PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 6:26 PM by Tevita

Rare crops seen as key to food crisis

From : NZ Herald

Monday Mar 02, 2009
Richard Gray

Rare crops found in the Pacific islands and former British colonies should be grown in much larger quantities to help the world avoid food shortages, a leading expert on plants has warned.

Professor Stephen Hopper, director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in London, said people needed to start eating rare crops like breadfruit, cowpea and Bambara groundnut.

He said cultivating species such as breadfruit, grown on trees native to the South Pacific islands, and bulrush, whose roots were a popular carbohydrate among indigenous Australian aborigines, could also help preserve biodiversity.

He argued that the world was too reliant on a handful of key species of edible plants for food, warning that the combined threat of disease, climate change and lack of diversity in commercial crops had left the dozen staple species that provide the bulk of the global food supply - such as wheat, maize and barley - increasingly vulnerable.

Professor Hopper predicted that crops such as breadfruit, a fruit grown in British colonies in the 18th century as a cheap foodstuff for slaves, Barbados cherries, Bambara groundnuts, cowpeas and pigeon peas were among the crops that had potential to become future staples.

Famine has become an ever more frequent condition facing the world, particularly in heavily populated but marginal desertifying lands most susceptible to global warming.

"Food shortages are inevitable in such circumstances and will be exacerbated as the human population increases globally.

"The world is currently fed primarily from just a dozen species - around 80 per cent of the world's food comes from those few plants used in commercial agriculture. Yet there are more than 30,000 edible plants known on the planet, so it is baffling we are so reliant on so few species.

"Diversifying the range of crop species is a sensible approach and could ensure food is available from alternative crops should staples fail in any given season."

Professor Hopper spoke out after giving a speech about biodiversity to business and government officials at the 2009 Sustainability Summit organised by the Economist magazine in London in February.

He said industrialised agriculture mass produced crops such as wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats and potatoes, which were the main staple forms of food around the world, at the expense of other types of plants that were cleared to make way for these crops.

As global temperatures increase, many areas that grow these crops will become unable to sustain them. Low genetic diversity in these staple food crops through generations of breeding has left them vulnerable to disease and pests.



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This weblog documents the activities of Pacific Agricultural Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN), along with other information on plant genetic resources (PGR) in the Pacific. The myriad varieties found within cultivated plants are fundamental to the present and future productivity of agriculture. PAPGREN, which is coordinated by the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), helps Pacific countries and territories to conserve their crop genetic diversity sustainably, with technical assistance from the Bioversity International (BI) and support from NZAID and ACIAR. SPC also hosts the Centre of Pacific Crops and Trees (CEPaCT). The CEPaCT maintains regional in vitro collections of crops important to the Pacific and carries out research on tissue culture technology. The CEPaCT Adviser is Dr Mary Taylor (MaryT@spc.int), the CEPaCT Curator is Ms Valerie Tuia (ValerieT@spc.int). 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DIVA-GIS	Monday, March 02, 2009 Posted 6:26 PM by Tevita Rare crops seen as key to food crisis From : NZ Herald Monday Mar 02, 2009 Richard Gray Rare crops found in the Pacific islands and former British colonies should be grown in much larger quantities to help the world avoid food shortages, a leading expert on plants has warned. Professor Stephen Hopper, director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in London, said people needed to start eating rare crops like breadfruit, cowpea and Bambara groundnut. He said cultivating species such as breadfruit, grown on trees native to the South Pacific islands, and bulrush, whose roots were a popular carbohydrate among indigenous Australian aborigines, could also help preserve biodiversity. He argued that the world was too reliant on a handful of key species of edible plants for food, warning that the combined threat of disease, climate change and lack of diversity in commercial crops had left the dozen staple species that provide the bulk of the global food supply - such as wheat, maize and barley - increasingly vulnerable. Professor Hopper predicted that crops such as breadfruit, a fruit grown in British colonies in the 18th century as a cheap foodstuff for slaves, Barbados cherries, Bambara groundnuts, cowpeas and pigeon peas were among the crops that had potential to become future staples. Famine has become an ever more frequent condition facing the world, particularly in heavily populated but marginal desertifying lands most susceptible to global warming. "Food shortages are inevitable in such circumstances and will be exacerbated as the human population increases globally. "The world is currently fed primarily from just a dozen species - around 80 per cent of the world's food comes from those few plants used in commercial agriculture. Yet there are more than 30,000 edible plants known on the planet, so it is baffling we are so reliant on so few species. "Diversifying the range of crop species is a sensible approach and could ensure food is available from alternative crops should staples fail in any given season." Professor Hopper spoke out after giving a speech about biodiversity to business and government officials at the 2009 Sustainability Summit organised by the Economist magazine in London in February. He said industrialised agriculture mass produced crops such as wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats and potatoes, which were the main staple forms of food around the world, at the expense of other types of plants that were cleared to make way for these crops. As global temperatures increase, many areas that grow these crops will become unable to sustain them. Low genetic diversity in these staple food crops through generations of breeding has left them vulnerable to disease and pests. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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