Traditional cultivars, improved performance: reflections on the climate change intensity of traditional foods

Although there are statistics about the decline in the use of traditional cultivars, several researchers are supporting the idea that these varieties will continue to play an important role for many crops in a wide variety of production systems in the future because of their adaptation to marginal and low-input agriculture. Furthermorefarmers around the world are still using traditional varieties to help coping with climate change. However, few studies have made specific environmental evaluations of traditional crop varieties in comparison with their modern relatives. Starting from literature case studies, some remarks on the application of the LCA approach to traditional crop varieties are drawn.