£4m awarded for new UK-Brazil joint projects in wheat research

Funded by Government, BBSRC invested £473M in bioscience, people and research infrastructure in 2015-16
Funded by Government, BBSRC invested £473M in bioscience, people and research infrastructure in 2015-16

A £4 million investment has been made to support collaborations between UK and Brazilian scientists in wheat research.

The investment, between the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), has been awarded to four partnerships between the UK and Brazil.

The funding aims to inform the development of new traits or practices to enhance the sustainability of wheat production in the context of the wider agri-ecosystem.

The funding is enabling researchers from the UK and Brazil to work together to tackle key economic development and social welfare issues to achieve greater outcomes for both countries and for people around the world.

This investment further strengthens the partnership working between the UK and Brazil in agricultural research.

Steve Visscher, BBSRC Deputy Chief Executive – International, said: "The outcome of this pilot call represents a significant development in the long-term partnership between BBSRC and Embrapa and is the first time that the two organisations have worked on a joint call.

"As a member of the International Wheat Initiative this investment demonstrates BBSRC’s continued commitment to improve global food security to feed a growing population."

Maurício Lopes, President of Embrapa, said: "This pilot joint call has been a priceless opportunity to boost the cooperation between Embrapa and BBSRC and surely several more collaborations will arise from it.

"These investments from Embrapa in strategic partnerships are major, multi-year actions that cut across Embrapa´s research areas and research programs and I’m sure that we will be building on this interaction for many years to come."

The BBSRC Embrapa projects are:

• Uncovering the genetic and functional basis of the unique leaf rust resistance in the Brazilian wheat variety Toropi

• Exploiting natural and induced variation to increase Fusarium head blight and brusone resistance in wheat

• Exploitation of the rhizosphere microbiome for sustainable wheat production

• Using disease risk forecasting, NGS and HIGS to explore and control Fusarium Head Blight disease in wheat fields