Breadfruit may be climate-resistant food of the future

Expect breadfruit to appear on shelves as the world progresses into climate change, say researchers from Northwestern University.

Breadfruit is a hardy, resilient crop that will be able to stand the harsh weather brought about by global warming and shifting climate conditions, and will prove to be substantially hardier than other crops currently grown, the scientists argue in a study published in PLOS Climate.

“Breadfruit is a neglected and underutilised species that happens to be relatively resilient in our climate change projections,” said Northwestern’s Daniel Horton, a senior author on the study, which looked at how the fruit would be affected by climate change.

“This is good news because several other staples that we rely on are not so resilient. In really hot conditions, some of those staple crops struggle and yields decrease. As we implement strategies to adapt to climate change, breadfruit should be considered in food security adaptation strategies.”

Breadfruit is high in fibre, minerals and vitamins and occupies a similar space on the plate as a potato does, despite the sweet implications of its name. It is grown in the tropics and is native to the Pacific Islands. The fruit has been used in some countries for millennia.

“Breadfruit trees can live for decades and provide a large amount of fruits each year,” said Nyree Zerega, an expert on breadfruit and one of the study’s authors.

“In some cultures, there is a tradition to plant a breadfruit tree when a child is born to ensure the child will have food for the rest of their life.”

The study involved looking at the conditions required to grow the fruit, and then at the likely conditions that the world will face in the future. Specifically, it modelled the world if greenhouse gas emissions stabilise and if they continue unabated.

The modelling shows that in either scenario, the breadfruit will be able to grow where more traditional crops will fail. In addition to being able to withstand heat and drought, they do not require a great deal of fertiliser or water to grow, which means they will be able to provide fruits in vast swathes of the world dealing with high temperatures.

The researchers think that breadfruit will be able to serve as a useful crop for those in Africa and other areas with food instability, and that using it as a crop in the future will be a healthy way of diversifying the agricultural sector.

“Climate change further emphasises the need to diversify agriculture, so the world doesn’t rely on a small number of crop species to feed a large number of people,” Zerega said.

“Humans rely heavily on a handful of crops to provide most of our food, but there are thousands of potential food crops among the approximately 400,000 described plant species. This points to the need to diversify agriculture and crops globally.”

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