Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture: novel materials for adapting to changing environmental conditions

Abstract

Many present crop plants are in danger of failing due to extreme conditions induced by climate change. This along with a rapidly growing world population threatens global food security. In this paper, I provide an overview of different plant genetic resources, of possibilities to broaden their base by including crop wild relative species and other underutilized sources, and of conservation and characterization needs and tools. The increased environmental variability implies that we will need access to an even wider range of plant genetic resources than used today for breeding new crop varieties, which contain useful traits, such as pest and disease resistances and ability to withstand drought or extreme temperatures.