Wheat is the major staple food in the Central and West Asia and North
Africa (CWANA) region where its per capita annual consumption is highest
in the world. Although CWANA is the largest producer of wheat in the developing
world, the production is not enough to meet demand. Importing wheat places
a heavy burden on the economy of the countries in the region.
|
|
| From
left, H.E Prof. Dr Sami Guclu, Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs, Turkey; Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA Director General;
and Dr Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General, in Ankara, Turkey,
February 2003. |
At least 40% (16.4 million hectares) of the
wheat in CWANA is grown in highland areas (at elevations above 900 meters).
These include highlands in West Asia, primarily in, Afghanistan, Iran,
Pakistan and Turkey; Central Asia and the Caucasus; and in parts of the
Atlas Mountains in North Africa. Highlands are known for their harsh environments
and poor accessibility, which account for their relative neglect when
it comes to research. These areas face many problems, including low and
uncertain rainfall, severe winters, isolation, low-yielding varieties
of wheat, and a host of destructive pests and diseases.
However, the future looks promising, thanks to the joint wheat improvement
program of CIMMYT and ICARDA, conducted in partnership with Turkey. Using
both conventional and modern research techniques, this program (the International
Winter Wheat Improvement Project, or IWWIP) has achieved great successes
in breeding high-yielding wheat varieties that are specifically adapted
to cold areas. What is more, these improved wheat genotypes are resistant
to both insect and nematode pests and to various fungal diseases.
Besides forging partnerships with scientists
in the region's National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), and conducting
capacity building and collaborative breeding activities, the IWWIP also
monitors the changing
face of pests and diseases across the region.
It conducts regular surveys to find out which pests and diseases are prevalent
and where; it has also set up screening nurseries across the region, using
a standardized set of methods. In this way, the program plays a pivotal
role in coordinating the deployment of appropriate wheat varieties--either
directly to farmers in need (such as those in Afghanistan), or to national
breeding programs to use them as sources of resistance to pests and diseases
threatening the crop in their countries. To date, 27 varieties developed
by IWWIP have been released, and 35 are scheduled for release.
|
