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The use of crop wild relatives to develop drought tolerant alfalfa and its extension to subsistence farmers in Kazakhstan, China and Chile.

Grant No
GS19001
Project Description
In the next few decades it is anticipated that climate change will intensify around the world, resulting in more extreme weather such as higher temperatures and more variable rainfall. Some of the most important impacts of global climate change will felt by subsistence and smallholder farmers, who are most vulnerable because of their proximity to marginal food production environments and are the most incapable of adapting to change. The Crop Trust aims to prepare agriculture for climate change by utilising diversity in Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) to improve resilience and drought tolerance. The wild alfalfa (lucerne) project sourced and acquired drought tolerant germplasm and developed hybrids for use in plant breeding programs by introgressing this germplasm into modern plant varieties. The next stage of the project will see further development and expanded evaluation of these hybrids in new environments in Kazakhstan, China, Chile and Australia.
Institute Name
South Australian Research and Development Institute, Australia (SARDI)
Institute Country
Australia
List of Countries
  • Chile
  • Kazakhstan
  • Australia
  • China
  • United States
Crops
Crop Seed or Veg type Acc collected Acc regenerated Acc sent to CG Acc introduced to genebank Acc sent to Svalbard
Alfalfa 0 0 0 0 0
Program Name
Crop Wild Relatives
Donor
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)
Start Date
1st of January 2019
End Date
30th of November 2020
Status
Completed
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