Roadmap laid out for next generation of crops for high productivity and resilience to climate change
A roadmap to engineer or breed the next generation of crops for high productivity and resilience to climate change has… Read more
Professor Yong-Ling Ruan from the School of Environmental and Life Sciences is Director of the Australia-China Research Centre for Crop Improvement (ACRCCI). ACRCCI focuses on discovering key genes and biological processes controlling plant development and stress tolerance for innovative applications to improve food security and agricultural sustainability by bringing together research teams of international excellence in plant biology and breeding.
Improving crop productivity and stress tolerance is crucial to underpin sustainable agriculture and social stability worldwide. The issue has become particularly urgent in recent years in light of (i) the demand to double world crop yield by 2050 to feed more people with less arable land and (ii) the increased incidents of Global warming-associated drought, salt and heat stresses and pathogen and pest infections.
China and Australia are two major countries where agriculture plays key roles in their economy but faces similar challenges as how to improve crop yield, quality and stress tolerance for food, feed, fuel, fibre and other end products. To tackle this grand challenge, plant biologists and crop scientists from both countries have initiated strategic collaborative research in recent years with complementary expertise and facilities. The collaboration has begun to yield valuable outcomes and opened enormous opportunities and potentials for crop genetic improvement.
Over the last 10 years, the Centre has achieved outstanding outcomes. Evidence of success includes: