International Winter Wheat Improvement Program: results and perspectives

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International Winter Wheat Improvement Program
results and perspectives
International Winter Wheat Improvement Program
MARA

CIMMYT
ICARDA Ministry of Agricultural and
Rural Affairs International Maize
and International Center for
Agricultural Republic
of Turkey Wheat
Improvement Center
Research in Dry Areas

• Ahmet Bagci, Alexey Morgounov and Mesut Keser
• Turkey-CIMMYT-ICARDA

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Introduction

• International Winter Wheat Improvement Program
  (IWWIP) is a joint venture between the Ministry
  of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Turkey,
  CIMMYT and ICARDA. The objective of IWWIP is
  improvement of winter/facultative wheat on a
  global scale through international breeding
  program in Turkey, facilitation of international
  germplasm exchange and networking. In the early
  1980s Turkey and CIMMYT established joint winter
  wheat breeding program for the region based in
  Anatolian Plateau of Turkey. In the late 1980s
  ICARDA Highland Wheat Breeding Program joined
  IWWIP to establish a well integrated
  international breeding framework. The main
  mandate area of IWWIP is presented on Fig. 1. In
  total, there are close to 15 mln ha of winter
  wheat in the region. The bread consumption in the
  region is very high (40-55 of daily calories
  come from wheat) making wheat very important
  crop. There is also substantial area of winter
  wheat in Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe. The
  breeding programs in these countries also
  cooperate closely with IWWIP.

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3900
600
6500
800
350
4000
Figure 1. Winter and Facultative Wheat Growing
Areas North Africa, Central and West Asia
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IWWIP breeding framework in Turkey
IWWIP utilizes tremendous diversity of Turkey in
its breeding framework (Figure 2). The wheat
cultivation environments vary in Turkey from
typical coastal high rainfall spring wheat to
cold and dry winter wheat grown at the altitudes
of 1000 masl and higher. The crosses are made in
Izmir (Turkey) and Aleppo (Syria) which are
mostly spring wheat environments. The resulting
F1s are grown in the same locations. F2
populations are screened for cold tolerance and
agronomic type at Anatolian Plateau (800-1000
masl) in Eskisehir. Selected F3 populations are
subjected to screening under artificial
inoculation by Yellow Rust in Ankara. Consecutive
selection is again done in Eskisehir including
the headrows. The Preliminary Yield Trials are
planted at 2-3 locations. The Yield Trials and
Advanced Yield Trials are planted at 5-6
locations covering the typical environments as
well as the hot spots for diseases. There are two
streams of germplasm targeting irrigated and
rainfed environments. The best selected lines are
distributed through the international nurseries
system. The overall volume of breeding work is
presented in Figure 3.

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Research Stations in Turkey contributing to the
Turkey CIMMYT ICARDA International Winter
Wheat Improvement Program
Samsun
Edirne
Erzurum
Adapazari
Ankara
Eskisehir
Diyarbakir
Izmir
Konya
Adana
Aleppo
SW
WW
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IWWIP framework in Turkey crosses, F1 and F1Top
Eskisehir
Izmir
Aleppo
SW
WW
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IWWIP framework in Turkey F2
F2
Eskisehir
F1
Izmir
Aleppo
SW
WW
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IWWIP framework in Turkey F3
F3
F2
Ankara
Eskisehir
F1
Izmir
Aleppo
SW
WW
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IWWIP framework in Turkey F4 and Head Rows
F3
F2
Ankara
F1
Eskisehir
F4,HR
Izmir
Aleppo
SW
WW
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IWWIP framework in Turkey PYT
Samsun
Edirne
PYT
Erzurum
Adapazari
PYT
Ankara
PYT
Eskisehir
Diyarbakir
F4,HR
Izmir
PYT
PYT
Konya
Adana
Aleppo
SW
WW
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IWWIP framework in Turkey PYT
YTAYT
YTAYT
YTAYT
Samsun
Edirne
Erzurum
Adapazari
YTAYT
Ankara
YTAYT
Eskisehir
Diyarbakir
Izmir
PYT
YTAYT
Adana
Konya
Aleppo
SW
WW
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IWWIP framework in Turkey seed multiplication
for international distribution
W. Europe
Russia E. Europe
Central Asia
USA S. America
Edirne
China
Konya
Aleppo
WANA
SW
WW
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Figure 2. Research institutes and stations in
Turkey contributing to IWWIP
Samsun
Edirne
Erzurum
Adapazari
Ankara
Eskisehir
Diyarbakir
Izmir
S. Urfa
Konya
Adana
Aleppo
Spring wheat environment
Winter wheat environment
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Figure 3. IWWIP volume of work in Turkey
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IWWIP breeding objectives and results

• IWWIP breeding objectives reflect the
  environmental challenges, biotic stresses,
  technologies applied by the farming community and
  the end-use preferences . The following traits
  are considered important
• Broad adaptation and stable yield across changing
  environment
• Drought tolerance for the germplasm targeted for
  semi-arid environments
• Grain quality
• Resistance to diseases and primarily rusts
• Yellow Rust
• Leaf Rust
• Stem Rust
• Cold tolerance and winter hardiness
• The progress reached in breeding for yellow and
  leaf rust is reflected in Figure 4. It is obvious
  that the majority of the germplasm demonstrate
  resistance to yellow and leaf rusts.

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Figure 4. The frequency of IWWIP advanced lines
resistant to yellow and leaf rust in 1999-2006
2006 YT AYT Irrigated 144 lines out of 353 are
resistant to both YR and LR 41 2006 YT AYT
Rainfed 158 lines out of 353 are resistant to
both YR and LR 45
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• The new stem rust race Ug 99 appeared in Africa
  (Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia) and devastated wheat
  production in those countries. This is a great
  concern that it will spread to North Africa,
  Middle East, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and
  Indian subcontinent. The majority of the
  currently grown varieties (both spring and winter
  types) are susceptible to this new race. On
  average 10-15 of the Global Rust Initiative
  (GRI) started by CIMMYT and ICARDA to prevent
  losses from stem rust. Wheat germplasm is
  screened in Kenya and Ethiopia. The 2006
  screening resulted in identification of resistant
  germplasm (Table 1) which will be utilized in the
  crossing program.
• The overall good progress in yield, adaptation
  and other traits has been achieved so far (Table
  2). Improvement of grain quality remains
  important priority both for Turkey and for
  Central Asia and Caucasus region.

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Table 1. The field reaction of winter wheat
varieties to stem rust in Kenya
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Table 2. The progress for individual traits
achieved by IWWIP
- poor progress - good progress
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International cooperation network

• IWWIP maintains strong cooperation with key
  winter wheat programs outside of Turkey which
  assist in the germplasm evaluation and
  distribution (Figure 5). IWWIP also remains the
  only international program actively facilitating
  global winter wheat germplasm exchange. Many
  breeding programs routinely send the germplasm to
  Turkey for multiplication and global distribution
  through international nurseries (being used in
  breeding activities). The data obtained from
  cooperators is summarized and made available to
  the breeding community. From 2007 IWWIP offers
  the following nurseries to winter wheat breeding
  programs
• Facultative and Winter Wheat Observation Nursery
  for Irrigated Conditions (FAWWON-IRR) small
  plots for evaluation and selection
• Facultative and Winter Wheat Observation Nursery
  for Semiarid Conditions (FAWWON-SA) small plots
  for evaluation and selection
• Facultative and Winter Wheat Yield Trial for
  Irrigated Conditions (FAWWYT-IRR) replicated
  trial for yield evaluation
• Facultative and Winter Wheat Yield Trial for
  Semiarid Conditions (FAWWYT-SA) replicated trial
  for yield evaluation
• All the nurseries include the germplasm
  developed by IWWIP and submitted by cooperating
  programs from outside of Turkey.
• Selections from international nurseries resulted
  in a number of new wheat varieties released in
  Turkey, Iran and Central Asia/Caucasus region
  (Table 3).

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Figure 5, IWWIP international collaboration
network.
Eastern Europe Sources of superior germplasm
USA (Oregon SU) Sources of superior germplasm
Nursery distribution for N. S. America
USA
Iran Germplasm screening
CAC Germplasm screening
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Table 3. IWWIP germplasm released in Central Asia
and Caucasus
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Acknowledgement

• IWWIP is a unique program uniting international
  centers and programs in Turkey and it is only
  possible due to contribution of the partners and
  the cooperators worldwide.

Contact information
Dr. Ahmet Bagci abagci_at_selcuk.edu.tr Dr. Alexey
Morgounov a.morgounov_at_cgiar.org Dr. Mesut
Keser m.keser_at_cgiar.org