CGIAR wheat value approximately $3 billion each year

According to research from scientists who will present a new policy brief at the 9th International Wheat Conference, CGIAR wheat has been estimated to be worth up to $3.8 billion each year.

Approximately 70 percent of durum wheat and spring bread varieties released around the world within the 20 years between 1994 and 2010 were derived or bred from wheat lines that scientists created as part of the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers.

Most of the CGIAR wheat improvement research was conducted under the supervision of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) as well as the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

The benefits from this research could be worth between $2.8 billion and $3.8 billion a year. This shows significant economic benefits that Australia can gain from international collaboration for wheat improvement research.

"Investment leads to more food and income for the rural poor, lower prices for the urban poor and extra stability and income for farmers,” Martin Kropff, CIMMYT's director general, said. “CIMMYT has had a significant impact on the Australian wheat industry, according to a 2006 research paper by John Brennan and Kathryn Quade, which appeared in the Australian Journal of Agricultural Research."