home news forum careers events suppliers solutions markets expos directories catalogs resources advertise contacts
 
News Page

The news
and
beyond the news
Index of news sources
All Africa Asia/Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East North America
  Topics
  Species
Archives
News archive 1997-2008
 

International agreement to focus on improved durum wheat disease resistance - Canadian Wheat Alliance and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center will collaborate on improving the yield, sustainability, and profitability of wheat


new-wheat-allianceSaskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
June 9, 2014

The Canadian Wheat Alliance (CWA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) will collaborate on research to provide farmers in Canada and in developing countries access to stronger, more resistant durum wheat. The joint research builds upon both organizations’ programs to improve the yield, sustainability and profitability of wheat.

The research represents an opportunity to improve durum wheat’s resistance to diseases of
concern to CIMMYT and CWA, while providing economic benefits for Canadian wheat farmers. Researchers will seek to reduce the effects of wheat rust diseases and of Fusarium head blight, a cause of dangerous toxins in grain, by increasing durum wheat’s resistance to these global fungal diseases, leveraging the expertise of CWA in wheat genomics approaches and CIMMYT’s expertise in field trials.

Quick Facts
 

  • CIMMYT is a non-profit, research-for-development institution that works through global
    partnerships to develop and promote improved maize and wheat varieties and cropping systems for developing countries. The Center conserves, studies, and shares one of the world’s largest and most diverse maize and wheat seed collections.
  • The Canadian Wheat Alliance represents an unprecedented 11-year commit¬ment among Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the University of Saskatchewan, the Government of Saskatchewan and the National Research Council Canada, to support and advance research that will improve the profitability of Canadian wheat producers.
  • The Canadian Wheat Alliance’s six projects focus on reducing crop losses due to drought, heat, cold stress, and disease, while reducing nitrogen fertilizer requirements for the benefit of Canadian farmers.
  • Fusarium head blight has cost Canadian wheat producers more than CAD $1.5 billion in lost income since the mid-1990s. See additional links.
  • During 2001-03, a new strain of leaf rust overcame the resistance of the most widely grown variety in a 250,000-hectare durum wheat cropping area in northwestern Mexico, causing  grain losses worth an estimated US $32 million and chemical control costs of over $16 million. A 2004 study showed that CIMMYT’s work over a 40-year span to improve the resistance of spring bread wheat to leaf rust generated economic benefits of more than $5 billion. See additional links.

Related Products

Additional Links
 

 



More news from:
    . University of Saskatchewan
    . CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center)
    . Canadian Wheat Alliance (CWA)


Website: http://www.usask.ca

Published: June 10, 2014

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated
Fair use notice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Copyright @ 1992-2024 SeedQuest - All rights reserved