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28 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM ts clear that securing the worlds food supply will require much work beyond crop diversity conservation such as further advances in crop science building efficient markets and reducing the waste of food. None of this can be effective if the genetic base of our food supply is lost. European Seed presents the following commentary from Marie Haga executive director of the the Crop Trust to provide readers with more insight into this issue. You can also visit european-seed.com to watch a video interview with Marie Haga. Crop diversity underpins todays production and provides the raw material needed for ensuring continuing supplies tomorrow in the face of a rapidly-changing world. The world will have to produce more and more nutritious food on less land with less water and less energy and in increasingly unpredictable weather. Breeders must continue to develop new crop varieties that are more productive more nutritious and more resistant to stresses like higher temperatures or less water. The development of these new crop varieties which can cope with challenging situations may well be the single most important step we can take to adapt to climate change. The wise use of crop genetic diversity in plant breeding can also contribute significantly to protecting the environment. Crop varieties that are resistant to pests and disease can reduce the need for application of crop protection products drought-resistant plants can help save water through reducing the need for irrigation and varieties that are more efficient in their use of nutrients require less fertiliser. Climate-Resilient Agriculture A climate-resilient agriculture model an adaptable agriculture model built on crop diversity is needed. It lays the basis for offering higher-yielding and more reliable food plants to support farmers and consumers in low-income countries. While the total number of traditional plant varieties that have disappeared is not known today many can be found only in gene banks established over the past 50 years. These gene banks conserve and make available genetic material offering this through their databases to plant breeders researchers and farmers who look among thousands of samples of crop diversity for sources of resistance to high temperatures and disease. Yet it can take upwards of 10 years to develop a better plant variety hence the urgency to secure the basis of agriculture today and use it as efficiently as possible. Whether mitigating the causes of climate change or preparing for its impacts the worlds crop diversity represents an accomplishment of human ingenuity that helps us deal with the threats of our modern age. We will need the full array of this diversity collected characterised and available in gene banks if we hope to adapt to climate conditions not seen before. Plants from anywhere in the world may hold the answers to climate challenges including the wild relatives of our domesticated crops that can survive under extreme conditions. Safeguarding Collections of Crop Diversity The Crop Trust works to safeguard the most important collections of crop diversity in gene banks around the world. It is an essential component of the funding mechanism of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture which WHY CROP DIVERSITY MATTERS The fight to achieve food security and end hunger is one of the greatest challenges facing the world in the coming decades. Rising populations diminishing resources and deteriorating environments only raise the stakes. BY MARCEL BRUINS