Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa, Willd.), needful genetic resource under the conditions of climate change

Abstract

The negative effects of climate change are a real challenge for modern agriculture today, as agriculture, in general, is severely affected. By increasing the land areas affected by drought and salinity and, consequently, reducing their fertility, as well as due to demographic growth and urbanization (migration), there is an ever-increasing demand for food for the global population. These negative effects of climate change have made the strategy of the EU and the member states to be designed in such a way as to anticipate the effects of climate change; whereas this support should address both short-term effects, such as natural disasters, and long-term effects, such as land loss due to sea-level rise or drought. In these circumstances, it is of great interest to find sustainable cultures/solutions, species with vegetable value, with a sufficiently high ecological plasticity to promote sustainable and productive agricultural ecosystems through the use of "climate-ready" model species that have the ability to respond to severe environmental conditions. A species with a similar genetic background is Chenopodium quinoa, sp., a species of South American origin, unique in the world for its potential to respond to adverse environmental conditions, such as: drought, alternating temperatures, frost, salty soils, etc.