Exploring opportunities to improve wheat performance to future warmer climates (2017–2020)
- Abstract:
- High temperature is a major yield limiting factor in many wheat producing regions, including Australia, where only a slight (2°C) increase in average growing temperature can halve the grain yield. Thus, developing wheat varieties with better adaptation to climate variability is crucial for ensuring food security. Breeding for heat tolerance is limited by the high cost and poor repeatability of field screening to select ideotypes with better yield under high temperatures. This project will explore the underlying physiological mechanisms, regulating wheat responses to high temperature, with the aim to develop a simple and reliable technique for screening heat tolerant wheat genotypes. The project will develop strong links and active collaboration with industry partners e.g. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland and Grain Research and Development Corporation to ensure the delivery of research outcomes and technologies to Queensland farming community. The project will also build research capacity in Queensland, advance the understanding of the plant damage occurring at high temperatures, improve the efficiency of heat tolerance research and increase the prospects for developing improved wheat varieties. Varieties with improved heat tolerance will deliver significant benefit to the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Queensland agriculture under current, and predicted future climates.
- Grant type:
- Advance Queensland Research Fellowships
- Researchers:
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- Funded by:
- Queensland Government Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation
