Hybrid seeds are widely used by corn and rice farmers because they boost yields. Researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia, one of the world’s leading wheat-producing nations, say they have identified a naturally occurring gene in wheat that, when turned off, allows cross-pollination, essential for hybrids, while preventing self-pollination.
Ryan Whitford, head of the hybrid wheat program at the Adelaide school of agriculture, says hybrid wheat offers a way to help meet the rising demand for food as the world’s population grows. Wheat is the most widely grown crop in the world and provides one-fifth of calories consumed globally. Whitford says hybrids could boost yields 10 to 15 percent an acre.
“Developing a viable hybrid system has been a challenge because of the complexity of the wheat genome,” Whitford said in an Adelaide release. Scientist have struggled with the challenge that wheat is a self-pollinator but hybrid seeds require cross-pollination of two parents selected for characteristics such as high yields, disease resistance or stress tolerance. “We have now identified a gene necessary for cross-pollination in wheat which can be used in large-scale, low-cost production of parent breeding lines necessary for hybrid wheat seed production,” he said.