section_path: Impact of climate change on production/Adaptation strategies
section_name: Adaptation strategies
paragraph_text: Adaptation strategies
  
  Potato production is expected to decline in many areas due to hotter temperatures and decreased water availability. Conversely, production is predicted to become possible in high altitude and latitude areas where it has been limited by frost damage, such as in Canada and Russia. This will shift potato production to cooler areas, mitigating much of the projected decline in yield. However, this may trigger competition for land between potato crops and other land uses, mostly due to changes in water and temperature regimes.
  
  The other approach is through the development of varieties or cultivars which would be more adapted to altered conditions. This can be done through 'traditional' plant breeding techniques and genetic modification. These techniques allow for the selection of specific traits as a new cultivar is developed. Certain traits, such as heat stress tolerance, drought tolerance, fast growth/early maturation and disease resistance, may play an important role in creating new cultivars able to maintain yields under stressors induced by climate change.
  
  For instance, developing cultivars with greater heat stress tolerance would be critical for maintaining yields in countries with potato production areas near current cultivars' maximum temperature limits (e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa, India). Superior drought resistance can be achieved through improved water use efficiency (amount of food produced per amount of water used) or the ability to recover from short drought periods and still produce acceptable yields. Further, selecting for deeper root systems may reduce the need for irrigation.