GENETIC RESOURCES PLAY CRUCIAL ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY – UN AGRICULTURAL AGENCY

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 15 Apr 2013 11:00:00 -0400
Subject: GENETIC RESOURCES PLAY CRUCIAL ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY – UN
AGRICULTURAL AGENCY
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

GENETIC RESOURCES PLAY CRUCIAL ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY – UN AGRICULTURAL AGENCY
New York, Apr 15 2013 11:00AM
With climate change affecting agricultural productivity and growing
populations demanding more food, it will be crucial for countries to
preserve and share genetic resources to ensure food security, the
United Nations agricultural agency said today.

"Climate change impacts are expected to reduce agricultural
productivity, stability and incomes in many areas that already
experience high levels of food insecurity. Yet world agricultural
production must increase 60 percent by the middle of this century -
less than 40 years from now - to keep pace with the food requirements
of the world's growing population," said the Deputy Director-General
of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dan Gustafson at the
Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

"[Genetic resources] for food and agriculture play a crucial role in
enabling crops, livestock, aquatic organisms and forest trees to
withstand climate change-related conditions," Mr. Gustafson added.

<"http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/174330/icode/">According to
FAO, there are as many as 30,000 edible terrestrial plant species in
the world. However, only 30 crops account for 95 per cent of human
food energy needs, with rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum
amounting to 60 per cent of these.

About 75 per cent of crop genetic diversity was lost in the last
century as farmers worldwide switched to genetically uniform,
high-yielding varieties and abandoned multiple local varieties.

Genetic diversity is however essential to adapt and improve
agriculture in the face of threats, such as diseases or warming
climate that can alter growing conditions. For example, a variety of
Turkish wheat, collected and stored in a seed gene bank in 1948, was
rediscovered in the 1980s, when it was found to carry genes resistant
to many types of disease-causing fungi. Plant breeders now use those
genes to develop wheat varieties that are resistant to a range of
diseases.

"Adaptation of the agriculture sector is not merely an option, but an
imperative for human survival, and genetic resources will form an
essential part of any adaptation strategy," Mr. Gustafson said.
"Ensuring food security in the face of climate change is among the
most daunting challenges facing humankind."

Nations in the warmest parts of the planet will be hardest hit by
climate change. Arid and semi-arid zones are expected to become drier,
while precipitation in other areas will be more variable and much less
predictable.

The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture strives
to ensure world food security by promoting the conservation and
sustainable use of genetic resource, as well as fair and equitable
sharing of the benefits arising from their use.

The Commission is the only intergovernmental body to specifically
address all matters related to the world's gene pool for food and
agriculture, and is marking its 30th anniversary as it meets in Rome
this week.
Apr 15 2013 11:00AM
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