Wheat with a pinch of salt
A multinational programme to improve the salt tolerance of wheat, has been started. The objechve is to make it easier to grow the crop on salt-laden soil by breeding to incorporate genes from one of its progenitors, the wild grass Aegilops squarrosa. Research will also be carried out into the more distant relatives of modern bread wheat, such as the genus Thinopyrum, which offers a source of far more potent genes for salt tolerance. The collaborative programme involves the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre,(CIMMYT) in Mexico, the Centre for Arid Zone Studies at Bangor, Wales, and the Inshtute of Plant Science Research (IPSR) in Cambridge: Britain's ODA is funding the work at the fPSR. At Bangor, the research has concentrated on the sand couch, Thinopyrum bessarabicum, which can withstand prolonged exposure to salt at concentrahons far above those lethal to wheat. Plant breeders at IPSR have succeeded in crossing sand couch with wheat and because the salt-tolerant genes of the couch are dominant, the resulting hybrid inherits the grass's salt tolerance. The breeders also aim to improve the tolerance of wheat to waterlogging, so that farmers can grow the crop on poorly-drained soil. Salty soils are often waterlogged and it is important that crops can tolerate both these stresses. For more details, contact: The Centre for Arid Zone Studie IPSR University of Wales Cambridge Laboratories Bangor Trumpington Gwynedd LL57 2DG Cambridge CB2 2JB UK
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
1989
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/45067 |
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