Weatherwatch: Buckwheat, miracle crop for a future of extreme heat

Most Britons will not be familiar with buckwheat. It’s not really part of our traditional cuisine, although we may have eaten some. But in many part of the world the seeds are part of the staple diet, for example as an eastern European porridge called kasha , Japanese noodles and American waffles. It’s not a grain, and is not a type of wheat; buckwheat is the seed of a plant related to rhubarb, and is likely to became a useful alternative crop for arable farmers as global heating bites.

A new study that compared wheat and buckwheat success rates in a high carbon dioxide atmosphere, plus the temperatures and drought conditions that we can expect in the coming decades, found buckwheat survived and produced its crop of seeds in conditions that killed wheat or severely curtailed grain production. Buckwheat also has the advantage of being gluten-free and rich in fibre and minerals. Because it flowers for months, it is also a favourite for bees and other insects. One plus for farmers is it likes poor soils so no expensive fertilisers are needed.

Flour made from buckwheat is used to make the traditional galettes (pancakes) in Brittany and it’s already grown in Devon . Pioneering farmers there have been experimenting with how to make high-quality flour and how to best harvest an entirely new crop.