Keynote: Which wild species are the progenitors of our future crops?

Which wild species are the progenitors of our future crops? On the one hand, wild species that are interfertile with major crops are well-known as valuable resources for crop improvement. While these crop wild relatives have been an important focus of conservation efforts, a relatively small number of wild plant species have entered the domestication pipeline and have evolved into crops. In the interest of developing more diverse, resilient agricultural systems that meet the needs of people and provide important ecosystem services, it is necessary to broaden the base of species we consider to have actual or potential value for agricultural systems of the future. The conservation of plant species, in particular rare and endangered plant species, is of paramount importance to this effort. The goal of this talk is to share a developing strategy to build the requisite foundation, and ultimately seed resources, required for the diversification of agriculture in the future. One component of agricultural diversification includes perennial, herbaceous species grown for their hard seeds (perennial grains), which were never domesticated by early farmers but are drawing increasing attention as important components of future agricultural systems that mimic nature in perenniality and diversity. These species are at the early stages of domestication and making great progress. In this presentation, I will review pathways for development of future crops, identify targets of selection in breeding perennial grains, advocate for germplasm accessibility, review an emerging list of candidate species, and highlight priority areas for future work. In doing this work, we hope to identify multiple wild species that are the wild progenitors of future crops, advocate for their conservation, build germplasm resources, and initiate field studies to explore their potential utility and breeding prospects.