Improving wheat production sustainability in north-west India through
the use of biotechnology is the focus of a joint, three-day
Indian-Australian workshop commencing today at the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR) Conference Centre in Delhi.
The workshop, initiated by Dr Mangala Rai, Director General of ICAR,
will be co-hosted by ICAR and the Australian Centre for International
Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

In his opening remarks, the Australian High Commissioner to India,
John McCarthy, said the workshop will form the basis of a joint ICAR-ACIAR
collaborative five-year program on marker-assisted breeding in wheat in a
range of applications to improve disease resistance, drought and temperature
tolerance and quality of wheat.

"This workshop will determine the objectives for a series of
collaborative research projects which will bring together the world-class
wheat research expertise from both countries," said McCarthy.

Marker assisted selection is a tool that allows plant breeders to
'mark' specific genes that can deliver desirable traits. These genes
aredentified and marked, and descendants can be tested easily and quickly in
a laboratory for the 'marked' gene. This tool speeds up breeding programs,
achieving greater efficiency, consistency and accuracy in new varieties.

"Marker assisted selection in the ACIAR wheat-breeding projects will
hasten the development of better wheat traits such as disease and drought
resistance, and improved quality and yield," said McCarthy.

"Wheat is a major commodity for both countries, and Australia and
India are world leaders in wheat breeding. There is a long history of
successful collaboration through ACIAR, including the identification and
development of yellow rust resistant strains of wheat, and we look forward
to building on this."

In both India and Australia, changes in temperature and rainfall
conditions and emerging diseases are putting pressure on wheat production
systems, and there is an ongoing drive for improved quality (including high
protein and baking quality).

Australia is in a unique position of sharing similar agricultural
systems, environments and challenges with many parts of India, including
thelluvial Indo-Gangetic Plain, and the central wheat growing regions of
Madhya Pradesh.

ACIAR's partnership model provides research benefits to both
collaborating countries, by bringing together expertise from a range of
research organisations working on problems of common interest and generating
mutual benefits.


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