A study carried out by the research group in Ecophysiology and Biotechnology of the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (UJI), in Spain, working in partnership with scientists from France, Greece and the United Kingdom, has concluded the main crops in the Mediterranean basin, such as citrus fruits, vines and olive trees, will be affected by climate change, and that their production will be drastically reduced. The rising temperatures and the reduced access to hydric resources will take a toll on the phenology of these fruit trees, altering their sprouting, flowering, setting and fruit ripening patterns. At the economic level, the consequences for the regions producing these fruits will be serious, as they will lose commercial competitiveness against other producing countries. Another important aspect is the quality of the fruit that will be obtained. In the case of citrus, the high temperatures can have an impact on the balance between sugars and acids, resulting in fruits without their characteristic hints of sourness. As for olive trees, the impact can be even "more dramatic", since the flowering is affected by the high temperatures in spring, summer and autumn affect, which could take a negative toll on the setting, as the timeframe in which the crops are produced would change. These changes in the periods in which the crops sprout or bloom would also have a direct impact on pollinating insects, as the synchronization that exists between the flowering and the hatching of those insects would be lost, and the production volume would fall as a result. The main author of the work, Carlos de Olla, stresses that the climatic variation prospects in the Mediterranean basin and its impact on agriculture "show the relevance of biotechnology as a fundamental discipline in the production of fruit trees with better characteristics, given how it makes it possible to maintain or even improve their productivity and quality." The research group in Ecophysiology and Biotechnology has also recently taken part in a study that has revealed how agricultural biodiversity is an effective tool to combat pests and the effects of climate change on crops. The results of the work showed that the preservation of traditional varieties can tackle the impact of water deficit and the damage caused by the red spider. Source - https://www.freshplaza.com/