b'billion people by 2050 without increasing emissions, fuelingBringing Researchers Togetherdeforestation or exacerbating poverty.This first IWC event was a merger of two previously parallel Searchinger noted that between 2010 and 2050, foodwheat symposia: the International Wheat Genetics Symposium production must rise 56 per cent in order to feed a growingthat took place every five years and the International Wheat populationand reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two- Conference held every four years. The two groups agreed to thirds in the process. join their efforts to create IWC, said international organizing Wheat can play a huge role in that, he said. committee chair Hermann Brstmayr. According to the report, to provide continuing yield gains,Wheat is in terms of acreage the largest crop on our globe. breeding will need to become more nuanced.Wheat is needed for food, feed and materials in countless ways In the past, much yield gain in the major cereals like wheatand wheat is a staple food for around two billion people, many of resulted from shifting biomass from vegetative parts to seedswhom live in [developing] countries. Research has to play its role and shortening and stiffening of the stems so they could supportto deliver know-how, improved production tools and improved more grain (resulting from higher fertilizer application) withoutcultivars to make wheat production sustainable, he said. falling over. These traits, which were largely responsible for theChallenges are plentiful, as they have always been. Certainly, Green Revolution, are in some cases reaching their biologicalthe more erratic weather extremes will be an important issue, limits; crops can only grow so close to one another before theycultivars need possibly more resilience and buffering capacity have no more space, and crops can only direct so much of theirthan before. Heat stress is very likely to increase. Also, resource growth into edible portions before they will no longer standefficiencyparticularly nutrient efficiency, such as nitrogen upright, the reports authors state.and phosphorous efficiencywill gain more relevance. And These limits, plus the need to boost crop yields even fasterwheat production is expanding into non-traditional areas, such than in historical trends, present the crop breeding challenge. as sub-Saharan Africa, which means production systems need As a result, four major related opportunities exist toto be established for these regions.increase crop yields through improved breeding: speedingCreating a new generation of wheat that is tolerant to heat up crop breeding cycles, marker-assisted and genomics- stress, drought stress, excess moisture and a constantly-evolving assisted breeding, improvement of orphan cropsor cropsarmy of pests will require ongoing efforts to collaborate whose acreage does not support research activitiesandglobally, which in many ways is already happening. University genetic modification. Searchinger emphasized that all theseof Saskatchewan researchersled by wheat breeder Curtis technologies play a role in creating new wheat for the world. Pozniak who helmed the events Canadian organizing Thats why were here. The work youre doing is incrediblycommitteeplayed a key role in mapping the wheat genome important, he said, and added that four recommendations toas part of an international consortium.enable innovation in wheat include boosting breeding budgets,The bread wheat genome is five times bigger than the human sharing genomic advances, leveraging new technologies, andgenomeits a beast. The effort required to undertake cutting-increasing research on orphan crops. edge research like wheat genome sequencing is massive, said Richard Cuthbert, wheat breeder at the Agriculture and Agri-The Funding Challenge Food Canada, Swift Current Research and Development Centre. According to the WRI report, the world probably devotes onlyThere are over 110,000 genes in bread wheat. Employing around 1.4 to 1.7 per cent of agricultural GDP to agriculturalnew technologies like gene editing will depend on how we can research and development, which is less than the rate of totaldissect complex traits to identify the genes that underlie them research spending relative to the total global economy (2.1 perand how those genes work together. Were standing on the cliff cent). of the next frontier in wheat. Now that we know what the genes Richard Gray, agricultural economist at the University ofare, we need to know how they work and interact with each Saskatchewan, gave a talk titled Successes and Failures inother.International Wheat Royalty Collection. He said strengtheningAlso during the event, Genome Canada announced an plant breeders rights through royalty collection is one wayinvestment of $11.2 million to go toward some exciting new to ensure more stable funding for variety development, anresearch spearheaded by Pozniak and fellow wheat researcher initiative currently underway in Canada through an attempt toSylvie Cloutier of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.create a value creation system via either a trailing royalty or end- Known as 4D WheatDiversity, Domestication, Discovery point royalty. and Deliverythis research will use wild-wheat relatives But there are challenges. According to Gray, UPOV 1991 Plantand elite germplasm along with industry-leading genomic Breeders Rights alone has generally failed to create a viabletechniques to better understand wheats genetic potential. private wheat breeding industry.The study will also examine the economics and policies of Producer support is an essential element of increased royaltyusing wild-wheat germplasm sources and germplasm from collection and support has come where producers have someinternational sources.long-term ownership in wheat breeding programs, he said.Pozniak and Cloutiers work will be based out of the Crop Public and producer partnerships have played an important roleDevelopment Centre at the University of Saskatchewan and in providing additional breeding resources while enhancingAgriculture and Agri-Food Canadas Ottawa Research and knowledge sharing. Development Centre, respectively. Marc ZienkiewiczFall 2019 55'