Abstract
The CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) includes vegetatively propagated staple crops linked by common breeding, seed, and postharvest issues, and by the frequency with which women are involved in their production and use. RTB crops are the backbone of food security across the humid tropics in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and in more localized areas of Asia and Latin America. Around 300 million poor people in developing countries currently depend on RTB value chains for food security, nutrition and income. Climate change poses challenges which could undo progress in poverty reduction and markedly increase food insecurity. This article examines planning and research for climate resilience across RTB crops, with a particular focus on the contrasting potato and sweet potato cases in SSA. A six-step framework for climatesmart breeding is proposed: (1) downscaling climate change models and crop modeling; (2) identifying and understanding key climate change responsive traits; (3) breeding and varietal selection; (4) phenotyping and genomic research to accelerate gains; (5) developing management options for climate-smart varieties; and (6) deployment (seed systems). In summary, climate-smart breeding means we need to do what we already do but faster, better, and smarter.
References
Asfaw A., Bonierbale M., Khan M.A., Integrative breeding strategy for making climate-smart potato varieties for sub-Saharan Africa. In: Low J, Nyongesa M, Quinn S, Parker M, eds. Potato and Sweetpotato in Africa. Transforming the value chains for food and nutrition security. Oxfordshire, UK: CABI International, 2015, 134-142, ISBN 978-1-78064-420-2Search in Google Scholar
Bonierbale M., Amoros W., Mejoramiento genético de la papa y resiliencia climática. Compendio de Resúmenes XXVII Congreso Asociación Latinoamericana de la Papa (ALAP). Panamá 2016.22 al 26 de Agosto, 2016, 30-32, ISBN: 978-9962-677-43-7Search in Google Scholar
Comas L.H., Becker S.R., Cruz V.M.V., Byrne P.F., Dierig D.A., Root traits contributing to plant productivity under drought. Front. Plant Sci., 2013, 4, 1-1610.3389/fpls.2013.00442Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
Gajanayake B., Reddy K.R., Shankle M.W., Quantifying growth and developmental responses of sweetpotato to mid- and late-season temperature. Agron. J., 2015, 107, 1854-186210.2134/agronj14.0545Search in Google Scholar
Gibson R., Phillips D., Lukonge E., Obong Y., Rwegasira G., Kalule S., Mushobozi W., Sweetpotato vines (planting material) as a business in Africa: Commercializing seed systems in Uganda and Tanzania. NRI publication, 2016Search in Google Scholar
Hallegatte S., Bangalore M., Bonzanigo L., Fay M., Kane T., Narloch U., Rozenberg J., Treguer D., Vogt-Schilb A., Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty. Climate Change and Development Series. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016, doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-0673-5Search in Google Scholar
Jarvis A., Ramirez-Villegas J., Herrera Campo B.A., Navarro-Racines C., Is cassava the answer to African climate change adaptation? Tropical Plant Biology, 2012, 5, 9-2910.1007/s12042-012-9096-7Search in Google Scholar
Khan A., Sovero V., Gemenet D., Genome-assisted breeding for drought resistance. Current Genomics, 2016, 17, 330-34210.2174/1389202917999160211101417Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
Kooman P.L., Haverkort A.J., Modelling development and growth of the potato crop influenced by temperature and day length: LINTUL-POTATO in A.J. Haverkort, D.K.L. MacKerron (Eds.), Potato Ecology and Modelling of Crops Under Conditions Limiting Growth, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1995, 41-6010.1007/978-94-011-0051-9_3Search in Google Scholar
Munyua H., Sweetpotato planting material: the Triple S System - Storage, Sand, Sprouting. International Potato Center and Natural Resources Institute Publication, 2013 (Available from http://www.sweetpotatoknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TRIPLE-S-SYSTEM-SIDE2-ENGLISH.pdf)Search in Google Scholar
Okonya J.S., Kroschel J., Incidence, abundance and damage by the sweet potato butterfly (Acraea acerata Hew.) and the African sweet potato weevils (Cylas spp.) across an altitude gradient in Kabale district, Uganda. International Journal of AgriScience, 2013, 3(11), 814-824Search in Google Scholar
Okonya J.S., Mujica N., Carhuapoma P., Kroschel J., Sweetpotato weevil, Cylas puncticollis (Boheman 1883). In: Kroschel J, Mujica N, Carhuapoma P, Sporleder M, eds. Pest distribution and risk atlas for Africa. Potential global and regional distribution and abundance of agricultural and horticultural pests and associated biocontrol agents under current and future climates. Lima: CIP, 2016, pp. 54-63, ISBN 978-92-9060-476-1, doi 10.4160/9789290604761-4Search in Google Scholar
Ravi V., Naskar S.K., Makeshkumar T., Babu B., Prakash Krishnan B.S., Molecular Physiology of Storage Root Formation and Development in Sweet Potato (lpomoea batatas (L.) Lam.). J. Root Crops, 2009, 35, 1-27Search in Google Scholar
RTB CGIAR Research Program on Root, Tubers and Bananas. 2016. Proposal 2017-2022. Lima: CIPSearch in Google Scholar
Sparks A.H., Forbes G.A., Hijmans R.J., Garrett K.A., Climate change may have limited effect on global risk of potato late blight. Glob. Change. Biol., 2014, 20, 3621-3631, doi: 10.1111/gcb.12587Search in Google Scholar
Yactayo W., Ramírez D.A., Gutiérrez R., Mares V., Posadas A., Quiroz R., Effect of partial root-zone drying irrigation timing on potato tuber yield and water use efficiency. Agric. Water Management, 2013, 123, 65-7010.1016/j.agwat.2013.03.009Search in Google Scholar
Washington R., New M., Hawcroft M., Pearce H., Rahiz M., Karmacharya J., Climate Change in CCAFS Regions: Recent Trends, Current Projections, CropClimate Suitability, and Prospects for Improved Climate Model Information. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Copenhagen, Denmark, 2012, (Available from https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/14876/retrieve)Search in Google Scholar
Wiebe K., Strategic foresight: Long-term projections from IFPRI, GFSF and AgMIP. Presented at the 12th Meeting of the Independent Science & Partnership Council held in Rome, 16 September 2015Search in Google Scholar
© 2017
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.
