Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture
Despite the dramatic increase in food production thanks to the Green Revolution, hunger is increasing among human populations around the world, affecting one in nine people. The negative environmental and social consequences of industrial monocrop agriculture is becoming evident, particularly in the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/15/2038 |
| _version_ | 1827601858772860928 |
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| author | Ranjith Pathirana Francesco Carimi |
| author_facet | Ranjith Pathirana Francesco Carimi |
| author_sort | Ranjith Pathirana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the dramatic increase in food production thanks to the Green Revolution, hunger is increasing among human populations around the world, affecting one in nine people. The negative environmental and social consequences of industrial monocrop agriculture is becoming evident, particularly in the contexts of greenhouse gas emissions and the increased frequency and impact of zoonotic disease emergence, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Human activity has altered 70–75% of the ice-free Earth’s surface, squeezing nature and wildlife into a corner. To prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, the UN has launched a Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. In this context, this review describes the origin and diversity of cultivated species, the impact of modern agriculture and other human activities on plant genetic resources, and approaches to conserve and use them to increase food diversity and production with specific examples of the use of crop wild relatives for breeding climate-resilient cultivars that require less chemical and mechanical input. The need to better coordinate in situ conservation efforts with increased funding has been highlighted. We emphasise the need to strengthen the genebank infrastructure, enabling the use of modern biotechnological tools to help in genotyping and characterising accessions plus advanced ex situ conservation methods, identifying gaps in collections, developing core collections, and linking data with international databases. Crop and variety diversification and minimising tillage and other field practices through the development and introduction of herbaceous perennial crops is proposed as an alternative regenerative food system for higher carbon sequestration, sustaining economic benefits for growers, whilst also providing social and environmental benefits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:05:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c7d61bae9d3d431ca0231b1f3e79dcfc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:05:27Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-c7d61bae9d3d431ca0231b1f3e79dcfc2023-12-03T12:55:32ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472022-08-011115203810.3390/plants11152038Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable AgricultureRanjith Pathirana0Francesco Carimi1Plant & Food Research Australia Pty Ltd., Waite Campus Research Precinct—Plant Breeding WT46, University of Adelaide, Waite Rd, Urrbrae, SA 5064, AustraliaIstituto di Bioscienze e BioRisorse (IBBR), C.N.R., Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129 Palermo, ItalyDespite the dramatic increase in food production thanks to the Green Revolution, hunger is increasing among human populations around the world, affecting one in nine people. The negative environmental and social consequences of industrial monocrop agriculture is becoming evident, particularly in the contexts of greenhouse gas emissions and the increased frequency and impact of zoonotic disease emergence, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Human activity has altered 70–75% of the ice-free Earth’s surface, squeezing nature and wildlife into a corner. To prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, the UN has launched a Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. In this context, this review describes the origin and diversity of cultivated species, the impact of modern agriculture and other human activities on plant genetic resources, and approaches to conserve and use them to increase food diversity and production with specific examples of the use of crop wild relatives for breeding climate-resilient cultivars that require less chemical and mechanical input. The need to better coordinate in situ conservation efforts with increased funding has been highlighted. We emphasise the need to strengthen the genebank infrastructure, enabling the use of modern biotechnological tools to help in genotyping and characterising accessions plus advanced ex situ conservation methods, identifying gaps in collections, developing core collections, and linking data with international databases. Crop and variety diversification and minimising tillage and other field practices through the development and introduction of herbaceous perennial crops is proposed as an alternative regenerative food system for higher carbon sequestration, sustaining economic benefits for growers, whilst also providing social and environmental benefits.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/15/2038centres of origincrop wild relativescrop domesticationcryopreservationgenebankconservation |
| spellingShingle | Ranjith Pathirana Francesco Carimi Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture Plants centres of origin crop wild relatives crop domestication cryopreservation genebank conservation |
| title | Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture |
| title_full | Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture |
| title_fullStr | Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture |
| title_short | Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture |
| title_sort | management and utilization of plant genetic resources for a sustainable agriculture |
| topic | centres of origin crop wild relatives crop domestication cryopreservation genebank conservation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/15/2038 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ranjithpathirana managementandutilizationofplantgeneticresourcesforasustainableagriculture AT francescocarimi managementandutilizationofplantgeneticresourcesforasustainableagriculture |