Norwich, United Kingdom
November 2, 2015
Two separate John Innes Centre projects form part of just eight initiatives world-wide to receive funding from the BBSRC-supported International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP).
Simon Griffiths and Cristobal Uauy have received a share of the overall $20m pot for their work on the world’s most staple crop – wheat.
Dr Griffiths leads a consortium including scientists from the University of Bristol, the University of Buenos Aires, CSIRO in Australia, CIMMYT in Mexico and ICREA in Spain. His project will built on the CIMMYT diversity toolkit of genetic breeding resources to maximize the harvest index by controlling the duration of developmental phases.
Dr Uauy’s work will focus on identifying genes affecting the number of grains per spike as well as the overall size and weight of individual grains. He leads a team including partners from the University of California Davis and CIMMYT.
He said: “IWYP is a fantastic opportunity to work with international partners on increasing yield potential in wheat. We aim to identify and characterise genes which affect the individual components which affect overall yield in wheat, such as grain number, grain size and the weight of the grains. With this funding we will be able to work with our IWYP partners to generate new wheat varieties with improved combinations of these genes.”
The IWYP’s goal is to raising the genetic yield potential of wheat by up to 50% over the coming 20 years.
Dr Jeff Gwyn, IWYP Programme Director, said: “IWYP received many very good and potentially high impact proposals. Final decisions for funding awards were based upon a rigorous international expert peer review for scientific excellence that also identified research projects that were best aligned with the research needs of IWYP.”
Funding agencies include BBSRC, Grains Research and Development Corporation of Australia (GRDC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Department of Biotechnology of India (DBT), and Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) through the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico (CIMMYT).
Steve Visscher, BBSRC Deputy Chief Executive – International, said: “This is a very exciting step that we have been working towards for several years. The critical issue of food security relative to a rapidly expanding population, coupled with the effects of climate change, is a global one that requires immediate international action since the scientific discovery, development and delivery process takes many years. We believe that IWYP is but one important new strategy to address this issue. IWYP also provides a new model for a public-private partnership and how coordinated international research programs can be done effectively and efficiently.”
Dr Richard Flavell FRS, chair of the Science Impact and Executive Board of IWYP, says: “This is particularly exciting in that IWYP is a new funding and coordination partnership for stimulating wheat yield genetic research and development. IWYP will push the translation of scientific discoveries into elite wheat varieties ready for marketing to both non-industrialised and industrialised countries. It brings together research funders, international aid agencies, foundations, private industry and major wheat research organizations to help realize the IWYP goals.”
Globally, wheat is the most important staple crop, providing 20% of daily calories and protein. Due to population growth and changing diets, wheat demand is expected to increase by 60% by 2050. To meet this demand, annual wheat yield increases must grow from the current level of below 1% to at least 1.7%. These urgent global needs have provided the motivation for the formation of IWYP by major agricultural research funding organisations in many countries with the goal of raising the genetic yield potential of wheat by up to 50% over the coming 20 years. This will contribute to solutions for global food security, in the face of an increasing population.
The Partnership was instigated by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2012.
IWYP represents a long-term, global endeavour that utilizes a collaborative approach to bring together funding from public and private research organisations from a large number of countries.
The Partnership will support both core infrastructure and facilitate transnational open calls for research, all targeted at raising the yield potential of wheat.
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