Jabal: New drought-tolerant wheat that scientists say can withstand extreme heat

A new variety of drought-resistant durum wheat has been created as part of an international breeding program aimed at building the climate resilience of the food system by increasing crop diversity.< /p>

Durum wheat is used to make pasta, pizza crusts and flatbreads such as pitta and chapatis, as well as couscous, bulgur and pastry for desserts such as baklava.

The new Jabal wheat, which means "mountain" in Arabic, was developed by farmers and agronomists by crossing a commercial durum wheat with a wild relative from an arid region of Syria, to create a new durum wheat variety that can withstand drought.

This is part of the Crop Trust's Wild Parents Project, which uses genetically diverse crop varieties to help develop more resilient and adaptive wheat, barley, rice and potato varieties that can withstand weather conditions erratic and extreme conditions caused by climate degradation.

Although they are not yet commercially available, Moroccan farmers will be the first to start growing the new version durum wheat, widely consumed in North Africa and the Middle East, in about three years. Morocco is suffering its worst drought in four decades, and cereal production has fallen by around 70% due to extremely dry conditions.

Pastoralists and farmers in affected areas by drought planted many new durum wheat varieties between 2017 and 2021. Jabal stood out because it was able to thrive and produce grain when all commercial durum wheat varieties failed. Its distinctive black tips also produced high yields of plump kernels that made tasty bread, the scientists said. -type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-10khgmf">

"Many farmers said it was love at first sight when they saw it standing tall when all the other varieties were destroyed by the drought," said Filippo Bassi, principal scientist of the durum wheat breeding program at the International Centre. for Agricultural Research in Arid Zones (Icarda) in Lebanon.

Wheat, the most consumed cereal in the world, is grown on all continents except Antarctica and consumed by billions of people.

Harvest failures due to biodiversity loss and extreme weather events such as drought, extreme heat and Floods have led to higher wheat prices and food insecurity in many parts of the world, exacerbated by Russia's war against Ukraine, as both countries...