Harnessing the power of desert plants for enabling crop resilience and climate mitigation

Abstract

Desert Research Initiative, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

A major challenge for global food security is the lack of fresh water, making up only 3 % of total available water. 70 % of fresh water is currently used for agriculture but becomes increasingly under pressure by an increasing global population and industrialization. The effects of climate change enhance the frequency of heat and drought waves and scorge harvest yields by more than 60 % world-wide. At the same time, future agriculture is supposed to produce more food on less land and less inputs. We develop solutions by studying extreme ecosystems, where nature has selected solutions over thousands to millions of years. Our research on desert ecosystems provides effective solutions for smart agriculture. We identified specific desert strains which can protect crops from heat or drought stress and can enhance plant water use efficiency. Consortia of desert microbes can induce stress tolerance to multiple stresses without showing growth or yield penalty. Moreover, recent studies show that plant varieties select and propagate microbes in a transgenerational manner, opening up novel future breeding methodologies. Overall, these results show that plant-microbial symbiosis is a powerful tool for enhancing agricultural productivity providing an important contribution to human food safety.

References

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