In situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives in Southern Africa

In this video Dr Ehsan Dulloo, Component leader of the Effective genetic resources conservation and use research initiative at Bioversity International, talks about several years' work of research on crop wild relatives. Crop wild relatives are wild plant species that are genetically related to cultivated crops. Untended by humans, they continue to evolve in the wild, developing traits – such as drought tolerance or pest resistance – that farmers and breeders can cross with domesticated crops to produce new varieties. They have been used to improve the yields and nutritional quality of crops since the beginnings of agriculture.