A $5m (€4.1m) grant has been awarded to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to help develop more climate-resilient wheat varieties.

The grant has been awarded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and will fund research into pioneering wheat breeding technologies to produce heat-tolerant, drought-resistant and climate-resilient wheat.

According to the United Nations, wheat makes up 20% of all calories and protein consumed in the world.

The demand for wheat is expected to rise in the coming years - as much as 60% by 2050.

However, hotter and drier weather in the key wheat-growing regions of the world threatens the global wheat supply.

Global research programmes

CIMMYT leads global research programmes on maize and wheat and sustainable cropping systems.

Their research activities have driven major gains in wheat variety improvement across the globe.

In the US alone, over 50% of the wheat acreage is sown with CIMMYT-related varieties.

CIMMYT researchers and collaborators currently apply cutting-edge approaches in genomics, remote sensing and big data analysis to develop new breeding technologies.

However, a key aspect which it aims to explore is the vast and underutilised reserve of wheat genetic resources to protect the crop against current and future climate-related stresses. Wheat has a complex genetic makeup.

“This project will help bridge a longstanding gap between state-of-the-art technological findings and crop improvement to deliver climate resilient wheat to farmers as quickly as possible,” said head of Wheat Physiology at CIMMYT Matthew Reynolds, who is principal investigator of the project.

Match funding

FFAR’s investment was matched by a $4.5m contribution from the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat.

It also received a $7.5m contribution from Accelerating Genetic Gains for Maize and Wheat (AGG), a project which is jointly funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), for a total $17m (€14m) investment to advance wheat breeding research.