Enhancing genetic potential and narrowing the gap in crop yields is the most effective way to introduce the innovation needed in agriculture to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Cereals are the main pillar of food security worldwide and particularly in the Mediterranean. The recent advances made in plant genomics and biotechnology are delivering novel approaches that will be instrumental to improve crop yield under climate change.
CIHEAM Zaragoza, together with the PRIMA GENDIBAR project (Utilization of local genetic diversity to understand and exploit barley adaptation to harsh environments and for pre-breeding), ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas), the University of Sfax in Tunisia –through the Institute of Biotechnology – and the INGC (Institut National des Grandes Cultures) organized an advanced course last month in hybrid format to address the exploitation of genomic diversity in order to improve cereals in a context of climate change.
The subject matter of the course attracted great interest, as reflected in the large number of applications. Participants from Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey spent a week with a panel of international experts: Raffaella Battaglia, Luigi Cattivelli and Agostino Fricano (CREA, Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Italy), Aladdin Ben Araar and Tarek Jarrahi (INGC, Bousalem, Tunisia), Bruno Contreras and Ernesto Igartua (EEAD-CSIC, Zaragoza, Spain), Amine Elleuch and Moez Hanin (University of Sfax, Tunisia), Lee Hickey (Queensland University, Australia), Livia Paleari and Alessia Perego (University of Milan, Italy), Miguel Sánchez-García and Andrea Visioni (ICARDA, Rabat, Morocco) learning about the most advanced tools in this area.
The course covered cereal genetic diversity, genotyping, phenotyping, GWAS and cereal breeding in a context of climate change. The programme also provided deeper insight into the most advanced breeding tools, such as genomic breeding, functional crop modelling, functional genomics, gene transformation or speed breeding illustrated with examples taken from work done in barley and wheat. The course had an applied focus and included debates, case studies, and practicals in genomic selection, in silico analysis of gene expression data and GWAS analysis.
