New Global Collaboration to Develop High Yielding Wheat Varieties

A new global alliance that aims to raise the yield potential of wheat by up to 50 percent over the next twenty years was formally proposed at a meeting held in Mexico City on November 13, 2012 that brought together representatives from governmental and non-governmental organizations across the world. The said meeting led to the establishment of the Wheat Yield Network (WYN) within the framework of the G20-sponsored Wheat Initiative that will pursue new and flexible approaches to supporting wheat research in multinational programs and to integrate complementary initiatives. During the said meeting the importance of a global platform to meet the food security goals for wheat through yield improvement programs was discussed. The WYN proponents acknowledged the need to actively coordinate existing research efforts such as the Wheat Yield Consortium led by CIMMYT under the CGIAR Wheat Research Program, and to link to other research programs. In a Communiqué that was later prepared, the WYN proponents agreed to create a working group that will define the structure, function, scientific scope, and governance of the proposed network.

Related news article: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/food-security/2012/121130-n-new-multinational-wheat-initiative.aspx. The WYN Communiqué can be downloaded at: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/FILES/Resources/wheat-yield-network.pdf.