BERLIN, GERMANY — The Wheat Initiative is participating at the G20 meeting of the Agricultural Chief Scientists that is taking place April 17-19 in Varanasi, India.

John Spink, chair of the initiative’s Institutions’ Coordination Committee, presented about the importance of coordination in research to address the challenges threatening global food security.

The Wheat Initiative is an example of the value of collaborative research. A key objective has been enhancing sustainable wheat production under increased climate stress and access to the best and safest technologies in breeding, agronomy, plant nutrition and protection against pathogens and pests.

Spink outlined the programs of the Wheat Initiative, including the Alliance for Wheat Adaption to Heat and Drought (AHEAD) and the Wheat Initiative Crop Health Alliance (Watch-A), the 10+ Wheat Genomes Project, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), as well as the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP).

“In my opinion the WI is a success story for international cooperation in research leading to tangible outputs and Germany, especially the Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI), is happy to host the office of the WI since 2018,” said Frank Ordon, member of the German delegation and president of JKI.

The Wheat Initiative is a vital organization that coordinates wheat research worldwide.  However, it is the only G20 crop improvement initiative although crop improvement and crop diversity is critical to face the challenges posed by the climate crisis. There is a large number of other cereals with great potential for improvement and these could improve diversity and help secure food security.

The Wheat Initiative was established in 2011 to support and coordinate the international exchange of ideas, resources and capacities to enhance the sustainable production of high-quality wheat to support global food security.