The Wheat Initiative (WI) was invited to participate and present at the G20 Meeting of the Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS-G20), which takes place in Varanasi, India, from 17 to 19 April 2023.

The WI representatives at the meeting are chair of the WI institutions’ co-ordination committee Teagasc's John Spink and WI programme manager Teresa Saavedra.

The presentation of WI’s work, given by John Spink, set a major focus on the importance of co-operation and co-ordination in research to address the challenges threatening global food security.

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Key objective

A key objective has been to enhance sustainable wheat production under increased climate stress and access to the best and safest technologies in breeding, agronomy, plant nutrition and protection against pathogens and pests.

These factors, according to Teagasc, are essential and have to be implemented through a strong science-based framework.

Spink outlined the programmes of the WI, including the Alliance for Wheat Adaption to Heat and Drought (AHEAD) and the Wheat Initiative Crop Health Alliance (Watch-A), the 10+ Wheat Genomes Project, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), as well as the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP).

Member of the German delegation and president of the Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI) Frank Ordon said: “In my opinion, the WI is a success story for international co-operation in research leading to tangible outputs and Germany, especially the Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI), is happy to host the office of the WI since 2018.”

The conclusion was that the WI is a vital organisation that co-ordinates wheat research worldwide.

However, it is the only G20 crop improvement initiative, although crop improvement and crop diversity are critical to face the challenges posed by the climate crisis, Teagasc argued.

The WI was established in 2011 to support and co-ordinate the international exchange of ideas, resources and capacities to enhance the sustainable production of high-quality wheat to support global food security.

It will continue to provide and maintain a network of highly active experts to tackle the threats to the G20 goal of achieving global food security.