Hybrid wheat in Africa - increasing productivity and stability

The project “Hybrid wheat in Africa - increasing productivity and stability” will test several hundred hybrid spring wheat lines created with lines from major, global spring wheat regions such as Southern and Eastern Africa, the Americas, Australia and Europe. The test hybrids will be tested in 33 different environments on five continents over two years. This will test the hypothesis that geographically distant genepools can be exploited in wheat hybrids aiming at high, low and intermediate wheat production regions. Furthermore, extensive studies in Southern and Eastern Africa and Australia will investigate the perceived increased yield stability of wheat hybrids over traditional inbred varieties as stability of production is a key contributor to food security in developing countries. Finally, methods for cost-efficient hybrid seed production in South Africa will be tested with the aim of being able to produce affordable wheat hybrid seed locally.