“Wheat Science to Textbooks” Workshop CIMMYT El Batan December 5-10, 2010 Issues in Breeding Durum Wheat for the Mediterranean Region & Ethiopia Karim Ammar Global Wheat Program CIMMYT-Mexico

Outline  Durum in the world  History of durum wheat breeding at CIMMYT  Concept of Wide-Adaptation ■Definition/Clarification ■Requirements  Breeding for “drought tolerance” ■Historical results ■Components ■Relationship yield potential/drought tolerance  Breeding for Industrial quality ■What traits? ■Progress made ■Key factors for success

Durum Wheat Worldwide Globally minor… % Area% Production Bread Wheat Durum Wheat

Bread Wheat Durum Wheat Durum Wheat Worldwide … locally major

Durum Wheat Utilization Pasta vs. other products Pasta Products Bread and other Products

CIMMYT Durum Germplasm: Chronology of Impact Early successes, fall in relevance and recovery Introduction dwarfing genes 1 st widely- adapted semi- dwarfs Era of “super cultivars” Continued yield progress But loss of international relevance due to diseases Leaf rust virulence in Mexico BBG/BN Re-building program around widely effective resistance to leaf rust Recovery of relevance for LR Recovery of Yield potential Improvement of quality Addressing drought tolerance Addressing Septoria and Hessian fly Addressing Stem rust 1960s1970s1980s1990s JORI 69 COCORIT 71 MEXICALI 75 YAVAROS 79 ALTAR 84 ATIL C2000

Concept of Wide-Adaptation Definition & Clarification  Competitive performance under a wide range of environments & constraints: ■It is not the creation, by design, of “mega-varieties” sown on millions of hectares ■It is the struggle to develop germplasm which maintain stability in spite of environmental fluctuations and agronomic problems  Stability in yield & quality ■In space ■In time in the same region  While ensuring the maximum genetic variability ■“Insurance policy” against emerging problems (disease, markets, crop management) ■Key in a climate change scenario

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation During the crossing phase… Information = power  Widely adapted, successful cultivars  Performance under different water regimes  Regional or global performance in International Nurseries  Disease reaction globally or in “hot spots”  Cooperator’s information  Widening crossing base (WxS crosses)

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation During the segregating phase  Expose segregating populations to as many contrasting selection pressures or environments, acting on highly inheritable, visually selectable traits: ■Diseases ■Photoperiod  Initially, avoid conditions that drastically limit plant development and hamper ability to visually detect differences: ■Development-limiting drought ■Development-limiting fertility stresses

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation “Shuttle Breeding”: Key to CMMYT’s widely adapted germplasm Toluca Longitude: 99° 33´ W Latitude: 19° 13´ N Altitude: 2640 masl Obregon Longitude: 109° 54´ W Latitude: 27° 21´ N Altitude: 40 masl Winter Cycle: Obregón (28 o N, 35 masl) November - May. Irrigated + simulated drought Diseases: Leaf Rust Photoperiod: Increasing Soils: +/- alkaline Summer Cycle: Toluca/El Batan (18.5 o N, 2600 masl) May - October. Rainfed, High Rainfal Diseases: Yellow Rust, Septoria, Fusarium Photoperiod: Decreasing Soils: +/- acid

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation During the Yield/quality testing phase  Multi-environment performance testing under a wide range of conditions, but uniform within a single environment to maximize heritability: ■At least 1 favorable environment needs to be included to evaluation maximum yield potential ■Stress application needs to be uniform and reliable ■Testing conditions need to be relevant to target area

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation Obregon, ideal for yield potential testing  Detect progress in genetic yield potential without confounding effects of environmental fluctuations: ■Uniformity and quality of the soils ■Good crop management ■Weather conditions relatively regular  Predicts well ranking performance in many other irrigated/rainfed stations worldwide

CIMMYT Durum Germplasm worldwide Historical impact of for wide adaptation

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation + Drought Tolerance Obregon, infrastructure for WUE testing Drip Irrigation-simulated drought, 17 ha

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation + Drought Tolerance Ensuring selection of WUE germplasm Drip Irrigation-simulated drought

Breeding for Wide-Adaptation + Drought Tolerance Ensuring selection of WUE germplasm

Breeding for WUE Relationship between yield potential and performance under stress 336 advanced lines tested in replicated yield trials

Breeding for WUE Relationship between yield potential and performance under stress  The genes controlling yield under full-irrigation are different from those determining yield under water-stress

 No, as it will result in loss of wide adaptation: ■Production of lines with high yield potential but that will collapse under drought, ■Production of lines that tolerate drought but do not respond adequately when conditions improve  The genes controlling yield under full-irrigation are different from those determining yield under water-stress…  Is the solution having 2 different program??? Breeding for WUE Relationship between yield potential and performance under stress

Water Efficient but Low YP Water Inefficient & Low YP Water Inefficient & High YP

 Selection of lines with acceptable-to-good yield under both conditions: ■Not easy nor cheap, but feasible ■Duplicate evaluation resources ■Require drought testing conditions at the same location than full irrigation conditions  The genes controlling yield under full-irrigation are different from those determining yield under water-stress…  Combine both groups of genes in a single line! Breeding for WUE Relationship between yield potential and performance under stress

Breeding for Wide Adaptation + Drought Combining high yield potential and WUE High YP & Water Efficient Low frequency

Breeding for Wide Adaptation + Drought Tolerance Frequency of lines combining yield potential and WUE  Be prepared to throw away a lot of good material  Possible only in large program with high genetic diversity for other traits

Breeding for Wide Adaptation + Drought Tolerance Testing protocol currently adopted at CIMMYT  Preliminary Yield Trials (PYT): Full Irrigation ■ Lines F 6 ■Augmented design with replicated checks  Advanced Yield Trials-A (AYT-A): Full irrigation + Drip-simulated drought ■ Lines F 7 /F 8 ■2 reps (FI), 3 reps (DR) in 8x8 lattice designs  Advanced Yield Trials-B (AYT-B): Full irrigation + Drip-simulated drought ■ Lines F 9 ■3 reps (FI), 3 reps (DR) in 8x8 lattice designs Selections of candidates for International Nurseries

Breeding for Improved Industrial Quality Major Objective in a rapidly changing world market  Less and less room for high yielding, low quality durum grain  No negative correlation with functional attributes of industrial quality  All CIMMYT germplasm will have acceptable to excellent quality

Breeding for which Quality? Industrial vs. household production Pasta Products Worldwide Bread Products CWANA, Southern Europe, India? Cous-cous North Africa, Middle East, Europe Bulgur CWANA Other Products CWANA, India INDUSTRIALHOUSEHOLD

Industrial Pasta Quality Segment directly, proactively addressed Pasta Products (extruded, sheeted) INDUSTRIALHOUSEHOLD  Biggest volume globally  Definitive global trend towards industrialization  Well known quality traits defined by industry  Driven by export market

Breeding for Industrial Quality: Ensuring minimum acceptable levels of universally-required attributes  Grain Characteristics  Protein Content (secondary, best managed agronomically)  Gluten Strength  Yellow Color Colorimeter: b-value Sedimentation test Visually

Breeding for Industrial Quality Crossing strategy Best CIMMYT Elite lines Australian Varieties Some Italian Varieties “Desert Durum” Arizona/California French Varieties

Breeding for Industrial Quality Evaluation program  Detailed evaluation of parental lines: Guide for crossing ■Functional evaluation and protein type ■At least 1 parent need to have good quality, 2 in the case of 3-way crosses  No early generation selection  Some 10,000+ samples analyzed starting at PYT: Any unacceptable line is eliminated ■Rapid and reliable tests ■Decentralized lab in Obregon

Breeding for Industrial Quality Gluten Strength – Progress Aceptable Excelent

Breeding for Industrial Quality Yellow Color – Progress Aceptable Excelent

Breeding for Industrial Quality Gluten Strength – Latest progress

Breeding for Industrial Quality Conclusions  Most important traits are highly inheritable  Starts in the choice of parents of crosses  Early generation selection is not absolutely needed for progress  Fast, inexpensive and reliable test for gluten strength and color can result in substantial progress, fast.  Expensive and slow analysis equipment is not needed for practical and effective selection for improved quality in durum wheat