Scientists should “re-wild” food crops by inserting lost genetic properties of ancient, edible plants in order to boost agricultural output for a growing population, a new study said.
Important properties of wild plants, including varieties of wheat and rice, have been unintentionally lost during thousands of years of breeding.
When humans first domesticated wheat around 7500 BC, farmers chose to use seeds based on a few selected traits, particularly their yields.
“We estimate that all crops would benefit from re-wilding,” Michael Broberg Palmgren, a scientist at the University of Copenhagen and one of the study’s authors, wrote in an email.
The scientists suggest using biotechnology to re-insert desired genes from wild varieties of popular crops into widely consumed strains in order to improve food security.
Read full, original article: Back to the future: Scientists want ‘rewilded’ crops to boost agriculture
