b'BREEDING FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCEWarming climate driving need for better plant water management.THE BOURGEONING WORLDpopulation isAddressing the Challengeschallenging the agricultural industry to produceThe challenge to produce under scarce water condi-ever increasing quantities of harvestable crops fortions requires integrated actions and strategies to food and feed. The ability to annually produce greaterremodel crop genetic backgrounds.crop yields is aggravated by a warming of the globalFortunately, says CIMMYTs wheat physiology lead climate that results in more frequent and persistentMatthew Reynolds, drought tolerance is something droughts. Plant breeders are racing to stay ahead ofthat can be bred. growing food demand and a drying planet. New challenges to crop productivity require new Qingwu Xue of Texas A&M University, for example,solutions, he says. Our pre-breeding pipeline seeks is researching drought tolerance in wheat, corn andnovel sources of adaptive and productivity traits.FRANK ZAWORSKI sorghum. My major research focus includes under- The CIMMYT maize drought research program is a veteran journal- standing physiological and molecular mechanisms ofstarted in Mexico and continues to be a central theme ist, native Minnesotandrought tolerance, identifying plant traits conferringof its maize research in Mexico and other develop-and former Seedstress tolerance, understanding the interactions ofing countries. Their mandate is to improve maize and World editor whoabiotic and biotic stresses, evaluating and developingwheat for developing countries, of which the over-dropped out of thefield phenotyping tools, and developing managementwhelming majority are in the tropics. rat race in 2013. Frankstrategies under stress conditions, he says. Dhliwayo says tropical maize is not adapted to and his wife LindaCarlos Messina, Distinguished Laureate at Cortevatemperate environments due to photo period sensitiv-live on the shore ofAgriscience, says the company has a history of breed- ity and differences in growing season length. However, the Sea of Cortezing for drought tolerance that dates back to the 1960s.CIMMYT germplasm is available to the public and can near the southernThe effort is a very important part of our worldwidebe used by breeding programs in the U.S. and Canada tip of Mexicos Bajabreeding efforts, he says.to develop drought-tolerant varieties adapted to tem-California peninsulaThanda Dhliwayo, corn breeder at the Internationalperate environments.where, when heMaize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)Messina reports that the AQUAmax program in the is not freelancing,in Mexico, says the organization started working onU.S., EU and Brazil, created a pipeline that provides enjoys fly fishingdrought tolerant corn in the mid-1970s. Today, CIMMYT for dorado, golf andand its partners are developing and deploying expanding his searchdrought-tolerant corn varieties in Mexico, Sub-Saharan for the perfect carneAfrica and India. ahumada.56/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2021'