A 2025 research review on cassava and climate resilience makes a fairly strong claim that cassava could become one of the most important crops for food security in a warming world. The paper highlights that cassava can withstand drought, poor soils, and irregular rainfall better than many staple crops, while also acting as an insurance crop, as it can stay in the ground and be harvested when needed during food shortages. It already feeds hundreds of millions of people and supports rural incomes, especially in Africa.
Reading this also made me think about India. We already grow climate-resilient crops like millets (such as ragi and bajra), sorghum (jowar), pulses, and cassava in some regions, all of which can tolerate heat and lower water availability better than crops like rice.
The bigger takeaway for me is this - climate resilience may not come from new crops alone, but from re-evaluating crops we already have but underuse.
Which crops do you think are likely to become more important in your region as the climate changes?
