Wheat demand is expected to grow by 50% by 2050. Meanwhile, wheat is facing new and more severe pests and diseases. There are other challenges, including; depleting water resources and limited accessible acreage for wheat growing. There is an urgent need to do something about wheat to ensure we increase its production. This can best be done by combating the challenges that are currently facing wheat growth.
Our wheat program is an important public source of nutritious, high-yielding, disease-resistant, and climate-resilient wheat varieties. These wheat varieties can do well in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
Through our network of worldwide nurseries, we collaborate with research and breeding institutes to get quality wheat varieties by sharing data and breeding lines.
Collaboration with other key players has been instrumental in developing new and adaptive wheat varieties.
Our wheat research aims to:
- Develop disease and pest-tolerant wheat lines that are climate nutritive, robust, and high producing.
- Develop genetically diverse wheat varieties using precise phenotyping approaches and other tools, such as remote sensing. This helps us achieve high annual genetic yield gains.
- Look into new market possibilities for small-scale farmers for better wheat prices.
- Ensure that partners in the national agricultural research system are active participants in the breeding process.
- Conduct research to assist farmers in maximizing the benefits of better seeds while preserving soil and water resources.
- Use the most up-to-date molecular breeding, bioinformatics, and selection techniques.
- Provide wheat breeding and crop management research training opportunities for farmers
- Use wheat wild relatives’ genetic diversity to the farmer’s advantage.
Genetic resources
Each year, we provide thousands of seed packages to our partners in different countries as a result of our breeding activities. We also develop and promote productive and precise farming methods and tools. This saves money and resources such as water, soil, and fertilizer.
Basically, three units support conservation, utilization, and related research. These include biometrics and statistics, data management, and seed health. Then there are the seeds of the discovery initiative, whose role is to examine and document the biodiversity of tea and white. This makes it easier to use crop breeding to meet current and future food production.
