Southeast Asia grappled with a record-breaking heat wave in April and May that not only claimed hundreds of lives but diminished entire crop harvests, putting the region’s food security in jeopardy.
The frequency and intensity of heat waves are only expected to increase in line with climate change. And though plant scientists have for decades bred climate-resilient crops — strengthening their tolerance to drought, flooding, and emerging diseases — experts say not enough is being invested into the research and development of crops that can withstand extreme heat.
“There is so much potential but not enough funding,” said Benjamin Kilian, senior scientist and project coordinator at the nonprofit Crop Trust, which works to conserve crop diversity and funds gene banks worldwide. “On the global scale, we need more investments into this work.”
Breeding plants to tolerate other climate stressors — such as salinity, drought, and submergence — has been historically prioritized over heat, according to Amelia Henry, a senior scientist for stress physiology at the Philippines-based Internationa
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This could be because developing crops’ heat tolerance can be more time-consuming and difficult to research compared to other forms of crop resilience, or because the effects of stressors such as floods and salinity are more visible, she said.
