Germplasm enhancement and utilization for drought resistance and water use efficiency improvement of winter wheat in Northern China

Germplasm enhancement and utilization for drought resistance and water use efficiency improvement of winter wheat in Northern China (The Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress in 2009): Drought is a major constraint to winter wheat production in Northern China. Wheat improvement in drought resistance and water use efficiency (WUE) is an efficient approach to alleviate yield loss caused by the water shortage. The project (1) established an evaluation system of wheat drought resistance and WUE. The “Technical Specification of Identification and Evaluation for Drought Resistance in Wheat” was released by the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China (SAC) in 2007; (2) created 39 elite accessions, which belonged to five series of germplasm adapting to multiple ecological environments, i.e. Jinhan, Changhan, Luohan, Henghan and Xinonghan; (3) established a doubled haploid population, identified 15 QTL with main effects for drought resistance and WUE; (4) released 33 new varieties, increased grain yield by 7.8 %, and WUE by 20.7%, total planting area was over 8.0 hectares. The project made a significant contribution to ensure the national food, water resource and ecological securities.

The Principal Researcher: JING Ruilian