A dozen or so farm workers perched on wooden stools carefully emasculate wheat spikes using nail scissors and tweezers – the first step in a years-long breeding process to develop climate-resilient varieties.
It’s late afternoon, and the farmhands are shaded by wide-brimmed sun hats as they work in an experimental wheat field in northern Mexico, preparing the wheat flowers to be cross-pollinated in a couple of days. For each pollination, both wheat parents have been selected by crop scientists for desirable traits such as fungus resistance, photosynthesis efficiency, and yield.
It’s a quiet scene, but the stakes increase every year as concerns grow that our food system is not ready for the climate crisis.
Scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Sonora are focused on developing wheat varieties which can better cope with drought, rising temperatures and excessive rainfall. In other words, wheat that can thrive under the extreme and unpredictable weather conditions farmers are experiencing globally due to the rapidly warming planet.
“We’re trying to stay ahead of climate change and give farmers everything,” said breeder […]
We do have the ability to grow inside large buildings whish are suited for growing anything under controlled conditions. Although it is not widely used, it may be part of the answer as opposed to growing outside where we cannot control temperature or anything. I, myself have bred a new type of squash combining Trombocino Squash and Butternut Squash which produces huge long-lasting squash which weighs 8-10 pounds each. They store easily in a cold cellar. I still am eating last year’s crop, and the new crop is growing fast. They are very tasty and last a long time because of the hard shell-like covering which comes from the Butternut type. I eat them all the time and they are easy to grow here in Pa. They are very healthy for you also. (Just my small contribution to world hunger) which I hope someone will pick up on.