All our food systems like agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, are under the stress because of rising temperatures leading to wildfires, droughts, floods and storms. If no action is taken to limit the climate crisis, the world may end up witnessing devastating crop losses.

With technological advancement and progress in farming methods, scientists and farmers have almost altered and perfected every food we eat. The result is a lack of genetic diversity and dependence on one type or variety of crop.

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Pitfalls of GM crops

Producing genetically-similar crops has a major drawback. If one pathogen or climate factor affects the crop, the entire production/population will be susceptible to it.

For instance, the banana that we eat today is genetically modified. It is called the Cavendish banana and almost every banana we eat is similar or genetically identical. Recently, a deadly fungus called the Panama 4 (which is aided by higher temperature fuelled by climate change) has been infecting trees of this variety and is threateing to wipe out entire productions.

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It is spreading in every continent and most recently in Latin America, the world’s top banana export region. This is history repeating itself as the earlier popular variety called the Gros Michel banana was wiped out in similar fashion by the Panama 1 fungus, the Guardian reported.

Another drawback of lack of genetic diversity is dependence on one variety. As globalisation happened, crops were modified to become suitable for export and more and more countries became dependent on one type of crop. Avocados were exclusive to one region but today the entire world is growing the fruit.

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But if we take the example of wheat, a clear concern is marked out. After the green revolution, the world saw a boost in wheat production and decline in malnutrition. However, farmers were dependent on one variety which was short-stemmed and capable of withstanding the weight of fertilisers.

Due to this kind of dependence, recently the prices of durum (pasta) wheat soared by 90 percent, after Canada, one of the largest grain producers, witnessed widespread drought and intense heatwaves. The farmers were dependent on a genetically-similar high yield variety and hence the entire production was affected.

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What’s the solution?

The simple solution is to introduce more genetic variety in the farmer’s fields, the Guardian said. However, this is easier said than done. Scientists have taken an alternative route of making gene banks that store seeds of different will species and genetically diverse crops, vegetables, and fruits.

However, this presents other complex and expensive challenges as the seeds need to be stored in controlled conditions and foods, including coffee, apples, peaches and vanilla, need to be conserved as plants or trees.

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Private firms are employing biotechnology that involves genetic editing and transgenics which rely on publicly funded gene banks for raw material. Agroecologists and regenerative farmers, however, argue that the most efficient and sustainable food systems are those which use techniques that mimic Nature, rather than the artificial ones.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)