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DECEMBER 2015 SEEDWORLD.COM 25 and fungi. There are approximately 50 million microbes in 1 tablespoon of soil and making use of and preserving this biodi- versity is important. Preserving Biodiversity Its not just preserving the biodiversity of the soil that scientists are honed in on theyve also got their eyes on crop biodiversity. We are depending more and more on fewer and fewer spe- cies Hugo says explaining that theres a very small group of species that is responsible for providing 80 percent of the energy that keeps the 7.1 billion people on the planet alive. That is scary. Hugo says there are many underutilized species that could be used and quinoa is one of them. Its beginning to get some awareness but those crops for whatever reason have failed to become a worldwide recognized crop he says. Perhaps the highest impact thing we can do from a seed sector standpoint is to get the necessary increase in agricultures biodiversity. Baenziger agrees with Hugo. We need diversity and we need our staple crops the ones that feed us he says. Thats wheat and one does not live by bread alone. You need things like beer and barley and for agriculture we need things like triticale. He says barley is being pushed out of its traditional areas due to an influx of diseases and as a result theres a resurrection of winter barley. Triticale too is being used in new ways as a cover crop as a biomass and as a feed grain. Its developing into a really interesting utility crop Baenziger says. Returning to wheat Wheat provides 20 percent of the worlds protein and it provides 20 percent of the worlds calories Baenziger adds. And advancing wheat yields is another target the seed industry and plant breeders have zeroed-in on. Wheat is the most exciting story ahead of us as an industry says Kamel Beliazi regional head of Bayer EMEA Europe Middle East and Africa for Seeds. In recent decades wheat has really been an orphan crop compared to corn and soybeans in terms of companies making investments in yield gains Beliazi explains. If you look ahead with the growth of the population and change in dietary needs things will have to happen in wheat in a similar way as if you look at corn and other crops he says. Thats No. 1. Theres significant excitement from the industry to bring innovation to wheat. To facilitate this Bayer has significantly invested in EMEA for breeding wheat with a wheat breeding hub in Germany and hap- loid labs in France. In 2015 Bayer completed the expansion of its European Wheat Breeding Center in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany tripling the capacity of its complex. Investments in the complex surmount to about 15 million euros. One way of driving yields and bringing innovation to wheat is through the development of hybrid wheat which is a long- term investment. Hybrid wheat is big Beliazi says noting that is promises markedly enhanced yield stability. The company anticipates it wont be available until after 2020. Baenziger who has been working with wheat since 1976 compares the efforts to develop hybrid wheat to that of rice. For 30 years people worked in the wilderness on hybrid rice and now its on about 17 million hectares he says. There never was a public sector investment in hybrid wheat the way there was in hybrid rice. These long-term investments I can tell you a number of times that programs were told they should close their doors ... and give it up and they stayed on. What we need in the public sector is a foundational program to build the basis for hybrid wheat. And theyll have to partner with industry because they are the only ones who will develop the hybrid wheats and bring it to market. Back at home in Nebraska Baenziger says there are four traits wheat must have. It must survive our winter because we are winter wheat he says. It must have stem rust resistance. Its rare but we want to keep it rare when it comes its like lighting a match in a fireworks plant. It must have good agronomics yield and standability. And it must make a good loaf of bread or bowl of noodles. Baenziger explains that Nebraskas contribution to the global wheat enterprise is that it has some of the most winter- hardy wheat which goes right into West Asia where they need winter hardiness. We have very good stem rust resist- ance he says. Our end-use quality is good and our agronomics thats always based on where you are. He says that also holds true for barley and triticale. We are probably among the worlds best for winter hardiness in barley Baenziger says. As barley expands or contracts into new areas our germplasm becomes very important to other people. Serving Others And serving the needs of others is para- mount be it here in the United States or across the worlds vast oceans. In serving under-developed nations the FAO is taking much more of an integrated approach than in the past. For instance Hugo says within a country pro- file the priority might not be to develop the seed sector but to improve the qual- ity of life the reduction of poverty and hunger. Then inside those macro projects is the strategy on genetic resources and seed production component. 80of the human diet is provided by plants. 60of energy intake for the worlds population is provided by five cereal crops. Source FAO. If you look ahead with the growth of the population and change in dietary needs things will have to happen in wheat in a similar way as if you look at corn and other crops. Kamel Beliazi