Two Long-Term Programs on Wheat and Maize Granted by the French Stimulus Initiative

Two long term international programs for wheat and maize have been recently granted support by the French Stimulus Initiative. Wheat and maize being the staple in France, as well as in Europe have been faced with major global challenges due to increasing food and non-food demands, calls for reducing environmental footprint and growing uncertainties due to climate change.

BREADWHEAT, the wheat initiative, aims "to develop efficient genome sequence-based tools and new methodologies for breeding wheat varieties with improved quality, sustainability, and productivity." It involves 26 partners, including 11 private companies, in France and in Europe with a budget of € 39 million for 9 years.

AMAIZING, the research consortium on corn "focuses on establishing tools and methods, and on producing plant material based upon association mapping and ecophysiological studies of maize under abiotic stresses." The research will be carried out in collaboration with 24 partners, including 7 breeding companies and 2 biotech companies with a budget of €30 million for 8 years.

See the original article at http://www.international.inra.fr/press/2_long_term_programmes_on_wheat_and_maize.