Food and Agriculture

Aussie scientists develop salt tolerant strain of durum wheat // Source: pinchas.net

Homeland Security News Wire - March 14, 2012

Researchers in Australia have developed a new strain of salt-tolerant wheat that could help minimize food shortages.

Australia is the second largest exporter of grain in the world, but in recent years increased salt levels in the soil have degraded some of the country’s primary wheat-growing regions. In addition, increased salt levels have affected roughly 20 percent of the world’s farm land.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that to overcome these challenges, Australian scientists have bred salt tolerance into durum wheat, boosting yields by 25 percent in saline soils.

“This work is significant as salinity already affects over 20 percent of the world’s agricultural soils, and salinity poses an increasing threat to food production,” said Rana Munns, one of the study’s co-authors and a scientist with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, in a statement.