35% of wild crops from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are endangered

Wild relatives of some of the world's most important crops, such as corn, beans and potatoes, are essential for future food security. But many are on the brink of extinction, new research has shown, according to modenrfarmer.com. Most of the staple foods we consume come from domesticated plants. Crop wild relatives are wild plant species that are closely related to the domesticated crop and are important subjects for breeders seeking to develop new varieties that are resistant to pests and drought. They were used to develop new varieties of drought-resistant beans, high-yielding varieties of corn and disease-resistant potatoes. Crop wild relatives will gain in importance as climate change progresses, leading to lower crop yields as average temperatures rise. The researchers studied nine different species of wild crop relatives that originated in the Mesoamerican region of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. In total, they analyzed 224 plants closely related to corn, ...