The report suggests that future cultures will require an urgent and coherent effort

In a review in the Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society B, Stephen Long, professor of cultivated sciences and plant biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, describes research efforts for “to the test of future” cultures that are essential to feed a hungry world in a changing climate. Long, which has spent decades studying the photosynthesis process and finding ways to improve it, gives an overview of the main scientific conclusions which offer a glimmer of hope.

Higher temperatures, more frequent and longer droughts, catastrophic precipitation events and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels all influence the growth, development and reproductive viability of cultivated plants, he writes. While some plants and regions may benefit from certain aspects of climate change, without prolonged and costly intervention, many others will undergo potentially catastrophic declines.

“By 2050-2060, cultures will experience a considerably different environment from today,” writes Long. From its pre -industrial level of around 200 parts per million, “atmospheric co₂ reached 427 ppm in 2024 and should be around 600 ppm by 2050. “

Extreme heat, droughts, floods and other climate -related events already disrupt agricultural systems. The extreme projected temperature and climate instability will further reduce crop yields, increasing famine, political disorders and mass migration, he writes.

However, there is a certain hope. It may be possible to modify cultures so as to allow them to persist and perhaps even increase yields despite the challenges, said a lot. Although the process takes time and can be expensive, work has already started.

For example, researchers assess tolerance to heat, drought and floods of different varieties of specific cultivated plants, identifying those who have potentially beneficial attributes. The discovery of genetic features that confer these advantages will allow scientists to develop crops – thanks to the reproduction of plants and / or genetic engineering – which can better resist extremes.

Thanks to meticulous work, scientists have discovered that certain varieties of rice can survive up to two weeks of submergence during periods of intense floods, while other varieties are more tolerant of heat than others. The results offer opportunities to develop more cunning cultivars.

Plants must withstand a range of challenges as temperatures increase. The drying capacity of the atmosphere, which increases with temperature, draws the humidity from the plant leaves through tiny pores called stomates. This reduces the effectiveness of the use of vegetable water, has already said, already supporting rare water resources in many parts of the globe.

“A plant can partially close its stomates to keep humidity, but this can interfere with its ability to draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a key step in photosynthesis,” said long.

In laboratory and field experiences, the researchers found that the increase in the expression of the gene for a sensor protein found in plants reduced water loss by stomates without interfering with photosynthesis.

“The result was an improvement of 15% of the efficiency of use of water in the leaves in tobacco cultivated in the field and a decrease of 30% of the use of whole water,” wrote long. Due to the high speed to which it can be genetically modified, tobacco is often used as “test bed” to study the alterations that can be used in a variety of other plants.

Researchers also found means to reduce the density of stomates on rice and wheat leaves, improving the efficiency of water use by 15 to 20% without reduction in yield.

Carbon dioxide high to its own modification modifies plant physiology, sometimes in a beneficial way by stimulating photosynthesis, but also in harmful way, said a lot. High co₂ Can change the metabolic control of plants by modifying the levels of key enzymes. Scientists have discovered that adjusting protein levels that regulate Rubisco, a key photosynthetic enzyme can stimulate photosynthetic efficiency in the presence of high co₂.

To demonstrate what types of gains are possible in food crops, the remarkable long progress made in corn research, almost 80% of which are used in ethanol production and to nourish animals, not humans.

“Between 1980 and 2024, American corn yields doubled while sorghum improved only 12%,” he said. Success in corn is the result of massive investments of large multinational companies. The same investments have not yet been made on the public domain side of the equation.

Without similar investment, “it is difficult to see how opportunities … for the fulguement of our cultures can be implemented on the scale that is necessary,” he wrote.