Glen Osmond, South Australia
June 28, 2011

G20 Agriculture Ministers in Paris have approved the establishment of a new International Research Initiative for Wheat Improvement. Dr Hélène Lucas from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and Professor Peter Langridge from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) presented the proposal to the G20 Agriculture deputies on the 12th May 2011. The historic agreement was reached by the Ag Ministers on 23rd June 2011.

The joint Australian / French initiative also involves other wheat focussed research institutes from around the world.

‘The establishment of this new initiative in wheat improvement will focus on a crop that has, until now, had low investment compared to other crops but is, however, very important to global food security,’ said Professor Langridge. ‘Wheat currently provides about 20 per cent of food calories globally and is the most widely grown crop worldwide, covering over 200 million hectares of farmland.’

‘Wheat production has not met worldwide demand in six of the past ten years, and demand will increase by at least 70 per cent by 2050,’ said Professor Langridge. ‘So this initiative is an important step for global food security.’

This research initiative will help to minimise duplication in wheat research and build and strengthen collaboration between research organisations with a wheat improvement focus.

ACPFG scientists are improving cereal crops’ tolerance to environmental stresses such as drought, heat, salinity and nitrogen use efficiency. These stresses are a major cause of yield and quality loss throughout the world and cause significant problems for cereal growers.

Website: http://www.acpfg.com.au

Published: June 28, 2011