Targeted search for crop germplasm with climate change adaptive traits to sustain

agriculture in dryland systems

Selvadurai Daya Dayanandan and Abdallah Bari

Introduction and expectations of the workshop

Special Thanks to

Dr. Abdallah Bari for spearheading to organize this workshop and meeting several times in Montreal

Local organizing committee members

Dr. Adi Damania for the program, abstract book, recordings and proceedings & follow-up reports

All sponsoring organizations with big thanks to IAV Hassan for hosting the workshop

All participants

One of the globally challenging key issues of the 21st century:

• How do we sustain agricultural productivity and maintain food security and livelihoods under changing climatic conditions in drylands?

• Drylands: – Cover over 40% of the global land area and home to over 2.5

billion people

– Faced with many challenges including • high poverty and unemployment

• rapid urbanization

• severe water shortage

• land degradation

• climate change impacts

Reduction in annual precipitation leading to increase in dryland area

• ICARDA: – Working with dryland communities for almost 4 decades

– Recognized the need and urgency of a comprehensive research program to help rural communities living in, and dependent on, dryland agricultural systems to improve food seurity and livelihoods

– Partnered with over 60 institutions to develop and lead the Dryland systems program to identify and develop resilient, diversified and more productive combinations of crops, livestock, rangeland, aquatic and agroforestry systems to • increase productivity,

• reduce hunger and malnutrition

• improve the quality of life among the rural poor.

A global research partnership to improve agricultural productivity and income in the world’s dry areas with an overall goal to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor in drylands

The three pillars of an integrated approach to address challenges facing dry areas (Mahmoud Solh, DG, ICARDA 2012).

International Workshop on Applied Mathematics and Omics

Technologies for Discovering Biodiversity and Genetic Resources for Climate Change Mitigation and

Adaptation to Sustain Agriculture in Drylands

Biodiversity and Integrative Gene Management program - ICARDA

Climate change, Agriculture and Food Security program - CIAT

• Genetic improvements of crops to meet challenges of climate change will largely depend on the identification and effective utilization of naturally occurring variants of genes related to traits adaptive to the changing climate.

• Opportunity: suitable natural variants of these genes or alleles may be present in crop accessions stored in more than 1700 national and international genebanks

• Challenge: finding these alleles in a collection of over 7 million crop accessions

• An integrative, multidisciplinary approach involving analyses of crop accessions using emerging technologies are needed for rapid and cost effective identification of genes associated with climate change adaptive traits

• Based on Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) pioneered by Bari et al.,

• The approach involves: – Mathematical modeling

– Phenomics

– Genomics

Phenotyping - Root

Morphology Physiology

- Shoot Morphology Physiology

- Phenology - Other traits

Genotyping - Genomics

- Whole genome sequencing - Exome sequencing - Candidate gene analyses

- Transcriptomics

Stakeholders Farmers Crop breeders Agricultural research centers National Agricultural Institutions Universities Non Governmental Organizations

Screen germplasm with selected genetic markers

Trait associated genetic markers Non-georeferenced germplasm

Subset of germplasm likely to contain desirable trait(s)

Germplasm with desirable phenotype

Germplasm with desirable trait specific genetic marker

Modeling - Climate change models - Mathematical models to identify

germplasm (FIGS)

Georeferenced germplasm

Stakeholder needs

Plant Breeders

Improved crop varieties

Framework for targeted searching of traits in crop germplasm

Workshop themes

• THEME – 1 Climate change and its impact on agriculture [Moderator: Adi Damania]

• THEME – 2 Applied mathematics and the modelling approaches for

adaptation of crops to changing climate conditions [Moderator: Abdallah Bari]

• THEME – 3 Plant phenomics for adaptation of crops to changing climate in

dryland systems [Moderator: Fred Stoddard]

• THEME - 4 Plant genomics for adaptation of crops to changing climate in

dryland systems [Moderator: Daya Dayanandan]

• THEME - 5 Region-specific challenges and opportunities for maintaining

genetic resources for sustainable agricultural productivity under changing climatic conditions in the Dry Lands [Moderator: Zakaria Kehel]

• Each theme: Series of presentations followed by a discussion

• The discussion may focus on: – Opportunities and challenges

– Knowledge gaps

– Research needs

– Training needs

– Outreach

– Target species

• Last day of the workshop (June 27th)

• Working groups • Modelling

• Phenomics

• Genomics

– Formulate recommendations for tools, techniques and approaches to address issues raised by discussion groups

• Closing session: – Discussion and compilation of working group reports to make

summary recommendations

– Appreciations and vote of thanks

Future prospects

Develop targeted project proposals to seek funding to continue:

• Research – discover crop varieties for climate change adaptation and mitigation

• Capacity building [student training and gender equity]

• Public outreach [community and stakeholder involvement]