New wheats for a secure, sustainable future

Abstract

This paper reviews strategies used by CIMMYT and its partners to develop sustainable wheat production systems for favored and marginal areas. These strategies aim to achieve an optimal combination of the best genotypes (G), in the right environments (E), under appropriate crop management (M), and appropriate to the needs of the people (P) who must implement and manage them. The first section of the paper presents new options for raising wheat yield potential and discusses research on disease and stress tolerance, which is aimed at protecting yield potential in farmers' field (with special emphasis on drought tolerance). Next, advances in durum wheat yield potential are reviewed; these advances may probe particularly valuable in marginal environments. Other wheat research initiatives for marginal environments are described as well. This is followed by a review of the role of biotechnology in wheat improvement, research on wheat quality, and initiatives in crop and natural resource management research. The paper concludes with a summary of the latest data on the global impacts of wheat research and a discussion of trends that could affect whether and how this impact is maintained.