Revitalizing orphan crops to combat food insecurity.

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Genetics
• Food Security

Background:

• Global food security is threatened by population growth, climate change, and limited crop genetic diversity.
• Current staple crops lack the adaptability to overcome evolving agricultural challenges.
• Orphan crops present a valuable, underutilized resource for enhancing food system resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advances in identifying and analyzing orphan crop germplasm.
• To explore the potential of orphan crops in addressing food security.
• To discuss integrated approaches for accelerating orphan crop breeding.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on orphan crop germplasm identification.
• Analysis of genetic and multi-omics data for orphan crops.
• Discussion of integrated breeding strategies including de novo domestication, speed breeding, and AI-empowered phenomics.

Main Results:

• Significant progress has been made in identifying and characterizing orphan crop genetic resources.
• Orphan crops possess high biodiversity, nutritional value, and local adaptability.
• Integrated approaches show promise for rapid crop improvement.

Conclusions:

• Orphan crops are crucial for diversifying food sources and enhancing food security.
• Advanced genetic and multi-omics analyses are key to understanding orphan crop potential.
• Combining de novo domestication, speed breeding, and AI-empowered phenomics (DSAP) can accelerate the development of climate-resilient orphan crops.