Q&A: Jill Farrant on breeding drought-resistant crops

Jill Farrant first learned about resurrection plants when she was nine years old. A dead plant she had seen on her family's farm in Limpopo, South Africa, had come back to life after it had rained. "The ded [sic] plant on the rocks was alive, but Dad said it was too soon after the rain," she wrote in her diary.

Now, more than four decades later, Farrant is the world's leading expert on plants which can "resurrect" from a desiccated state after they are rehydrated. Some species of resurrection plants can live without water for years and rehydrate within hours after rain.

With droughts likely to become more common in Africa due to global warming, Farrant hopes her work can mitigate the effect of disrupted weather patterns on food security.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/06/qa-jill-farrant-breeding-drought-resistant-crops-170604125045080.html

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