While thirsty crops like alfalfa and corn dominate the region, [farmer Laura] Parker has emerged as a leader in revitalizing a wide variety of crops that grow well in arid ecosystems. She uses real-time growing conditions to develop drought-hardy vegetable, grain, and legume varieties that farmers across the Southwest can grow in the conditions created by the changing climate. Currently, she has 133 varieties of vegetables and grains available, with about 50 more in development.

Though Parker flood-irrigates her production fields, she strategically stretches the time between waterings to look for plants that are more drought tolerant than others. Then she saves their seeds.

“With some of the crops, I’ll try to irrigate every 15 days, which is really stretching the level of what they can handle,” Parker says. “There are different benefits in intentionally restricting water. In certain crops, I’m seeing a different root morphology, and that’s one of the things that I’m most excited about.”

Parker explains that a big piece of developing drought tolerance is breeding and selecting for plants with stronger taproots that can dig deep into the soil to find water. Plants with a taproot tend to do better in drier soil conditions, creating more resilience and self-sufficiency.

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