Application of GRIiN for climate resilient variety improvement

Abstract

In the nearly 12,000 years of history of domestication of plants global climate has changed, it is now changing and shall continue to change. Man, ecosystem, plants and crops have been responding to this change through their fitness and survival. Post industrialization change in human activity often accelerated climate change faster than the biological adjustment.This drag in fitness of crops due to climate change is a complex phenomenon and is difficult to address. Genetics of fitness, survival and adaptation in crop plants is a grey area of knowledge. By selecting for stable economic yield across environment plant breeders have overcome the impact of changing weather. Ecological genetics and plant breeding need to focus on better root and water usage efficiency. In this changing context genetic resources are to be seen with renewed interest. Emphasis should also be to collect and document ecotypes of a given specie/variety. These ecotypes may have morphological overlap but may express new traits under varying conditions.Thus, a large global Information base is to be created on ecotypes to simulate and design ideotypes that may perform under a bunch of stress conditions. Innovation centric research in the area of new biology with a focus onepigenetics, microbe - root interaction studies etc may open new knowledge and tools to handle climate change. The present division of crop science into separate silos is proving to be counterproductive and resists the application of GRIiN (Genetics, Resources, Information, Innovation and New Biology) to climate change. Tryst with climate change poses a new opportunity for plant breeders to organize themselves as an inter-science forum.