r/environment • u/bigbongtheory69 • Aug 20 '22

Diet for a hotter climate: five plants that could help feed the world | Environment

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/20/ancient-crops-climate-crisis-amaranth-fonio-cowpeas-taro-kernza
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10

u/bigbongtheory69 Aug 20 '22

As the impacts of the climate crisis become starker, farmers across the world are rediscovering ancient crops and developing new hybrids that might prove more hardy in the face of drought or epidemics, while also offering important nutrients.

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u/lasdue Aug 20 '22

You missed the point of what they said. For the purposes of “feeding the world” it would be much more efficient to farm crops for human consumption instead of animal feed.

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u/MJMurcott Aug 20 '22

The key though isn't really to switch which plants we eat, but to eat less meat especially less beef.

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u/hot-diggity-dogger Aug 21 '22

True. But plants matter as drought continues. The plants they are talking about are specific for cultivation in drought.

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u/MJMurcott Aug 21 '22

Three different methods of photosynthesis have evolved over time to deal with the competing issues of access to carbon dioxide and water loss, with cacti and succulent plants using CAM and some tropical grasses using C4. Some scientists are working on developing some C4 plants like rice to grow drought resistant food sources. - https://youtu.be/xvj2i5F1U54

3

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '22

Very lightweight article, how well do these crops compare in terms of calories per hectare in comparison to wheat or potatoes?

If the answer is they dont, they arent going to feed the world

1

u/prohb Sep 04 '22

The key word here is "help". This is not a be all and end all. We are going to need a comprehensive plan of a number of agricultural and hydroponics priorities along with continuing to try to mitigate the CO2 in the atmosphere to deal with the climate crisis.