Sydney, Australia - On 16 September 2024, the delegation of the Islamic Organization for Food Security, represented by Prof. Dr. Zulfiqar Ali, Director of Programs and Projects Department, visited the University of Sydney’s Plant Breeding Institute in Sydney and Narrabri.
The weeklong visit, along with delegates from Bangladesh and Pakistan is aimed to kick-off a capacity building workshop focusing on hands-on trainings, theoretical presentations, and visits of labs, greenhouses and fields at multiple locations throughout the New South Wales (NSW) state of Australia. Furthermore, participants will explore the opportunities and modalities to foster collaboration between the IOFS and Sydney University, to address wheat productivity challenges in the CWANA region, providing solutions through new seeds and genetics.
The capacity building workshop provided an opportunity to share experiences regarding BLA system of hybrid wheat, its exploitation and potential to revolutionize wheat productivity, use of molecular markers, color sorting and doubled-haploid production technology. The group visited the hybrid wheat field trials conducted at various locations of New South Wales.
The delegates also participated in the weeklong 3rd International Wheat Congress (IWC) 2024 in Perth, where they shared experiences with global wheat researchers and learned of emerging innovations and technologies to address the challenges of wheat productivity.
During the congress, potential opportunities for collaboration and cooperation were explored in meetings with key leaders of global wheat research institutions, including CEO of ACIAR, General Manager Research of ACIAR, Chair of Scientific Board of Wheat Initiative, Head of AHEAD, Director General of ICARDA, alongside others.
