2 - Wheat

Abstract

Wheat is the most important and strategic food crop for ensuring food security at the global level. The demand for wheat has been increasing tremendously with the increasing population. The production of wheat globally has increased dramatically from 218.5 million tons in 1961 to 732 million tons in 2013 mainly due to the adoption of semidwarf high-yielding and input-responsive wheat varieties. Wheat genetic resources have played a significant role in wheat improvement by contributing important sources of genes for yield potential, broad adaptation, short plant height, improved grain quality, and resistance/tolerance to major abiotic and biotic stresses. In view of the threat of genetic erosion associated with many natural and anthropogenic factors including climate change and the rapid expansion and domination of mega wheat cultivars across the major wheat agroecologies, efforts have been made to collect and conserve wheat genetic resources ex situ in genebanks. To date more than 900,000 wheat accessions (wild relatives, land races, synthetic wheats, breeding lines, and genetic stocks) are conserved in different genebanks at the global level. Management and utilization of such huge but important genetic resources, however, is a big challenge. Application of modern tools and strategies, such as Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy, effective gene introgression methods, and genomics, are essential in improving genetic resource utilization and improving breeding efficiency.