Fostering Global Collaboration to Combat Climate Change through Networking of Existing Crop-Based Consortia

Climate change is an issue that has potential to impact on all of agriculture and food production. Genomics has been advanced by the formation of crop specific consortia to provide the critical mass of resources to advance the development of genome sequences and tools on a crop specific basis.  This was especially important at earlier stages of the technology when costs were greater. Advances in technology have reduced the costs of genome sequencing reducing the need for the formation of large consortia. However the scale of the threat of climate change may require a consortium approach to network existing and new groups working at the crop specific level.  Accelerated application of genomics to crop improvement is required. Initiatives to better characterize the genomes of global crop genetic resources are an important first step. Coordinated efforts are now required to build strategies for applying this knowledge base to deliver climate resilient agriculture. Sharing of approaches across crops may be important to ensure a rapid response to the challenge of climate change.