Salt-tolerant wheat to boost food production

A salt-tolerant wheat has been created by scientists that may help combat the threat to food production posed by climate change.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Mar 2012, 09:57 BST

Grain yields are boosted by up to 25 per cent when the crop is grown in salty soils. In normal conditions, it performed as well as ordinary wheat.

The durum wheat strain, containing a wild salt-tolerance gene, was produced by conventional breeding methods rather than genetic modification.

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Durum wheat is used to make foods such as pasta and couscous and is especially vulnerable to salinity.

The Australian scientists are now testing a bread wheat variety given the same salt-protective gene.

With global food demand expected to rise by up to 110 per cent by 2050, and the amount of available agricultural land diminishing, finding crops that grow in poor conditions is becoming increasingly important.

Salinity is a major problem in arid and semi-arid parts of the world, and likely to become a bigger one because of global warming.