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Drought is a serious threat to global food security. In upstream research, crop drought-tolerant traits are often studied under extreme drought conditions, which can seem irrelevant in the eyes of breeders.
Research on apoplastic diffusion barriers may help to better understand sensitivity to drought and salinity, two of the most pressing problems in agriculture.
The destructive consequences of catastrophic wildfires, which are capable of destroying homes and livelihoods, frequently hit the front pages of newspapers worldwide. But scientific attention is increasingly turning towards understanding changes in wildfire regimes.
Currently, hunger affects nearly 12 per cent of the world’s population — 4 per cent more than in 2015, when the United Nations launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. If all scientific knowledge and technological innovation in crop development were readily available and globally adopted, could zero hunger have been achieved by 2030? Most people recognize the potential for agricultural biotechnology to contribute to food security. However, there has been limited application and adoption of new crop varieties in countries that are disproportionately affected by malnutrition and food insecurity.