Potatoes cultivated in the cold, dry Andean region of South America have given rise to varieties  that could tolerate drought. Scientist are trying to study these varieties of potatoes to identify the genes for drought tolerant trait and develop the mechanism for this trait. This will help to engineer new drought-resistant crops of potato, as well as other vegetables like tomato and brinjal which belong to the same group as potato.

Climate investment funds, a new tool to counter climate change. --

Without integrating  climate change into the development sector not much can be done for the future says Robert B Zoellick, World Bank President. Countries like UK, Japan and USA have started a financing mechanism to tackle climate change. Through  generation of funds, the adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change can be adopted successfully. Helping the vulnerable countries learn how to integrate climate change considerations into their development strategies is to be taken up on a priority basis. Several developing countries like India, Brazil and China are already taking climate actions in different ways. For example India has managed to decouple its CO₂ emissions from economic growth for almost a decade, while Brazil is putting in place its policy programs.  

Developing drought resistant wheat and heat tolerant wheat might provide relief to farmers.

In the wake of massive foodgrain shortages, major wheat growing areas are anticipated  to be under drought stress due to climate change. Offering a solution to the global wheat crisis scientists in Australia claim to have developed two lines of drought resistant wheat. In this context, scientists quote  the example of Victoria province in Australia where the wheat crop was significantly reduced by drought in 2006/2007. The research work  for developing a heat tolerant wheat variety without reducing the yield of the grain is also going on.

Genetically engineered crops might not help in solving climate change problems.

The New York Times has corrected a statement about the farming community in India where it has accepted that India is under a lot of pressure by the MNCs to introduce genetically engineered crops. But, it is true that these are not "crops with greater yields" since no crops have been engineered for increased productivity. Such a fact is corroborated by a recent report from the U.N. and the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development. Several studies have reportedly found that  genetically modified soybeans and corn in fact show 5 to 10 percent reductions in yield. Thus, genetically modified crops cannot play a substantial role in solving key problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, hunger or poverty.