Groundbreaking research,
using breeding strategies that
complement conventional wheat breeding, has shown
yield can be lifted by selecting certain physiological
traits.
Such increases, needed to satisfy an expected surge in
demand over the next 25 years, cannot be obtained through
conventional breeding. Wheat breeder Dr Matthew Reynolds,
who headed an ACIAR-funded research project at the
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in
Mexico, says today’s wheat appears to retain characteristics
from its wild wheat ancestors, therefore leaving room for
improvement.
“We are
still taming wheat,” he says. “Wild wheats used to grow in
competition with other plants such as weeds, whereas today
farmed wheats largely compete with themselves.”
CSIRO Plant Industry, the
Australian National University and the University of
Queensland worked together on the project, which ran from
1999 to 2006.
Dr Reynolds says new
breeding techniques are crucial to meet the expected
increased demand. “Current rate of genetic progress from
breeding will not meet predicted demand, especially in the
developing world,” he says.
