SPECIAL FEATURE
Svalbard is the ultimate insurance policy... but its importance goes far beyond climate change.
Sarada Krishnan, Global Crop Diversity Trust, Director of Programs
time because we’re incorporating the good genes and desired traits from wild relatives into cultivated crops. OFQ : What is the return on investment from supporting crop diversity worldwide? SK: It’s actually priceless, because it’s measured in human lives. One example of relying on just one variety or monoculture is the Irish Potato Famine of the mid-19th century, which left millions of people dead and forced millions more to emigrate. That was caused by potato blight and demonstrates exactly why we need to conserve diversity. If we don’t diversify what’s in farmers’ fields, this can happen with pests or diseases, which can wipe out an entire crop. A more recent example came from working with the ICARDA gene bank and other researchers in Morocco, who developed a new variety called durum Jabal wheat, which is incredibly drought tolerant. The parentage came
through a breeding program involving a wild relative of wheat, collected before the war in Syria and then incorporated into cultivated wheat, along with the genes for drought tolerance. When they cultivated this alongside other varieties during the harvests of 2018, 2019 and 2020, there was a drought in the region. Most other varieties failed, but Jabal survived. That gave the farmers the confidence to adopt the variety, which has now been registered in Morocco. It’s a prime example of using the genetic diversity of what you find in gene banks to develop varieties that are more climate-resilient. OFQ : How is the Crop Trust creating and maintaining a strong international framework for crop diversity and food security? SK: We are building capacity wherever we can. We have a quality management specialist who offers workshops to all gene banks, especially national gene banks. We also focus on data
management to ensure proper curation and transparency. That includes what data to collect and how it should be uploaded, so that gene banks know exactly what material is held by other gene banks and can request it as the need arises. Our first priority is to fund the international gene banks, but we are also working with national gene banks to bring them up to common standards, at which point they will qualify for endowment funds. Our goal is to raise US$850 million in our endowment fund, and we have so far raised about US$285 million. A lot of donors want to see direct impact in farmers’ fields, but conservation of genetic diversity is the essential first step. Without conservation there is no possibility of adaptation, and of course no insurance against loss. Conservation is so incredibly important for our agricultural resiliency, and for our future food security.
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