Created in 2011 following endorsement from the G20 Agriculture Ministries, the International Research Initiative for Wheat Improvement (IRIWI, "The Wheat Initiative") provides a framework to establish strategic research and organisation priorities for wheat research at the international level in both developed and developing countries. The Wheat Initiative fosters communication between the research community, funders and global policy makers, and aims at securing efficient and long-term investments to meet wheat research and development goals. It also initiates and supports activities in order to enhance communication and increase access of all to information, resources and technologies.
The Wheat Initiative actions will lead to the creation of improved wheat varieties and to the dissemination of better agronomic practices worldwide. The combination of new varieties and agronomic practices will in turn allow farmers to improve and stabilise wheat yields in diverse production environments.
The Wheat Initiative was:
- Proposed by research and funding organisations from several countries
- Endorsed by the G20 Agricultural Ministers to contribute to improving world food security
- Hosted in Paris following its launch on the 15 September 2011
- In 2018, the Wheat Initiative moved its offices to the Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI), the German Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants in Berlin-Dahlem, Germany.
