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Plant breeders are facing new challenges due to climate change. Floods, excessive sunlight and heat, and new pests are threatening crops, and it is now crucial for breeders to develop climate-resilient varieties without sacrificing taste. From molecular gene-editing technology to exploring ancient seed collections, researchers are redoubling their efforts to create the fruits and vegetables of tomorrow. While some products are already available in grocery stores, others are still in development. This article is going to present some of the most promising innovations.  

1. Heat-resistant cherries

To produce fruit, cheery trees need at least one month of “chill hours” (32-45 degrees Fahrenheit). However, warm winters are making it challenging for some regions to meet this requirement. To address this issue, International Fruit Genetics, which was recently acquired by Bloom Fresh International, developed the heart-shaped Cheery Cupid. Juicy and sweeter than other cherries, this new “low chill” variety only needs about one-third of the usual amount of cold weather, making it more resilient to heat in summer and warmer winters. The Cupids, marketed under the Cheery label, should be available for sale in the Southern Hemisphere this fall, and later in North American markets.

2. Sunproof cauliflowers

When a cauliflower reaches maturity, its green leaves unfold, revealing the central white head, also called “the curd”. In order to prevent discoloration (which would make the product unsuitable for sale) caused by excessive sunlight exposure, farmers traditionally fold the leaves back over the curd by hand. However, this is an expensive and time-consuming practice. An alternative solution has been developed by Syngenta Vegetable Seeds, the sunproof Destinica true-white cauliflower, which can already be found in supermarkets. Additionally, the company has also created a waterproof white cabbage that requires less nitrogen fertilizer, can survive prolonged dry periods, and sits a little higher in the field than other cabbages making it easier to harvest.

3. Drought-resistant melons

After a deadly listeria outbreak linked to Colorado cantaloupes in 2011, researchers at Texas A&M’s Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center started breeding safer melons. In the past decade, their focus has shifted to developing weather-resistant varieties. With funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, the university has successfully released two new melons — the Supermelon and the Flavorific — which have deeper root systems to cope with drought.

4. Mild mustard greens, seedless blackberries, and pitless cherries

Scientists at Pairwise in Durham, N.C. are using CRISPR gene-editing technology to develop crops that will grow better in extreme climates. They have so far been able to remove the gene responsible for the spicy taste in mustard greens and plan to create seedless blackberries — that would grow on compact, thorn-free vines and require less land, water, and fertilizer — and pitless cherries.

5. Salt-tolerant carrots

Professor Phil Simon from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been working for over a decade to breed carrots that can germinate in salty, hot, and dry soils, addressing the challenge of saline groundwater in drought conditions. His approach includes crossbreeding sweet, orange commercial carrots with heat-tolerant wild carrots, although this might take another 10 to 15 years to perfect. The idea of developing a carrot that resists climate change is not new. In 2003, the Eskimo carrot was created to combat cold European winters.

6. Heat-tolerant potatoes

Researchers at the University of Maine, supported by the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. potato industry, are looking at potato varieties from South America and the American South, which are known for their ability to survive excessive heat and floods. They are also exploring new ways to combat pests and diseases that come with hotter and wetter growing conditions, such as breeding plants with hairier leaves. However, it will likely take at least 5 to 6 years before climate-resilient potato varieties become available to farmers.

7. Avocados that use less water

The Luna UCR, an environmentally friendly avocado developed in partnership between the University of California, Riverside and Eurosemillas S.A., is positioned as a potential rival to the U.S. market dominant Hass avocado. The Luna avocados come from slender and shorter trees, requiring less water and offering increased fruit production, making them a more efficient choice while reducing labor costs.

8. Heat-resistant apples

Dr. Kate Evans, a horticulturist, fruit breeder, and professor at Washington State University, has helped bring the Cosmic Crisp apple to market in 2019. This climate-minded apple has been developed to grow well with a lot of sunlight and now grows on 21 million trees in Washington State. Since then, breeders have increased their efforts to create apple varieties that can thrive in even hotter conditions, with promising newcomers like the Tutti, a light, crisp red apple developed by a New Zealand company to help Spanish farmers struggling with rising temperatures.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/dining/climate-change-fruits-vegetables.html