4.6. Implications of SDM results for selection for adaptation
An assessment of staple crop productivity, quality and environmentally suitable areas under climate change is necessary to undertake any global initiatives to overcome food insecurity challenges (Ramirez-Cabral et al. 2016). KG is a staple food crop and a source of proteins and nutrients for smallholder farmers in West Africa. In this research, we expected to identify the intraspecific genetic group that would be resilient under future climate scenarios, and which areas are concerned by changes in KG diversity. The model projections indicate that a shift in the Kersting’s groundnut productive areas is slightly and likely with a loss of cultivability of the Pop1 cultivation areas and an increase for Pop2 in two agroecologies (Northern-Sudanian and Southern-Sudanian). Although KG is predicted to gain in suitable area in future environmental changes, its cultivation is however decreasing year to year from its cultivated areas (Akohoué et al. 2019; Amujoyegbe et al. 2007). Therefore, it will be crucial to adapt M. geocarpum species to the increasingly challenging environmental conditions through development of new resilient cultivars that meet farmers’ needs. The Pop2 comprises all landraces (diversity) of the species and can serve as a potential source for diversity on which breeding efforts could be based to confer resilience to changing climates and increase sustainability, growth and yield of genetic Pop1. Advancements in molecular plant breeding would be an importance of paramount to increase the genetic gains and make more accurate the breeding process. In the particular case of KG, currently, available partial GBS data (Akohoue et al. 2020; Kafoutchoni et al. 2021) would allow the analyses of intraspecific genetic clusters based on gene network variation for various important phenotypic traits (e.g.: grain yield, yield related traits, flowering time). This novel approach would provide possibilities to assess the extent to which key functional genes and genetic variation may be threatened under future ecological conditions (Banta et al. 2012). Plant breeders have widely and successfully implemented genome wide breeding approach for the development of climate resilient varieties (Bohra et al. 2020; Gobu et al. 2020; Kumar et al. 2019), through marker assisted selection and genomic selection. Another approach is to increase variability within the species, particularly in Pop1, through mutation methods (using physical or chemical mutagens) combined with molecular markers (Targeted Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING)). Such techniques have been successfully used in breeding of many legume crops to enhance diversity and to develop mutant cultivars (Al-Khayri et al. 2019; Aliyu et al. 2016; Singh et al. 2014).