Sep 14, 2022 05:25 PM
https://journals.plos.org/climate/articl...lm.0000062
EXCERPT: . . . A climate-resilient crop: According to one team at Northwestern University, part of the solution to the world’s food crisis could lie with the humble breadfruit.
A relative of the jackfruit, native to the Pacific Islands, this starchy fruit is both high in fibre, and rich in key vitamins and minerals. It is also known for its culinary versatility: similarly to the potato, it can be steamed, roasted, fried, fermented, or ground into flour to increase its shelf life.
These benefits have made breadfruit an important part of cultural life throughout Oceania for thousands of years. The crop has also been introduced to South and Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical regions in Asia. Even so, it still isn’t widely used as a staple crop outside of its native Pacific.
While its cultivation could easily be expanded elsewhere, uncertainty about the future means that farmers are understandably reluctant to choose breadfruit over more traditional crops. Yet in their study, Lucy Wang and her Northwestern colleagues identified several traits of the breadfruit that could actually make it far more resilient against climate change than other crops.
Perhaps most vitally, breadfruit trees produce fruit for over 50 years without being replaced. This allows the crops to spread their roots deeper into the soil, and establish relationships with native species of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes, making them more resilient against unpredictable conditions.
Whereas traditional annual crops can be wiped out by prolonged extreme weather, Yang’s team found that breadfruit trees are able to withstand 3 to 4 months of drought.
Simulating resilience: In their study, Yang’s team explored whether a more widespread cultivation of breadfruit in the tropics could help to boost global food security in the face of a changing climate... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: . . . A climate-resilient crop: According to one team at Northwestern University, part of the solution to the world’s food crisis could lie with the humble breadfruit.
A relative of the jackfruit, native to the Pacific Islands, this starchy fruit is both high in fibre, and rich in key vitamins and minerals. It is also known for its culinary versatility: similarly to the potato, it can be steamed, roasted, fried, fermented, or ground into flour to increase its shelf life.
These benefits have made breadfruit an important part of cultural life throughout Oceania for thousands of years. The crop has also been introduced to South and Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical regions in Asia. Even so, it still isn’t widely used as a staple crop outside of its native Pacific.
While its cultivation could easily be expanded elsewhere, uncertainty about the future means that farmers are understandably reluctant to choose breadfruit over more traditional crops. Yet in their study, Lucy Wang and her Northwestern colleagues identified several traits of the breadfruit that could actually make it far more resilient against climate change than other crops.
Perhaps most vitally, breadfruit trees produce fruit for over 50 years without being replaced. This allows the crops to spread their roots deeper into the soil, and establish relationships with native species of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes, making them more resilient against unpredictable conditions.
Whereas traditional annual crops can be wiped out by prolonged extreme weather, Yang’s team found that breadfruit trees are able to withstand 3 to 4 months of drought.
Simulating resilience: In their study, Yang’s team explored whether a more widespread cultivation of breadfruit in the tropics could help to boost global food security in the face of a changing climate... (MORE - missing details)