Scientists at a leading global cereal research institute expect a surge in new wheat varieties enriched with zinc that can boost the essential mineral for millions of poor people on inadequate diets, the institute’s head told Reuters.
Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), said he expects the newly developed high-zinc wheat to make up at least 80% of the varieties distributed worldwide over the next ten years, at about 9%. currently.
The Mexico-based institute’s research focuses on increasing the yields and livelihoods of the world’s poorest farmers, while also addressing the specific challenges posed by climate change, including higher temperatures, less rainfall and constantly mutating plant diseases.
The improved varieties of so-called biofortified wheat are being rolled out with the help of seed company partners in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico and Bolivia, among others.
Kropff said the Asian giant China may also be adopting the enriched wheat varieties this year.
He said he expects nearly all newly deployed wheat varieties to be nutritionally improved over the next decade, noting that the zinc-rich varieties were developed through traditional breeding techniques rather than research based on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
“This is something that’s really getting off to a big start this year,” said Kropff, who also pointed to CIMMYT-developed zinc-enriched corn introduced in Colombia in the past two years.
“I’m super proud of this,” he added, praising the ability of seeds to dent malnutrition through one of the world’s grains.
The dramatic expansion of the new wheat varieties, not previously reported, holds the promise of improving diets lacking essential minerals such as zinc and iron, which are used to fight viruses and move oxygen around the body.
Zinc deficiency in particular is one of the leading causes of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people.
Scientists at CIMMYT last year developed a research budget of $ 120 million and developed about 70% of the wheat varieties currently planted worldwide, as well as about half of the corn or maize varieties in the world.
The vast majority of CIMMYT’s research is non-GMO.
The institute was founded by Norman Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 and carries out research projects in some 50 countries. It has attracted funding from the US and UK governments, among others, as well as billionaires such as Bill Gates and Carlos Slim.
‘FIRST OF ITS KIND’ CORN
Kropff also mentioned three recently developed CIMMYT corn varieties that are resistant to Fall Armyworm (FAW), an insect that has wreaked havoc on crops in both Africa and Asia grown in Kenya using CIMMYT’s corn seed bank in Mexico. , the world’s largest.
“Just like humans, (the worms) also like corn, but they eat the leaves and also the grains and it’s really awful,” Kropff said.
The new varieties will be distributed in the coming months for performance testing in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, CIMMYT officials said.
Kropff, a 64-year-old Dutch scientist, said the FAW-resistant corn varieties are the first of their kind and have already been picked for trials in East African countries, ahead of similar routes expected in southern Africa later in the year.
He said that CIMMYT, which develops and implements some 35 improved wheat varieties worldwide in a typical year, fills a space that the largest profit-maximizing seed companies such as Germany’s Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE) or America’s Corteva Inc (CTVA.N) to avoid.
“We grow varieties specifically for those environments where the private sector cannot make a lot of money,” he said, explaining that the poorest farmers must also regularly adopt new varieties that can thrive in a world where pests and diseases are also constantly evolving.
“The small farmers trust us.”
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Principles of Trust.