PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY,DAY THREE: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE,EXPERTS DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIODIVERSITY ISSUES IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE

LUDHIANA, FEBRUARY 8:---

On the third day of the International conference on \'Preparing Agriculture for Climate Change\' ongoing at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) the experts discussed biodiversity issues relevant to the happening climate change. The technical Session-VI (Climate Change and Biodiversity) was chaired by Dr. Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU.



Dr. Bikram Gill, Distinguished Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Throckmorton Plant Sciences Centre, Kansas State University, while deliberating on \'Genomic perspective on dual threats of imperiled native agro-eco systems and climate change to world food security\' highlighted that all our crop plants originated in Vavilovian Centres of plant genetic diversity and that following domestication, the crop plants underwent a period of reduced diversity due to domestication bottleneck. Tracing the origin of bread wheat, Dr. Gill said that bread wheat is the biggest contribution of plants to mankind. Native agro ecosystems (NAES) greatly enriched the gene-pool by frequent genetic exchanges that took place between crop plants and their wild ancestors. \'Genomic research has shown that many of the genes that were exploited in green revolution evolved relatively recently by the active evolutionary processes made possible by the functioning NAES, said Dr. Gill adding that the selection pressure imposed by various abiotic and biotic stresses also markedly contributed. The gene-pools were adapted to diverse habitats creating land races that nourished pre-industrial agriculture and human civilizations. The scientific breeding methods exploited the genetic diversity in landraces of crop plants and their wild relatives to develop high yielding crop varieties to feed the human population, highlighted Dr. Gill adding that the population pressure and neglect, encroached into NAES creating something like \'Sekhchili\'s paradoxs\' and further cautioned that we are destroying the very NAES that have been our lifeline. Dr. Gill emphatically said that functioning NAES must be preferred as they will act as wellsprings of new genetic diversity in response to the changing climate. While the genetic diversity conserved in crop gene-banks is and will be useful, in the long run, they are \'seed morgues\' and may not contain new genes that we may need as an insurance policy against the vagaries of drastic climate change, observed Dr. Gill.



Suggesting an action plan for the conservation of NAES, Dr Gill mentioned that the in situ conservation and functioning NAES are critical for sustainable agriculture under various scenarios of climate change and also for future food security. He suggested that a multidisciplinary team of experts should be appointed with a charge to identify hotspots of genetic diversity for our major crop plants. Further, a follow up and more intensive survey of specific areas for designation as world centers of crop biodiversity is a must, said Dr Gill. The host countries must be recognized as the custodians of designated crop bio-reserves, he said. Dr Gill advocated providing adequate compensation for those directly affected by such a designation. There must be efforts for the creation of in situ conservation areas using ex situ collections, suggested he adding that the future harvest center scientists should be actively engaged in situ conservation.



Dr. Toby Hodgkin, Bio-diversity International Rome, Italy, delved on the conservation of plant genetic resources in relation to climate change. There are many ways of improving the sustainability of agriculture and its capacity to deliver safe, nutritious products for a healthy diet, he said, adding that integrated pest management, conservation agriculture, eco-agriculture and organic agriculture are the approaches to agricultural production that improve sustainability in a variety of ways and that are being used over many millions of hectares around the world. \'These are expected to turn into increasingly vital approaches as part of the components of agricultural mitigation strategies. An essential feature of improving sustainability of agriculture is the ability to meet changing production conditions, and the enhanced use of agricultural biodiversity, he said. Dr. Hodgkin further remarked that plant genetic resources are major component of agricultural bio-diversity that can play a key role in climate change management strategies in agriculture. Efforts at National and International level are required toward conservation of bio-diversity said he. For maintaining productivity under changing environmental conditions, added emphasis will be needed on meticulous evaluation of plant material for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and on properties such as adaptability, plasticity and resilience, said he.



Dr. M.J. Barbetti of School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia presenting a case study with fungal pathogens in brassicas, said that the influence of climate change on plant pathogens is of great concern to the development of diseases in different crops. He said that pathogenic bio-diversity needs to be studied in relation to climate change as the development of new races/pathotypes triggered by climate change has significant repercussions in agriculture. He suggested that oilseed brassicas is a model system for investigation in this regard. Dr. Barbetti said that more scientific research is needed in the face of climate change impacting the pathogen scenario.



Dr. H.C. Sharma from International Crops Research Institute for The Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad while discussing the implications of climate change for pest management said that the global warming and climate change will trigger major changes in diversity and abundance of arthropods, geographical distribution of insect pests, their population dynamics, insect biotypes, herbivore-plant interactions, activity and abundance of natural enemies, species extinction, efficiency of crop protection technologies, etc. He presented information as to how the distribution of insect pests will be influenced by climate change that governs the cropping pattern. Global warming and climate change will result in expansion of geographical range of insect pests, increased over-wintering and rapid population growth, changes in insect-host interactions, increased risk of invasion by migrant pests, impact on arthropod diversity and extinction of species, changes in synchrony between insect pests and their crop hosts, introduction of alternative hosts as green bridges, and reduced effectiveness of crop protection technologies.



Abiotic stress is the major factor limiting the yield of crops, observed Dr. Lawrence Gusta, of the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Canada adding that some species are able to adjust to stress such as cold, drought and heat while many cultivated species have a limited capacity. Dr. Gusta outlined the effect of stress associated genes (DNH4,CBF1, ROB5 and SOD3) on the stress tolerance of genetically transformed canola, flax, and potato plants growing both in the field and in growth chambers, to heat, drought and frost. He discussed at length the effect of these genes on seed vigour, germination and yield. Dr Gusta put forward that a single stress gene has multiple effects on plant stress tolerance, growth and yield in the field. He shared how molecular biology can help in stress biology studies.



The Session Chairman, Dr. Kang introduced about the speakers and presented the wrap-up comments that the subject of climate change has great relevance in the contemporary and future agriculture and that agricultural scientists of different disciplines and climatologists at global level should participate in programmes aimed at addressing the problem. He said the presentations made in the conference by eminent international scientists will be complied in the form of a book and the recommendations will be passed on to the policy planners.



Later a panel discussion was held wherein Dr. Deepak Pental, Former Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University was Chairman and Moderator. The brief review of different technical sessions was undertaken.
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