Crop scientists use innovative approaches to adapt crops to climate change
Researchers develop enhanced crop temperature tolerance and ensure sustainable production amid global temperature extremes.
As global climate change reshapes agricultural landscapes, researchers are actively seeking solutions to help crops adapt.
Greg Welbaum, a professor at the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, is contributing to these efforts by advancing tools to identify unique crop genotypes with greater resilience to extreme temperature fluctuations.
“Farmers face increasing challenges due to unpredictable weather patterns,” Welbaum said. “Our goal is to develop crops that can thrive despite these conditions.”
This work is a key element in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Circular Economy that Reimagines Corn Agriculture (CERCA) project. CERCA brings together researchers from leading agricultural institutions, including Virginia Tech and Cornell University, to address climate-related impacts on corn and other essential crops. The project focuses on screening corn genotypes to assess traits like germination and survival under extreme temperature conditions, with promising applications in crop improvement programs.
A core focus of the CERCA project is testing diverse corn varieties, including wild species and landraces, for their resilience to frost and cold. The research team, composed of molecular biologists, physiologists, and seed phenotyping experts, is evaluating critical metrics such as germination, seedling survival, and nutrient recycling to assess how well these genotypes withstand challenging conditions.
To support this research, Welbaum has helped develop specialized laboratory systems that create uniform conditions for testing seed performance across a wide range of soil temperatures. By simulating field environments using any type of soil and controlling soil temperature, light, and moisture, these systems allow year-round testing of diverse genotypes in a laboratory enabling rapid screening, comparison, and selection. This method ensures that researchers can more effectively identify and select plants with improved temperature tolerance, thereby accelerating the development of crops better adapted to climate variability.
“This research is vital for ensuring food security in the face of climate change,” Welbaum said. “Creating conditions that allow us to evaluate seedling emergence and resilience more effectively accelerates the breeding process, bringing us closer to cultivating crops that can meet the changing demands of agriculture.”
Through ongoing research and innovation, Welbaum and his partners at Cornell University in the CERCA project are making significant strides toward sustainable agricultural practices. Each advancement in crop resilience research represents a step toward securing a more stable future for food production, contributing to solutions that will benefit farmers and communities globally.
