SA gets wheat wise

Government has invested in a multi-consortium wheat breeding programme that will improve the country’s wheat yields.

A partnership between government and the wheat production sector is set to improve wheat yields, despite the challenging climate.

The multi-million rand Wheat Breeding Platform at Welgevallen Experimental Farm in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape should help South Africa not only meet the current local wheat demand but also become a wheat exporter.

The firm was established in 2014 as a consortium comprising public and private sector partners.
The department’s involvement was to provide support through relevant programmes to fund research and development in identified focus areas.

The department has invested R15 million in a multi-consortium wheat breeding programme with the aim of improving abiotic stresses such as drought and extreme temperatures.

The platform is a partnership between the department, Grain SA, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Agricultural Research Council, Sensako, Pannar and Stellenbosch University, among others.

Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor said  the development was government and the private sector’s response to the challenges the industry faced. These include:

• low production levels
• competitiveness
•  rising demand for wheat.

“It is very important that we work with researchers to support and enhance our agricultural productivity by producing products that will respond to the particular conditions in which we do agriculture in South Africa and on the African continent.”

She said government will pay particular attention to seed products that will help the country increase exports and reduce imports, most specifically of maize and wheat.

“We import over 46 percent of our wheat.  If we can improve the quality and have a larger product coming out of seeds that we produce innovatively in South Africa, that would be excellent,” she said.

Wheat is the second most important grain crop produced in South Africa and plays an important role in national food security.

With the Western Cape recently being hit by drought conditions that are threatening food safety, the initiative is expected to assist farmers to cope with crop demands.