Food insecurity is an increasing problem in many countries today and this is greatly attributed to climate change. From dying plants and crop failure as a result of drought (or flooding) to farmlands with burning temperatures, the effects of the changing climate are felt in the agricultural sector.
This has become a concern for mankind especially in the aspect of food security because they negatively impact traditional agricultural practices in some regions. Unfortunately, these regions, particularly developing countries are already hotspots of food insecurity.
These environmental events have led to less production of food crops which is putting a lot of pressure on the economies of these regions because there isn’t enough produce to export. Climate change will be the final nail on the coffin for them if nothing is done.
Since both problems – climate change and food insecurity – are closely linked, exploring plant science innovations can facilitate sustainable farming practices that will ensure food security and at the same time, protect biodiversity.
By developing crops that are more resilient to the changing and harsh environments, high food productivity will be ensured and the earth’s ecosystem will be preserved because plants play a crucial part in mitigating the increasing levels of greenhouse gases.
Leveraging plant science for climate change mitigation
One of the ways to do this is by making plants more resilient to drought and high temperatures. This can be done by helping plants have more carbon-capturing abilities by either conditioning them to have such traits or choosing the ones with such tendencies. For example, a crop like wheat does so well with heat while tubers can endure in drought-prone areas.
Farmers can better cope with climate change effects when they understand how these plants adapt to their environment and use such knowledge to improve plant tissue culture which can play an important role in breeding those types of crops or even crossbreeding them based on specific traits.
Another way is reforestation which is a sure means of mitigating climate change because plants help the planet in a lot of ways: absorption and storage of carbon dioxide, filtering air and water and preventing landslides during heavy rainfall, etc.
Plant tissue culture can be used to produce reforestation seedlings at a faster rate. This is already being done in some countries. Some plants can serve as a renewable energy source if they are combined with the right kind of technologies to capture and store carbon.
In the UK for example, fast-growing hybrids of the biomass crop “Miscanthus“, are being bred. This is expected to help growers to scale up production for biomass energy production needs.
Finally, food wastage causes greenhouse gas emissions as well as increased food production.
Innovations geared at delaying food greening and ripening will reduce wastage to a greater length and by extension, put less pressure on producing more food and carbon emissions.
There are ongoing researches on technologies that can transform spoiled food into a bioenergy source. If this is fully explored, it would be a cheap way of securing eco-friendly energy and limiting fossil fuel exploration.
Plant science truly plays a role in combating climate change. Combining it with innovation will provide more insightful solutions both now and in the future.