New Cereal Varieties More Tolerant to Drought Developed in Morocco

15 March 2023 Printable Version

Rabat - The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA) and the Benchaib seeds company announce that they have developed six promising durum wheat and barley varieties that are more tolerant to drought, offering higher yields and important nutritional qualities.

According to a joint statement from all partners, six new varieties of durum wheat (Nachit, Jabal and Jawahir) and barley (Chiffa, Assiya and Khnata) have been developed under the DIIVA-PR project, which aims to produce cereal varieties with better drought tolerance and nutritional values.

Founded by the Crop Trust and coordinated by ICARDA, this project "aligns with the strategic vision of the Generation Green plan 2020-2030 of the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fishing, Rural Development and Water and Forests, with the aim of achieving greater food sovereignty by 2030 for cereal crops, notably through strengthening the certified seed sector to offer better varieties to farmers.

These new varieties are the result of more than ten years of research, using genetic resources of ancestral grains, collected and stored in the Gene Bank of ICARDA in Rabat, said the statement, adding that these ancestral grains have survived without human intervention for millennia in very harsh climatic conditions.

As a result, they carry key genetic traits to create new varieties more capable of withstanding climatic challenges, such as drought, noted the same source.