France: Faced with climate change, which species should we turn to tomorrow?

“The recurrence of episodes of drought and the increase in the frequency and intensity of other climatic hazards reveal in an exacerbated manner the necessity and urgency of initiating a profound adaptation of farms and sectors to climate change.” As part of the Varenne for water and adaptation to climate change, the Interministerial Delegate (Divae) requested the support of the CGAAER* to focus on the crop rotation diversification strategy in France. And all factors combined, the crops considered “interesting from a resilience point of view are: sunflower, soya, sorghum, meslin, chickpea, multi-species meadows, hemp, pistachio,” notes Divae. Among them, soya, sorghum, sunflower, hemp and chickpea have been the subject of a more in-depth study on the brakes and levers to their development. First of all, on the agronomic level, the report mentions “a delay in varietal research for these different crops”. Other issues raised: technical impasses that must be anticipated in the face ...