José Luis Araus, professor at the University of Barcelona's Faculty of Biology and member of Agrotecnio - CERCA centre in agrotechnology - participated in a study showing that wheat varieties perform best under ideal conditions (water, nutrients, temperature) also yield more in challenging environmental and agronomic situations, such as excessive heat or drought.
As a result of this discovery, researchers have considered how to breed more productive varieties, and point out that the most economical and efficient strategy to genetically improve crops is a two-step process: the first step is to select varieties with the highest yield potential, and the second step is to select varieties that are best adapted to the environment in which they will grow. This approach could lower costs, since it would reduce the number of sites needed to select advanced breeding lines.
The study, a review of the scientific literature published in Trends in Plant Science, involved researchers Alejandro del Pozo, from the University of Talca (Chile), and Victor Sadras, from the University of Adelaide (Australia).
A possible solution to a scientific debate
Increasing the yield potential of wheat and its resilience to factors such as drought or high temperatures - increasingly frequent due to climate change - is essential to feed a world population estimated to reach 9.5 billion people by 2050.
Genetic selection essential in this challenge, but it is an iterative and slow process: it consists of crossing individuals with the best agronomic and physiological traits and selecting the most promising offspring over multiple generations.
