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Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal Evolutionary plant breeding as a response to the complexity of climate change

Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal

Ceccarelli S, Grando S
2020
iScience. 23 (12): 101815

Climate change is one of the processes that have already overstepped the safe planetary boundaries, together with the rate of biodiversity loss and human interference with the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. The three processes are related to agriculture and, as such, to both food safety and food security, and ultimately to human health. Adaptation to climate change is a difficult breeding objective because of its complexity, its unpredictability, and its location specificity. However, one strategy exists, which is based on a more dynamic use of agrobiodiversity in agriculture through the cultivation of evolutionary populations. In this review, we show how the translation into agricultural practice of nearly 100 years of research on evolutionary populations and mixtures is able to address the complexity of climate change while stabilizing yield, decreasing the use of most agrochemicals, thus reducing emissions and producing healthy food.

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Resource Description

    General Exposure, Food Quality, Food Security
    • General Exposure, Food Quality, Food Security: Nutritional quality
    • General Exposure, Food Quality, Food Security: Crop/Plant Food Security
    Global or Unspecified Location
    Malnutrition, Other Health Impact, Specify
    • Malnutrition, Other Health Impact, Specify: Microbiota Diversity
    Review Article
    Adaptation, Mitigation
    • Adaptation, Mitigation : Adaptation Co-Benefit/Co-Harm
    • Adaptation, Mitigation : Mitigation Co-Benefit/Co-Harm
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