These new varieties come from ancestral grains that have survived without human intervention for thousands of years in difficult climatic conditions.
Agriculture is suffering from global warming. In many countries, drought is ruining crops and jeopardizing food sovereignty. This is the case of Morocco, hit by increasingly intense episodes of drought in recent years (69% loss of cereal production in the 2021-2022 season). Faced with this observation, science is called to help. As part of the DIIVA-PR project, whose objective is to produce cereals that are more resistant to drought, six new varieties of durum wheat and barley have been developed, announced the ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in arid zones) and Crop Trust, the branch of the United Nations devoted to international agricultural research.
In addition to being more tolerant to episodes of drought, these new varieties of durum wheat (Nachit, Jabal and Jawahir) and barley (Chiffa, Assiya and Khnata) offer better yields and have better nutritional values. They were developed after ten years of research, using the genetic resources of ancestral grains, preserved in the ICARDA gene bank in Rabat. These are grains that have survived without human intervention for thousands of years in several regions of the world, under difficult climatic conditions. Based on their genetic traits, new varieties could be created.
Selected varieties
ICARDA researchers, in collaboration with those of INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research), tested these seeds in arid Moroccan soils, exposed to severe droughts for several years. Only the most resistant varieties were sown. They were then harvested by farmers from around 30 farms. Six seeds that best met the expectations of farmers and scientists were selected. They will soon be available for cultivation nationwide.
Other countries are also developing varieties of cereals that are more resistant to climate change. In the United States, researchers at the University of California have created a new species of wheat, with longer roots, allowing it to absorb water deeper and reach more nutrients. According to the scientists, who published their results in the journal Nature Communications , this new species could save the production of several countries, threatened by drought.
