Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) have made a discovery that could increase the amount of flour produced from wheat by 10%.
The UQ team has found genes which dictate the yield of flour from wheat, which provides 20% of the calories consumed worldwide. Making more from what already exists can help improve food security for a rapidly increasing global population.
“By getting a few per cent more flour from the 700 million tonnes of wheat produced globally each year, we will be producing significantly more food from the same amount of wheat,” said Professor Robert Henry, UQ Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation Director. “It means that we can produce premium wheats more efficiently and push the yields of quality premium wheats up.”
The team is now looking at breeding wheat based on the discovery.
