1. Wheat Improvement in Iran:
Challenges and Achievements
A. Ghaffari1 & M. R. Jalal Kamali2
1Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (DARI), Iran
2Global Wheat Program, CIMMYT, Iran
2nd International Yellow Rust Symposium
28April-1 May 2014, Hotel Hilton, Izmir, Turkey

2. Outlines
- An Overview on Wheat Production in Iran
- Climate Change
- Challenges, Priorities and Research strategies
- Wheat Research Activities
- Some of the Achievements

3. ● Wheat is the major crop
● Total land area is 164.8 Mha
● About 18.5 Mha are used
for agriculture:
6 Mha (Irrigated field crops): 32.4%
6 Mha (Rainfed field crops): 32.4%
4.5 Mha (Fallow): 24.4%
2 Mha (Horticultural crops): 10.8%
Average Wheat Growing areas: 6.7 Mha
Irrigated wheat: 2.7 Mha
Rainfed wheat: 4.0 Mha
Introduction

4. • Iran is generally known of arid and semi-arid
climate (94.1% based on UNESCO Approach)
except for Caspian Sea region.
• The average precipitation of the country
(247 mm) is about half of Asia (480 mm) and
one third of the world (850 mm).
Climate

5. Rainfed Land area means:
P/PET = 0.2 – 0.5
Agro-Climatic Zoning Map

6. Distribution (%) of country area by
annual rainfall rates
29
24
23
11
8 2
<150 mm
150-250 mm
250-350 mm
350-450 mm
450-600 mm
>600 mm
Ghaffari et al., 2004
Precipitation

7. Seasonal Distribution of Rainfall
75% off Growing Season
25% in Growing Season

8. 0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
1000hectares/tons Production Area Harvested
2200 Kg ha-1
2000 Kg ha-1
1500 Kg ha-1
2000 Kg ha-1
0.790 Kg ha-1

9. Bread Wheat and Durum Wheat are grown:
- Winter/Facultative wheat: 4.1 Mha
- Spring Wheat: 2.6 Mha

10. Percentage of daily calories from Wheat
Source: FAO 2009

11. Climate Change

12. Sharifi and Bani-Hashemi, 2010
By 2040 precipitation will decline
by 9%
By 2040 temperature will increase by
0.5-1.5 oC

13. Water-Short Countries in 2020 and 2050

14. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%WaterResourceUsedfor
Agriculture
Percentof total water resource used for agriculture
in different parts of the world

15. 21.04
24.77
21.42
11.79
4.94
1.12
0.46
14.46
Distribution of Irrigated Wheat Grain Yield in Iran
2-3 t/ha
3-4 t/ha
4-5 t/ha
5-6 t/ha
6-7 t/ha
7-8 t/ha
>8 t/ha
0-2 t/ha

16. Major Challenges:

17. • Drought is always a limiting factor
• Agronomy is a limiting factor to harvesting the genetic potential
of improved cultivars
• Cold is limiting factor in Winter & Facultative wheat areas
• Yellow rust remains the major disease.
• Septoria is growing as a new major diseases in the Caspian and
southern regions
• Sunn pest is a major pest in all areas.
• Common aphid has become a problem in temperate and warm
areas
• UG99 is a threat
• Some weed species are becoming very invasive
Major Limiting Factors

18. 1- Agronomy: Crop management/CA (3 million ha)
2- Physiology: Application of physiology in wheat breeding
programs for drought and heat tolerance. Earliness is
desirable.
3- Durable resistance for wheat rusts, particularly, Yellow Rust.
4- Development of germplasm resistant to insect pest, e. g. Sunn
Pest.
5- Application of biotechnology particularly Marker Assisted
Selection (MAS) in wheat breeding programs for
diseases/pests resistance as well as heat and drought
tolerance
6- Enhancement of the rate of adoption of new cultivars.
7- Socio-economic studies on the adoption of new cultivars and
recommendation packages.
Priorities

19. 1- Development and release of improved bread and durum wheat
cultivars with:
- Yield potential, yield stability, wide adaptation
- Desirable agronomic traits
- Resistance to biotic stresses : Rusts (YR, LR & SR),
Common Bunt, Dwarf Bunt, Septoria, FHB
-Tolerance/ adaptation to environmental stresses : Cold, Heat,
Drought as well as WUE
- High quality for traditional flat bread baking
- High quality in durum wheat for macaroni industries
2- Agronomic and wheat crop management packages
3- Breeder and foundation seed multiplication
Main Objectives in Wheat Research Programs

20. 1- Agronomy/Crop management/CA
2- Physiology/Application of physiology in wheat breeding
programs for drought and heat tolerance. Earliness is
desirable.
3- Durable resistance for wheat rusts, particularly, Yellow
Rust.
4- Development of germplasm resistant to insect pest, e. g.
Sunn Pest.
5- Application of biotechnology in wheat breeding programs
for diseases/pests resistance as well as heat and drought
tolerance
6- Enhancement of variety replacement
Strategies to be followed in Wheat Improvement
Program for Adaptation to Changing Climate

21. There are Two Main National Wheat
Improvement Programs:
1- Irrigated Wheat Improvement Program by the
Seed and Plant Improvement Institute (SPII)
2- Rainfed Wheat Improvement Program by the
Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (DARI)

22. Some of the
Aachievements

23. Bread Wheat cultivars released in Iran during 2002-2014
No. Cultivar Year of Release Institute Origin Growth Habit
1 Pishtaz 2002 SPII Iran Spring
2 Shiraz 2002 SPII Iran Spring
3 Tous 2002 SPII IWWIP Facultative
4 Bam 2006 SPII Iran Spring
5 Neishabour 2006 SPII Iran Spring
6 Sistan 2006 SPII Iran Spring
7 Arta 2006 SPII Iran Spring
8 Moghan3 2006 SPII Iran Spring
9 Drya 2006 SPII Iran Spring
10 Bahar 2007 SPII ICARDA Spring
11 Pishgam 2008 SPII Iran Facultative
12 Sivand 2009 SPII Iran Spring
13 Parsi 2009 SPII Iran Spring
14 Uroum 2009 SPII Iran Winter
15 Arg 2009 SPII Iran Facultative
16 Rasad 2009 DARI Iran Winter
17 Morvarid 2009 SPII CIMMYT Spring
18 Homa 2009 DARI Iran Winter
19 Zare 2010 SPII IWWIP Facultative
20 Mihan 2010 SPII Iran Winter
21 Aflak 2010 SPII CIMMYT Spring
22 Ohadi 2010 DARI Iran Winter
23 Rijaw 2011 DARI IWWIP Facultative
24 Karim 2012 DARI ICARDA Spring
25 Gonbad 2012 SPII Iran Spring
26 Sirvan 2012 SPII CIMMYT Spring
27 Ofogh 2012 SPII Iran Spring
28 Tak-Ab 2013 DARI IWWIP Winter
29 Cahmaran-2 2013 SPII Iran Spring
30 Baran 2014 DARI IWWIP Winter
31 Qaboos 2014 DARI CIMMYT Spring

24. Durum wheat and triticale cultivars released
in Iran during 2003-2012
No. Cultivar Year of Release Institute Origin Growth
Habit
1 Arya 2003 SPII CIMMYT Spring
2 Karkheh 2005 SPII ICARDA Spring
3 Dena 2007 SPII CIMMYT Spring
4 Behrang 2009 SPII CIMMYT Spring
5 Dehdasht 2009 DARI ICARDA Spring
6 Saji 2010 DARI ICARDA Spring
7 Sanabad (Triticale)2012 SPII CIMMYT Spring

25. - The presence of Ug99 in west part (Winter wheat growing areas) of Iran
was reported in 2008.
- In 2009 the presence of Ug99 was reported from Khuzestan in the south
part (Spring wheat growing areas) of Iran.
- In 2012 the presence of Ug99 was monitored in target areas in the south
part (Spring wheat growing areas) of Iran. No evidence of Ug99 was
reported.
- A national research and management program for stem rust (Ug99) is
carried out.
- Resistant/Tolerant wheat cultivars have been developed/identified and
commercially released.
The presence of Ug99

26. Cultivar Ug99
reaction
Expected Sr gene (s) Area
sown
(ha)
Year of
release
Origin GH Pedigree
Akbari 30RMR
Race-specific due to R-MR
reaction in field
NA 2006 Iran S 1-63-31/3/12300/TOB//CNO67/SX
Arg 40M APR (Sr2+) (MR-MS Category) 3775 2009 Iran S 1-66-22/INIA66
Bam 20RMR
Race-specific due to R-MR
reaction in field
6182 2006 Iran S VEE#5/NAC//1-66-22
Gonbad 30M APR (MR Category) also in 2007 955 2012 Iran S ATRAK/WANG-SHUI-BAI
Morvarid 10RMR SrSha7+APR 114500 2009 CIMMYT S MILAN/SHANGHAI-7
Parsi 20RMR
Race-specific due to R-MR
reaction in field
5005 2009 Iran S Dove"S"/Buc"S"//2*Darab1
Pishgam 40M APR 25493 2008 Iran F Bkt/90Zhong87
Sirvan 40M APR (Sr2+) (MR-MS Category) 15 2012 CIMMYT S PRL/2*PASTOR
Sistan 20RMR Race-specific 2896 2006 Iran S Bank"s"/Veery"s"
Ofogh 10-30RMR Sr2 and Sr38 (tentative) NA 2012 Iran S GF-gy54
Ug99 resistant wheat cultivars released/identified in Iran since the
launch of BGRI in 2006

28. We Sincerely invite you to visit our beautiful country