Navigation

During the next three years, namely until 2021, the coordination team of the globally active Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Consortium (HeDWIC) will be based at the Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI) in Germany. HeDWIC for short is a programme associated with the international Wheat Initiative (https://www.wheatinitiative.org/). The JKI has been hosting the secretariat of the latter at its Berlin site since January 2018. “Together, we are creating future wheat!” is the defining motto of the members of HeDWIC. True to its motto, the HeDWIC programme facilitates global coordination of wheat research to adapt the grain to a future with more severe weather extremes, specifically heat and drought stress. “The aim of this coordinated effort is to provide wheat breeders with new tools, including superior stress adapted germplasm based on wide genetic diversity, and supporting genomic and phenomic technologies to accelerate the development of heat and drought resilient wheat varieties. This approach requires international cooperation and coordination. It is only consistent that, following the secretariat of the Wheat Initiative, the HeDWIC coordination headquarters is located at the JKI as well,” says Prof. Dr. Frank Ordon. The President of the JKI is also chair of the Wheat Initiative’s research committee. For more information, see https://www.hedwic.org/.