Crops for the desert

Fruits of the melon species Citrullus ecirrhosus a relative to the common watermelon - at Springbokwasser in the Torra Conservancy in the Namib Desert, Namibia. Photo: Dr. Julia Bechteler . Researchers led by the University of Bonn and Gobabeb/Namibia study drought-adapted melon varieties - Southern Africa has a rich bounty of crop varieties, crop wild relatives, orphan crops and underutilised plant species, collectively known as plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), which have sustained generations of local farmers and rural communities and enabled them to cope with changing environmental conditions. The project "Farmer Resilience and Melon Crop Diversity in southern Africa" (FRAMe) aims at a future-oriented agriculture of crop diversity using melons as an example. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project with more than 300,000 euros over the next three years. Orphan crops have been a steady source of nutrition for smallholder farmers and rural communities for generations. "In the face of ever-changing environmental conditions in the wake of climate change and a growing world population, orphan crops represent an important potential to meet increasing nutritional as well as ecological demands," says Prof. Dietmar Quandt of the Nees Institute for Plant Biodiversity at the University of Bonn.