News › Providing solutions for food security - Rothamsted Research launches "20:20 Wheat ®"

Harvesting wheat

13 June 2012

Scientists at Rothamsted Research have launched a new 20:20 Wheat ® Programme at the UK Cereals 2012 event today, aiming to provide the knowledge base and tools to increase potential wheat yields in the UK to 20 tonnes per hectare within the next 20 years.

It is hoped that this could bring significant economic benefit to UK farmers as every 1 tonne per hectare increase in yield is estimated to be worth £318M per year at the farm gate.

Wheat provides a fifth of human calories, but since 1980 the rate of increase in wheat yields has declined. The average farm yield of wheat in the UK is currently around 9 tonnes per hectare and the world average is about 3 tonnes per hectare.

The UK Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington has stated the world is heading for a "perfect storm" of events where demands for energy, water and food will increase dramatically with an underlying threat of climate change, over the next 20-40 years. He said "the challenge for global agriculture is to grow more food on not much more land, using less water, fertiliser and pesticides than we have historically done".

The programme which is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) will seek ways to improve the quantity and quality of wheat, for example through genotype improvement, improved photosynthetic efficiency, altered canopy and root architecture, modified seed development and enhanced nutrient utilisation efficiency.

The head of the 20:20 Wheat programme at Rothamsted Research, Professor Martin Parry stated that "wheat is the world’s number one staple crop and has not benefitted from the attention afforded to corn and soybeans in recent years". He believes that "Rothamsted Research has the established collaborations and vision to deliver this programme" as it has "world-renowned expertise in photosynthesis, plant architecture, nutrient utilisation, wheat bioinformatics and wheat pathogenomics".

But the programme is not just about UK wheat yield. It is hoped that this ambitious target will help focus efforts to create multiple technologies that could benefit the world. Getting stable wheat yield increases in Africa, for example, by 2 tonnes per hectare could also have a significant impact on global food security.

The Director of Rothamsted Research Professor Maurice Moloney said "The purpose of setting ourselves a grand challenge like 20:20 Wheat ® is much more complex than the achievement of the final objective. It also serves as a focal point for effort and a unifying theme for collaborative ventures, which could not be achieved by an individual or a single team". He added, "take NASA’s objective to put a man on the moon. This Apollo program not only achieved its goal, but also generated hundreds of new products which are commonplace today including lens coatings on spectacles, integrated circuits for computing, the FAX machine and athletic shoes from Moonboots".

Rothamsted Research ideally positioned to be a world leader in wheat research. It is the longest running agricultural research station in the world, providing cutting-edge science and innovation for nearly 170 years with a mission to deliver the knowledge and new practices to increase crop productivity and quality and to develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and energy production. Its strength lies in its integrated, multidisciplinary approach to research in plant and soil science.

Contacts

› Martin Parry, Maurice Moloney and Malcolm Hawkesford

Request high resolution image

› Click here for options

Rothamsted Research Press Office

For further information, please contact Darren Hughes, Head of Communications, on +44 (0) 1582 763 133 ext 2673, email darren.hughes@rothamsted.ac.uk

Rothamsted is the longest running agricultural research station in the world, providing cutting-edge science and innovation for nearly 170 years. Our mission is to deliver the knowledge and new practices to increase crop productivity and quality and to develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and energy production. Our strength lies in our integrated, multidisciplinary approach to research in plant and soil science.

Rothamsted Research receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) . It is the longest running agricultural research station in the world, developing environmentally sustainable solutions for food and energy production through science and innovation for nearly 170 years.

About BBSRC

BBSRC is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences and the largest single public funder of agriculture and food-related research.

Sponsored by Government, BBSRC's budget for 2011-12 is around £445M which it is investing in a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution to the quality of life in the UK and beyond and supports a number of important industrial stakeholders, including the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

BBSRC provides institute strategic research grants to the following:

The Babraham Institute, Institute for Animal Health, Institute for Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (Aberystwyth University), Institute of Food Research, John Innes Centre, The Genome Analysis Centre, The Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh) and Rothamsted Research.

The Institutes conduct long-term, mission-oriented research using specialist facilities. They have strong interactions with industry, Government departments and other end-users of their research.

For more information see: www.bbsrc.ac.uk