Agriculture: from the knowledge of Ethiopian farmers the secret to producing better wheat
The knowledge of Ethiopian farmers, passed down from generation to generation, combined with advanced genomics approaches, can be the key to producing improved wheat and contribute to feeding the growing world’s population. It was demonstrated by a study conducted by Italian scientists at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and University of Bologna, published in Frontiers in Plant Science.
The study – carried out in Ethiopia with the collaboration of Ethiopian students – involved 60 Ethiopian farmers living in two locations in the Ethiopian highlands, who were asked to evaluate the traits of local interest of 400 wheat varieties. The data obtained was then combined with the molecular data derived from DNA sequencing of the wheat varieties under consideration, which led the researchers to identify the genetic basis of Ethiopian farmer preferences of durum wheat traits.
The study demonstrated that farmers’ traditional knowledge can help identify the genetic traits useful to improve wheat crops, bringing potential benefits around the world. “This study”, explained Matteo dell’Acqua, a geneticist at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and chief scientist of the study, “is the first to demonstrate that farmers’ traditional knowledge, developed and passed down over the centuries, can be a powerful tool at the service of the most advanced crop improvement techniques. The poor and illiterate farming communities of the Ethiopian highlands can make their knowledge available to produce crops that meet the needs of subsistence farming, thus contributing to food safety in the southern countries of the world”, concluded the researcher.
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