In many areas in the world the lack of water parallels the desertification.Is the creation of new drought resistant plants going to solve the problem for the world nutrition or do we have to switch to other kind of cultivar? Alternatively desalinization of see water and its transport on long distance (1000 of Km) could be a solution. Can we avoid massive migration of humans from these areas?
Hi Jean-Pierre Jost,
are you referring to genetically modified or "naturally" more drought-resilient plants? The latter would be preferable to the former, of course. However, I do think that both can play a role in areas of the world experiencing increasingly drier conditions. In terms of terminology, I'd personally prefer to speak of cultivars "more resilient to dry conditions" rather than "drought-resilient" as the latter is probably difficult to achieve... As to your other question: If desalinization of seawater is powered by renewable energies, I think it can play a useful role in certain locales - as part of a diverse mix of methods and techniques of sustainable water management. However, schemes on such a grand scale as you mention are probably not feasible or sustainable in the short- to mid-term. Out-migration is already occurring in different parts of the globe (although usually being driven by an array of forcing mechanisms), so I guess it's a reality we're already witnessing.
Best,
Julius
The selection of the drought and salinity tolerance species Is the best option in the arid areas and the use of genetically modified species will be another expensive direction Compared to desalinization of sea water that is it another option but not all dry area have sea but might have saline Ground water reservoirs
Multiple approach can be recommended; drought resistant varieties, study of the traits of plants responsible to drought resistant and possibly engineering of the genes to different plants to introduce to the areas, see water desalinization, excercise reduced deficit irrigation, etc. can be recommneded.
Dr Riese. Thank you for your constructive comments. I agree with you that the selection of mutants may be preferable to genetically modified plants. In fact we are dealing with a multigene process that would be rather complex to transfer into specific cultivars. As you stated water desalinisation of sea water is to some extent possible for areas close to the sea but more difficult and costly for remote areas. As for the massive migration of humans we have not found yet the adequate solution(s).
Dr. M. Tadros and Dr G. Hailemichael. I appreciate your answers to my question. Thank you very much. Regards
Many thanks for your feedback, Prof. Jost. I would just add to your comments that outside of GM technology and in addition to selective breeding ("artificial selection"), there is also the vast - and as yet largely untapped - potential of using ancient ("traditional") cultivars or varieties which modern-day industrial agriculture has largely discarded. There are already many examples around the globe, in which local communities are reviving the use of such traditional plant varieties (e.g. of rice, but many more, too). As climate and ecozones are shifting in response to global warming, there may also be potential of growing old cultivars in areas or regions that historically were outside their natural range, but may accommodate them now. And finally, let's not forget that there may be (sub)species or varieties out there which we haven't even discovered yet, but which may prove highly adaptable and useful under continued global greenhouse regimes. Yet another reason to act now in the field of conservation - so let us all protect biodiversity whenever and wherever we can!
Prof. Julius Riese:
I absolutely agree with you, we have not finished yet to exploit old varieties of plants that could certainly solve many of our actual problems (drought, resistance to pest and diseases).
Vavilov (1887-1943) argued that plants were not domesticated somewhere in the world at random, but that there were regions where domestication started. The centre of origin is also considered the centre of diversity. Starting a selection of plants from these gene centre in various part of the world, we have mainly focused our interest on the agronomic qualities of the new cultivars and in many cases neglecting certain qualities of plants such as drought resistance or others. It’s time that we go back to these “old” plants and cross them with modern cultivars
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