Rothamsted and BBSRC Launch "20:20 Wheat"
Scientists at the Rothamsted Research and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) launched the new 20:20 Wheat® program to increase wheat yield in the UK to 20 tonnes per hectare within the next 20 years. The program was launched during the UK Cereals 2012 event which aims to provide the knowledge base and tools to tackle food security challenges amidst growing global population.
The program will fund research to improve the quantity and quality of wheat, for example through genotype improvement, improved photosynthetic efficiency, altered canopy and root architecture, modified seed development and enhanced nutrient utilization efficiency.
During the launch, UK Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington, has stated that, "the world is heading for a "perfect storm" of events where demands for energy, water and food will increase dramatically with an underlying threat of climate change, over the next 20-40 years. The challenge for global agriculture is to grow more food on not much more land, using less water, fertilizer and pesticides than we have historically done".
The complete article can be viewed at http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/food-security/2012/120613-pr-rothamsted-bbsrc-launch-wheat-20-20.aspx.
This article is part of the Crop Biotech Update, a weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA)
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