The impact of global warming and climate change are already being felt humanity. Extreme temperatures and drought threatened wildlife and plants.
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) conducted a study of food plants most resistant to the negative impacts of global warming. Turned out to be a champion cassava.
Research institute based in Colombia that makes modeling and simulation that links food crops to the climate. Plants carbohydrates are the sampled cassava, potatoes, corn, beans, bananas, millet, and sorghum.
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| Cassava. (Picture from: http://elgatis.blogspot.com/) |
Plants were tested resistance to 24 scenarios of future climate. Cassava has always outperformed other food crops. "Cassava is a survivor, Rambo for food crops," said climate researcher of ICTA, Andy Jarvis, as quoted by the Washington Post on Monday (27/02/2012).
The secret lies in the ability of plant roots hold the soil is not fertile with a little water. When dry, cassava choose hibernating waiting for the rainy season. According to Andy, there's no food plants are more resilient than cassava.
Ability to withstand the hot climate plants are needed in order to survive in the future. By 2030, temperatures are expected to increase 1.2 - 2 degrees Celsius. Rainfall patterns also shift.
Jarvis encourage farmers to diversify their crops to cope with future climatic conditions are extreme. Cassava a crop with the least risk of crop failure.
Cassava is a source of carbohydrates that have been planted since one and a half millennia ago in South America. This plant is introduced to other continents in the 17th century by merchants from the Portuguese. Cassava processing can be done with boiled, fried, or ground into flour.
In Indonesia, cassava production reached 24.08 million tons per year. But the number is still less, so the government of Indonesia had to import 4.73 million tonnes of cassava. *** [ANTON WILLIAM | KORAN TEMPO 3809]
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