopolitical stability, potentially triggering human migration and conflict.