Wheat researchers have made unique contributions and excellent progress to the production increase over the past several decades, mainly in the less developed countries; however, there are many challenges that still lie ahead to make food more accessible than ever before in a sustainable manner and to meet the needs of a global growing population. Numerous biotic and abiotic stresses affect wheat in major production areas and its future growth will most likely come from marginal envir- ments where such stresses play even more important role. Developing countries are becoming increasingly urbanized. As urban populations grow, productive land disappears and this implies the need for more intensive cropping to keep pace. Water utilization for agriculture is also facing more competition from uses in urban areas. Focused efforts to improve wheat water-use efficiency are crucial to ensure sustainability of food production in water-constrained regions. Current crop management systems such as reduced or zero tillage, stubble retention and precision agriculture are vital to satisfy the increasing needs of food and maintain at the same time the sustainability of natural resources. The widespread adoption of conservation farming techniques requires the introduction of changes to wheat varieties in disease resistance, particularly stubble-born diseases.
The book comprises the proceedings of the 7th International Wheat Conference, held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, at the end of 2005. Leading scientists from all over the world, specialized on different areas that contribute to the better understanding of wheat production and use, reviewed the present achievements and discussed the future challenges for the wheat crop. The latter are related to producing safe wheat grain in increasingly stressed environments, maintaining at the same time the sustainability of natural resources, in order to meet the needs of food for a growing population.
Topics such as breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, breeding for improved industrial and nutritional quality, crop and natural resources management, physiology of wheat production, biotechnology and cytogenetics, and conservation and management of genetic resources were covered during the Conference. Results of the extended use of molecular tools in different areas and their contribution to the faster achievement of breeding goals were presented.
This book provides the scientific wheat community the possibility of getting key contributions to that overall sight and an updated view of the main points of interest on those fields of research.
