Global warming-resistant crops plan
Updated on 27 November 2007
Crops could be developed to withstand the predicted effects of global warming, according to scientists leading a new research project.
The five-year study should lead to a greater understanding of how warmer winters and summers, and the changing lengths of seasons, impact on crop yields.
The £6 million initiative, being lead by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, will also look into how climate change affects forests, woodlands, heaths and moors.
Dr Karen Halliday, of the university's School of Biological Sciences, said: "We hope to be able to influence the survival of crops, as well as their quality and biodiversity."
The project, which is expected to get fully under way in the spring, will also draw on the expertise of scientists at the Universities of York and Liverpool and mathematicians from the University of Warwick.
Together, the researchers will combine theory, computer modelling and experiments to gain a better understanding of the impact of temperature on plant growth. Their findings may lead to the development of more robust crops.
Dr Halliday said even very small changes in temperature can have dramatic effects on plant development. "We're interested in how temperature affects the behaviour of the proteins that control plant growth and development," she said.
"I would anticipate that some of the results we get would be directly useful. Many crops are susceptible to temperature change. There will certainly be a strong incentive to produce crops that are more robust to temperature change and can withstand warmer temperatures."
The project is part of a £30 million UK-wide investment in biology research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
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