Millions of lives could be at risk because of the threat to food crops posed by conflict in the Middle East, scientists have warned.

Many of the most valuable wild relatives of crops vital to global food security grow in the Fertile Crescent – a region that encompasses Iraq, Syria, Israel and Lebanon.

Their loss would have a massive impact on the ability of the world to feed itself in the future, say the experts.

Yet a large proportion of these ‘crop wild relatives’ (CWRs) are either threatened with extinction or suffering a reduction in their genetic diversity.

In countries ravaged by war, efforts to preserve the plants and the traits that allow them to resist drought, pests and diseases are being increasingly compromised, it is claimed.

Nigel Maxted, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Biosciences, pointed out that by 2050 the global population was expected to grow from 7.26 billion to 9.6 billion.

He said: “If we’re trying to feed that ever increasing human population, we can categorically say that several million people would die as a result of these species not being present.

“Because the issue is that with crops they’re continually changing, continually being developed to overcome the changing pests and diseases.

“If we don’t have access to the resistance in the wild species then we can’t cross them with the crop, and our crops will produce less yield. More people, more starvation.”

Displaced Iraqi Christian women, who fled from Islamic State militants in Mosul, cook for refugees living at a mall still under construction which is now used as a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq. Photo: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

His team has produced the first comprehensive inventory of CWRs, listing 173 crops and their 1,667 most important wild relatives, together with particular traits.

It shows that, globally, 12 per cent of CWRs are threatened with extinction and all are likely to be suffering a loss of genetic diversity due to habitat loss, conflict, intensive agriculture, urban development, and environmental mismanagement.

If we’re trying to get food security in Europe, the issue is not conserving species that are currently found in Europe, but conserving species that are found in the Fertile Crescent, which is where the crops we consume every day generally come from

The two sites with the richest concentration of CWRs anywhere in the world lay within the borders of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

“The Middle East is where the basis of our future food security is located,” said Maxted.

“Wheat was brought from the Fertile Crescent centuries ago. If we’re trying to get food security in Europe, the issue is not conserving species that are currently found in Europe, but conserving species that are found in the Fertile Crescent, which is where the crops we consume every day generally come from.”

Maxted presented his findings at the start of this year’s British Science Festival, taking place at the University of Birmingham.

Experts from the university are involved in a new initiative by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to help conserve the plants in the countries where they are found.

The team is currently negotiating with governments in the Fertile Crescent to implement conservation schemes in some “hotspot” areas.

Fewer than one in 10 CWR species are preserved in seed banks, said Maxted. The largest collection of seeds in the Fertile Crescent was in Syria and believed to be under the control of rebel forces.

Identifying useful CWRs that can be crossed with agricultural crops involves guesswork and trial and error.Because it is not easy to predict what plants will be most useful, the best approach is to conserve them in their place of origin, said Maxted.

“You can have a range of seeds but the best thing is to conserve them where they are found, because then you can maximise the range of genetic diversity,” he added.

“In the end the ideal thing would be for the UN to set up a network of protected areas... We need the FAO to take the lead and help these countries to save the world.”

Examples of valuable CWRs include the wild wheat species Aegilops tauschii which is resistant to the Hessian fly, a serious cereal crop pest.

Saccharum arundinaceum, a relative of sugar cane, can survive very low temperatures and the wild peach relative Prunus ferganensis is tolerant of drought.