Wild crop seeds could provide £128bn boost to economy, study shows
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jul/23/wild-crop-seeds-boost-economy
Fields of gold ... no GM food crops are grown in the UK ? yet. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
Preserving the wild relatives of some of the world's most popular crops, such as wheat, potato, rice and sugarcane, could be worth up to $196bn (£128bn) to the economy.
That is the conclusion of a report commissioned by Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, which warns that many of the wild varieties of our most important food crops that can be used to boost agriculture are at risk of dying out.
Crop wild relatives (CWRs) can be cross bred with existing crop varieties to help produce higher yields and make them more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures, as well as bacteria and insects.
But many CWRs face the risk of extinction, with aubergine, potato, apple, sunflower and carrot varieties considered most at risk, according to the research, which aims to highlight the economic value of collecting and storing more wild crop varieties.