In the 1920s and ‘30s, a British botanist named Arthur Ernest Watkins collected over 1,000 varieties of bread wheat from 32 countries all around the globe.
In a recent study, scientists propose that his seed collection – which has been painstakingly maintained for over a century – could hold the key to fortifying modern wheat agriculture and feeding the world’s ever-increasing population. Their findings were published in the journal Nature in June 2024.
The Green Revolution
Upon Watkin’s return from France after World War I where he worked as an assistant agricultural officer, he and his colleagues had predicted that scientific advancements in plant breeding would greatly decrease crop diversity. He was thus tasked with safeguarding landraces – local wheat varieties – from across the globe. To date, the wheat assortment he assembled is the most comprehensive collection of historic wheat in the world.
Today, what Watkins predicted a century ago has largely taken place. The “Green Revolution” of the twentieth century brought about a dramatic increase in grain production thanks to the development of high-yielding varieties, especially wheat and rice. But yield wasn’t the only trait that changed as a result of modern breeding techniques.
