The key to improving agriculture and having more productive crops more quickly adapted to the needs of local farmers in the southern hemisphere is to combine genomics with the knowledge of subsistence farmers: this is indicated by the research coordinated by the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa. and published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
"Combining genomics with approaches that involve subsistence farming communities is the key to more sustainable agriculture," observes Matteo Dell'Acqua, co-author of the study with Carlo Fadda, of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Maccarese (Rome ).
"Traditional breeding and the use of shared and participatory methods, known as 'crowd-sourcing', complement each other -
in enhancing the diversity of local crops ", he continues. Modern genetic improvement" makes it possible to develop high-yielding varieties.
But these varieties - asks Carlo Fadda, of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Maccarese (Rome) - are they really grown by farmers in the South of the world?
What are the characteristics and adaptability of the crops they are looking for? ". Hence the idea of integrating genetic improvement with the knowledge and needs of the growers for whom the varieties are produced, even for those in the southern countries of the world who practice a Subsistence farming. An approach that has been used with excellent results in Ethiopia. When the researchers compared the yield of modern wheat varieties with traditional ones grown by local farmers, they observed a higher yield of the latter, more suitable and resistant to the main diseases affecting local crops. With the method defined 'Seeds4Needs' (ie the right seeds for every need) there was thus an accelerated production of two new varieties of wheat developed in the African country with this method, released after four years in advance of what would have been achieved with commonly used breeding systems.
