Genomic architecture and breeding trade‐offs of coconut drought tolerance

Abstract

The coconut palm is an extremely popular and economically important crop, with around 65 million tonnes produced in 2023. Although Africa's coconut sector is growing rapidly, it—and the livelihoods that depend on it—is threatened by climate change, particularly increased drought. Although developing stress‐resilient crops remains challenging, here we aimed to first understand the variation in drought response and then to dissect the genomic basis of this complex trait, leveraging an experimental system in Côte d'Ivoire. Despite identifying a trade‐off between drought tolerance and yield, we propose that genomic selection, after validation, could help expand production onto marginal land.