UK scientists develop climate-ready wheat to survive drought conditions

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Written by Rachel Martin

UK scientists have found that engineering bread wheat to have fewer pores on their leaves makes more efficient use of water, potentially helping farmers facing more frequent drought conditions

Scientists at the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food found that engineering bread wheat to have fewer stomata helps the crop to use water more efficiently while maintaining yields.

On average, it takes more than 1,800L of water to produce 1kg of wheat.

As droughts become more common even in the UK, farmers will need to produce more food than ever with even fewer resources to feed a growing population.

Wheat uses stomata to regulate its intake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, as well as the release of water vapour.

When water is plentiful, stomatal opening helps plants to regulate temperature by evaporative cooling – similar to sweating.

In drought conditions, plants normally close their stomata to slow down water loss – but wheat with fewer stomata has been found to conserve water even better, and can use that water to cool itself.

During the study, which has been published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, the scientists grew wheat in conditions similar to those expected under climate breakdown – with higher levels of carbon dioxide and less water.

Compared to conventional wheat, the engineered plants used less water while maintaining photosynthesis and yield.

The research builds on the Institute for Sustainable Food’s work to develop climate-ready rice, which found that rice with fewer stomata used 40% less water than conventional breeds and was able to survive drought and temperatures of 40ºC.

Julie Gray, professor of Plant Molecular Biology at the Institute for Sustainable Food, said: “Wheat is a staple food for millions of people around the world – but as extreme droughts become more frequent, farmers face the prospect of dwindling yields.


Developing wheat that uses water more efficiently will help us to feed our growing population while using fewer natural resources – making our food systems more resilient in the face of climate breakdown.

In a separate study published in Plant, Cell and Environment, scientists at the institute also found that plants engineered to have fewer stomata are less susceptible to diseases. They hope to be able to replicate these findings in crops such as wheat and rice.

The post UK scientists develop climate-ready wheat to survive drought conditions appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

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PSQ

Member
Arable Farmer
Written by Rachel Martin


On average, it takes more than 1,800L of water to produce 1kg of wheat.

Hmmm, that makes farmers sound *very* inefficient and wasteful with natural resources, almost incompetent:

- A 10t/ha crop would therefore need (10,000kg x 1800L) 18,000,000 l/ha rainfall, or 1.8m3/m2 = 1.8M / 6 feet of rain.
This farm averages only 70cm of rain, and most of that runs through to the drains...
Maybe the figure includes everything from water use in fertiliser manufacture, to farmers having a bath?
Maybe it's (whisper it!) 'scientists or journalists making stuff up'?

Did I just read that this report came from the University of Sheffield, the same university that produced the '100 harvests left' report?

@Clive perhaps we could have a TFF 'whip-round', and crowd fund them some new calculators?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,292
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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