Climate change is coming for kūmara/sweet potatoes

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2020-10-06 02:00

International

Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis

Global warming is predicted to threaten kūmara (sweet potato) - one of the world’s most important food crops. Peruvian researchers tested nearly 2,000 sweet potato strains, finding just 6.7 per cent are heat-tolerant. They suggest these varieties could be used in breeding programmes to help crops adapt to predicted temperature increases of 1-6°C by 2070.

Media release

From:

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research Springer Nature, Web page

Journal/
conference: Nature Climate Change

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: International Potato Center, Peru

Funder: This research was undertaken as part of, and funded by, the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) and supported by CGIAR Fund Donors. We thank all donors who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund: http://www.cgiar.org/about-us/our-funders/. The financial support by the McKnight Foundation to Q.S. is greatly appreciated.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.