POISONED CHALICE: TOXIN ACCUMULATION IN CROPS IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE Remediating toxic contamination in plants and animals
We are just beginning to recognize the magnitude of toxin- related issues confronting farmers in developing countries of the tropics and sub-tropics. As warmer climate zones expand towards the poles, countries in more temperate regions are facing new threats.21-23
Deteriorating climatic
conditions combine with enhanced capacities of diagnostic surveys for toxin detection to reveal that more and more global food stocks appear to be at risk of contamination. The effects of other environmental cues on plant-pathogen interactions or on a plant’s own biochemical responses have yet to be resolved.24-25
However, it is clear that more extreme
environmental conditions can trigger toxin accumulation in crops. The ability to detect these toxins is becoming less expensive and more mobile, which will help ensure that the food being produced and consumed is safe.
Growing recognition of these challenges has prompted a range of efforts to understand, prioritize, and respond. In at-risk regions, an important start has been made on programmes to increase productivity and reliability of crops that are less susceptible to toxin contamination. These are combined with drought and disease surveillance programs and warning systems.26-27
A growing number of projects are applying science-based solutions to address these health and development challenges. Examples include accelerating the international network of National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS)–supported by FAO, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and their constituent agencies–as well as international plant breeding efforts and technologies; bio-control strategies to apply natural antagonists of toxin- producing fungi in farmers’ fields, proper postharvest drying and storage; and development of mobile diagnostics and decontamination.29,30
Risk assessment and mapping is a
powerful tool for decision making based on an understanding of various aspects of contamination risk.26,31
Some research
focuses on strategies to develop more varied drought- tolerant or disease-resistant crops, including genome editing to eliminate genetic elements underlying susceptibility to risky diseases or toxins; transformation with disease resistance, drought tolerance, or toxin-degrading genes; and characterization of available agro-biodiversity options for on-farm production, for both the crop itself and the microbial communities influencing productivity and stress tolerance.32
Such mutually reinforcing efforts can
help deploy effective strategies and targeted rapid responses to outbreaks when climatic conditions become severe.
At the global and regional level, relevant programmes are underway: the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program; the African Union Commission’s Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA); food safety and regulation efforts by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization; and the 2030 global agenda for sustainable development with a specific sustainable development goal seeking to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”28
Photo Credit: Smereka/
Shutterstock.com 58
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