Denmark: Collaborative SUSWHEAT project receives funding from Independent Research Fund Denmark

The SUSWHEAT project combines globally leading research expertise on wheat from complementary teams at Copenhagen and Aarhus University, China and the UK, creating a strong partnership to dissect the resilience mechanisms in response to future climate. The collaborative project has recently been granted funding from the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

Crop production is under pressure due to climate change, requiring increased inputs while delivering decreased profit margins. Crop responses to single abiotic stresses are reasonably well understood but how do they cope with multiple concurrent stresses? This mystery hinders breeding for future climates. Drought and heat, two major co-occurring stresses caused by global climate change, induce opposing adaptive responses at the level of water use and carbon capture.

SUSWHEAT will reveal the underpinning physiological and metabolic mechanisms of yield stability. The projects combine deep phenotyping with metabolic profiling to explore and exploit the existing variation in resilience. More sustainable and robust crops will reduce crop losses and support the green transition in agriculture.