Crop Breeding: Renewing the Global Commitment

The paper advocates for a shift in agricultural research toward marker-assisted and genomics-assisted conventional breeding, particularly for 'orphan crops' like sorghum and millet. It highlights a 69 percent gap between 2006 production and projected 2050 needs, arguing that conventional breeding is superior to genetic modification for complex yield traits. The authors recommend doubling R&D funding in low- and medium-income countries to 1.0 percent of agricultural production value and promoting the sharing of genomic data.

• To avoid the net expansion of harvested cropland, crop yields must grow one third more over the next 44 years than they did in the previous 44 years, as there is a 69 percent gap between 2006 production levels and the needs projected for 2050.
• Conventional breeding is more effective than genetic modification (GM) for increasing overall yields because yield growth depends on complex, multigene traits, whereas current GM technology typically targets traits controlled by a single gene or a small number of genes.
• Marker-assisted and genomics-assisted breeding can accelerate yield gains by allowing researchers to screen seedlings quickly for desired gene combinations and unveil complex gene sets, reducing the time and resources needed for crossing individuals.
• There is significant potential for yield improvement in 'orphan crops'—such as beans, peas, potatoes, millet, and sorghum—which are vital for food-insecure regions but have received limited research compared to maize, rice, and wheat.
• The authors recommend increasing agricultural research and development funding in low- and medium-income countries from the current 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent of their agricultural production value.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Crop Breeding: Renewing the Global Commitment. https://www.wri.org/research/crop-breeding-renewing-global-commitment

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Crop Breeding: Renewing the Global Commitment. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/crop-breeding-renewing-global-commitment.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Crop Breeding: Renewing the Global Commitment |url=https://www.wri.org/research/crop-breeding-renewing-global-commitment |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendcrop, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Crop Breeding: Renewing the Global Commitment}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/crop-breeding-renewing-global-commitment}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }