Saudi Arabia launches new program to boost wheat, barley productivity

Saudi Arabia’s wheat and barley production is set to strengthen, thanks to a new program aimed at inventorying 903 plant genetic resources from fruit trees.

The process of PGR entails collecting and documenting the genetic material of plants valuable for both present and future generations.

It is integral to agro-biodiversity, covering crops, livestock, and related species, and serves as the cornerstone of food, agriculture, and nutritional security.

Launched by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, the implementation of the new program is based on three axes, according to a statement.

The first includes inventory, purification, and evaluation of local varieties, while the second entails cooperation with international bodies. Meanwhile, the third axis includes implementing a regional breeding program.

This move falls in line with the ministry’s vision to achieve sustainability of the environment and natural resources, ensuring water security, contributing to food protection, and improving the quality of life in the Kingdom.

Moreover, the commencement of the program involved the application to register five varieties of soft bread wheat and durum pasta wheat, including three local varieties and two new ones to the Kingdom.

Additionally, the program encompassed the identification of 52 promising strains of soft wheat and 45 promising strains of durum wheat, which are currently in the final evaluation stages for this season. The ministry anticipates that a significant number of these strains will be selected and registered next year.

Furthermore, a total of 215 genetic resources of field crops and 17 genetic resources of vegetable crops were also identified.

In addition, the Seed and Seedling Center disclosed that out of the 903 plant genetic resources, 159 are located in Jazan, 252 in Al-Baha, and 130 in Asir. Moreover, 247 resources are found in Eastern Province, 50 in Riyadh, and 65 in Medinah.

This underscores the comprehensive genetic fingerprinting being conducted for all genetic resources in the Kingdom, including wheat, barley, coffee, sesame, and others.

This will help to identify similarities and differences between samples of a single variety at the molecular level, document genetically distinct samples, standardize the name of the local variety, and publish the outputs in international offices.

The ministry also disclosed the establishment of a database of genetic resources from field and horticultural crops, which includes all associated data and characteristics.