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Re-orienting Crop Improvement for the Changing Climatic Conditions of the 21st Century

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Title Re-orienting Crop Improvement for the Changing Climatic Conditions of the 21st Century
 
Creator Mba, Chikelu
Guimaraes, Elcio Perpétuo
Ghosh, Kakoli
 
Description A 70% increase in food production is required over the next four decades to feed an ever-increasing population. The inherent difficulties in achieving this unprecedented increase are exacerbated by the yield-depressing consequences of climate change and variations and by the pressures on food supply by other competing demographic and socioeconomic demands. With the dwindling or stagnant agricultural land and water resources, the sought-after increases will therefore be attained mainly through the enhancement of crop productivity under eco-efficient crop production systems. Smart crop varieties that yield more with fewer inputs will be pivotal to success. Plant breeding must be re-oriented in order to generate these smart crop varieties. This paper highlights some of the scientific and technological tools that ought to be the staple of all breeding programs. We also make the case that plant breeding must be enabled by adequate policies, including those that spur innovation and investments. To arrest and reverse the worrisome trend of declining capacities for crop improvement, a new generation of plant breeders must also be trained. Equally important, winning partnerships, including public-private sector synergies, are needed for 21st century plant breeding to bear fruits. We also urge the adoption of the continuum approach to the management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture as means to improved cohesion of the components of its value chain. Compellingly also, the National Agricultural Research and Extension System of developing countries require comprehensive overhauling and strengthening as crop improvement and other interventions require a sustained platform to be effective. The development of a suite of actionable policy interventions to be packaged for assisting countries in developing result-oriented breeding programs is also called for.
 
Date 2012
2014-10-02T08:33:08Z
2014-10-02T08:33:08Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Mba, Chikelu; Guimaraes, Elcio Perpétuo; Ghosh, Kakoli. 2012. Re-orienting Crop Improvement for the Changing Climatic Conditions of the 21st Century . Agriculture and Food Security 1:7.
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/44037
https://www.agricultureandfoodsecurity.com/content/pdf/2048-7010-1-7.pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights Open Access
 
Source Agriculture and Food Security