Workshop: “Breeding for wheat rust resistance: Recent approaches and regional collaboration in context of the FAO-Türkiye Partnership Programmes”

14:00 – 17:45 GMT+3 (Ankara time)

Wheat is the world’s most widely grown agricultural crop and a major food security commodity in Central and West Asia, as well as North Africa. Wheat rust diseases are a common challenge of wheat in almost all wheat-growing regions. The most effective approach for their management is development and use of resistant varieties.

With a view to tackling these diseases in Central Asia and Caucasus, FAO is implementing a project entitled “Strengthening regional collaboration and national capacities for management of wheat-rust diseases and resistance breeding in Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC Rust)”, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye, within the scope of FAO-Türkiye Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture (FTPP II). The goals of the initiative include support for regional collaboration and breeding of wheat varieties resistant to rust diseases.

The project is organizing a workshop in Antalya to promote knowledge exchange and collaboration among researchers and international experts working on wheat breeding and related topics. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss experiences and recent developments in breeding for wheat rust resistance. The workshop will take place on 23 November at the Porto Bello Hotel in Antalya, Türkiye in the context of the 4th International Plant Breeding Congress taking place on 21-25 November.

Objectives of the workshop:

• To contribute to knowledge exchange on recent advances and approaches on breeding for wheat rust resistance.
• To inform participants and a wider audience about the activities of the CAC Rust project (GCP/SEC/016/TUR) supported by the FAO-Türkiye partnership programme.
• To explore synergies and collaboration opportunities in the area of breeding for wheat rust resistance and wheat improvement.
• To facilitate exposure of wheat rust workers to the international research community and assimilate knowledge on recent advances.