Cannon-GMOclimate-smartcropsalonesustainsmall-scalefarming?

JanW.LowPrincipalScientistInternationalPotatoCenter8November2017Bonn,Germany

TheQuickAnswer:

No!Cropsmustbeincombinationwithgoodsoilfertilitymanagement(accesstoorganicandinorganicnutrientsupplies),betterwatermanagementandsmall-scalefarmersmusthaveanenabling

environmentthatprovidesthemaccesstoknowledgeandmarkets.

Toadapttoclimate-change,weneedto:§ Producemoreadaptedcropsfasterattimesundertougher

environments…§ Produce morewithlesswater…

It’snotjustaboutyield,it’saboutquality…

Focus:Whatdoesthismeanforbreeding?

v Downscaleclimatechangemodels&cropmodellingtodriversofyield&qualityloss

Breedingprogramsneed:§ Newmethods…§ Considerableresources..becausebreedingisanumbers

game..§ Cheaperandfastertoolstoassessprogress…§ Betterunderstandingofthecrop

§ Genome§ Physiology&Biochemistry

1. Climatechangewillincreasefoodprices2. Increasingfoodpricesworsensextremepoverty3. PercapitademandforrootsandtubersinSSAsignificantlyhigherthancerealsin

20504. Technologicalchangeinrootsandtubersessentialtodampenfoodprice

increasesandriskofhungerunderany climatechangescenario

World Bank 2016

Cassava Potato Sweetpotato Yam Other R&T

Focus:Roots&tubersinthecontextofclimatechange?

InSSA,>95%ofsweetpotato&potatoaregrownonsmallfarms..FastestinareaexpansioninSSAbecauseofhighenergyoutputperunitareaperunittime..

Sweetpotato(194MJ/ha/day)vsmaize(145MJ/ha/day)

Breedingforsmall-farms§ Yieldandpestanddiseaseresistance…especiallyviruses

§ Virusresistantvarietiesenablefarmerstoretainclonallypropagatedseedlongerwithoutyielddecline

§ Pestresistantvarieties– declineinpesticideuse§ Forsweetpotato,conducttrialswithoutfertilizer

becausefarmersdonotusefertilizer§ Droughtandheattolerance§ Highnutrientquality

§ Sweetpotato:addressvitaminAdeficiencyproblems§ Iron&Zincinpotato;Feinorange-fleshedsweetpotato

§ Goodtasteandmarketdemand

Improvedmethods&toolsled todroughttolerantorange-fleshedsweetpotatoes inMozambique§ Droughtiscomplex

§ Abilitytosproutafterdryseason§ Vinevigor§ Adequateyieldundergoodconditions

§ Forqualitytraits,NearInfraredSpectrometer(NIRS)permittedfastthroughput(2minutespersample)atareasonablecost.§ Providesprotein,drymatter,sugars§ Beta-carotene,Ca,roughFe&Zn

§ Acceleratedbreedingscheme§ Moresitesearlier§ Reducedcyclefrom8to4years§ 15releasedin2011;7morein2016§ Farmerinvolvement§ Geneticgain:0.3tons/ha/year

Improvedvinevigor (onright) criticaltraitindroughtbreedingprogram

Andradeetal.2016,JournalofAgriculturalScience1-11.

Ourexperiencewithbiofortifiedorange-fleshedsweetpotatoinSSA§ Neglectedcropbecauseconsideredascropof

thepoor,awoman’scrop§ Introducedmaterialsusuallyverysusceptibleto

EastAfricanviruses§ AdultsinSSAhavestrongpreferenceforhighdry

matter§ RecognizedtheneedtoBreedinAfricaforAfrica§ 2SSAcountriesbreedingin2005

§ 13countriesbreedingin2017§ 3CIP-ledpopulationdevelopmentprograms

§ Focusonearlymaturingvarieties§ 40of71releasedsince2009mature<4mo

Lowetal.,2017,GlobalFoodSecurity14:23-30

Nopoint inbreeding ifdoesnotreachfarmers:§ LaunchedSweetpotatoforProfitandHealthInitiative§ 4.2millionhouseholds reachedbySeptember2017

SSABreedersinfrontofcrossingblock

TheAndesisthehomeofthepotato&amicrocosmforstudyingclimatechange…§ Centerofpotatodiversity

§ Morethan4,000varietiesandlandracescanbefound

§ Localfarmersconservingthroughcultivatingaround3,000landraces

§ Warmingtrendsince1950,3timestheglobalrate

§ Studyingchangesalongthealtitudegradient§ Highertemperaturesinareaslocatedinhigherlatitudeswillleadto

longergrowingseasonsandhigheryields,butalsoincreasedpestandpathogenpressure

§ Potatoproductionmovinghighertoavoiddiseaseproblems§ Qualityalsoaffected:Lowerdrymattercontentwithincreasingheat..§ Breedingforheattolerance

Globallybreedingforearlymaturingpotato..-- Cereal-potatointercrops-- Many90day,pushingfor70day

LD-33.100

LD-80.78

0

10

20

30

40

50

tn/ha

Clones

UNICAREICHE

REVOLUCION

LD-33.58LD-22.58

LD-92.42

LD-88.104LD-16.72

LD-19.90

Evaluation of yield (San Ramon, harvest at 70 dap)

Clones

Yiel

d (t/

Ha)

LateBlightisadifficultdiseasechallenge…thatisexpectedtoworseninpartsofSSA• LBseverity- current

• LBseverity- 2090 Legend

Ethiopia:increaseinfrequencyoffungicideapplicationfromonceamonth toonceaweek

BreedingApproach:StackthreedifferentresistantRgenesinVictoriavarietyPromising resultsinconfined field trialsinUganda

Moderntoolboxisexpanding…Newgeneeditingtechniquesmoveawayfromneedingforeignorganismstointroducetraits

CalledCRISPR/CasSystem§ Precisesearching..&editing§ Canremove“junk”§ Shutspecificgenesoff§ Introducegeneticchanges§ Cantargetmanygenesatonce§ Much,muchcheaper

§ Morepublic sectorresearch§ Fasteroutcomes§ Hopefully, morepro-poor

outcomes

CRISPR(clustered, regularlyinterspaced,short,palindromic repeats)/Cas(CRISPR-associated)systems(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnYppmstxIs)

Manythanksforyourattention

Tolearnmore:www.sweetpotatoknowledge.orgCipotato.org