Crop improvement: Experts underscore need for using emerging technologies

FAISALABAD: World renowned wheat genetics and genomics scientists, and founding Director Wheat Genetics Resources center, Kansas State University US Prof Dr Bikram S Gill urged the young breeders to work with great burst of energy for introducing high yielding, climate and insect resilient crops by using emerging technologies in order ensure food security and feed the ever increasing population of the world.

He addressed a public lecture on emerging technologies for crop improvement in Pakistan at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad.

For nearly 50 years, Gill’s research has focused on conserving wild and ancient grains and utilizing them in the breeding of modern wheat varieties, particularly bread wheats that are more nutritious and disease-resistant and high-yielding.

Prof Dr Bikram S Gill said they had world large range of the genotype of the wheat that is available for the scientists of the globe. He said that center’s gene bank, which maintains more than 5,000 wheat genetics stocks, and its laboratory offers opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to work with industry partners and academic scientists to develop new genetic research that quickly improves crop yield, quality and food security.

He added that the Punjab land is the best fertilized land due to the five rivers, climate, four seasons and other factors. He added that with the passage of time, we are devastating our ecosystem by polluting the soil, air, and water. He added they had earned competitive research grants worth 30 million for plant breeding at Kansas State University under which tangible agricultural development was witnessed. Talking about the gluten in wheat’s effect on health, he said that one small portion of the gluten in wheat is not good that can be eliminated by using crisper technology in genome editing.

UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that Prof Dr Bikram S Gill is the great leader of wheat that work made possible to address the wheat challenges.

He urged the UAF researchers to come up with the valuable idea to earn research project to serve the agricultural sector.

He said that famine of 60s was the addressed by Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Laureate, led the Green Revolution while working on semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties. He said that he wheat strain developed by Norman Borlaug helped Pakistan double their wheat yield between 1965 and 1970.

He said that UAF was developing the wheat varieties in collaboration with Washington State University.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024