BSF project "In vitro culture and genomics-assisted fast track improvement of local landraces of wheat and barley in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria for enhancing food security and adaptation to climate change"

Bread wheat, durum wheat and barley are the major staple food crops in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Due to the increasing occurrence of pests and diseases, drought, salinity, high temperatures and other effects of climate change, yields are ever lower, compromising food security and leading to an increasing reliance on imports for domestic consumption. Plant genetic resources play a strategic role in adaptation to environmental change, constituting the raw material for the creation of new crop varieties with resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses. This Benefit-sharing project is analyzing, selecting and developing wheat, durum wheat and barley lines adapted to local conditions for regional resilience.