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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Improvement Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #422196
Research Project: Improvement of Disease and Pest Resistance in Barley, Durum, Oat, and Wheat Using Genetics and Genomics

Location: Cereal Crops Improvement Research

Title: Genetic gains in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) across the globe: yield, quality, and adapting for variable weather patterns

Author
item ACHILLI, ANA LAURA - University Of Saskatchewan
item AVCI, MUHSIN IBRAHIM - Central Research Institute - Turkey
item HAILE, TEKETEL - University Of Saskatchewan
item MARTINEZ-PENA, RAQUEL - Regional Institute Of Agri-Food And Forestry Research And Development Of Castilla-la Mancha (iriaf
item Peters Haugrud, Amanda

Submitted to: Plant Breeding
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/28/2025
Publication Date: 9/11/2025
Citation: Achilli, A., Avci, M., Haile, T.A., Martinez-Pena, R., Peters Haugrud, A.R. 2025. Genetic gains in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) across the globe: yield, quality, and adapting for variable weather patterns. Plant Breeding. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbr.70029.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pbr.70029

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum (Desf.) Husnot) is cultivated globally and used to produce pasta, couscous, bulgur, and other semolina products. With the growing world population and increasing food demand, it is pertinent to understand past trends in global food production to shape future endeavors. This review briefly gives an overview of more than a century of durum wheat breeding efforts across the globe, focusing on past genetic gains for not only yield but additional traits, such as biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, grain quality, biomass, and nutrient uptake. Historical genetic gains have varied across the globe between breeding programs, with a short history summarized for Türkiye, Canada, Argentina, Chile, countries in the Mediterranean Basin, and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) program. As Early Career Researchers of the Expert Working Group on Durum Wheat Genomics and Breeding of the Wheat Initiative, we understand the importance of highlight past progress in durum wheat yield to further increase genetic gains and give insight into future research and breeding needs.