China’s push to modernize irrigation has delivered measurable water savings, but a new analysis finds that simply staying the course will not be enough to secure the country’s cereal harvests against climate change. The study concludes that an optimized investment strategy pairing upgrades of existing irrigated land with targeted expansion could raise yields by 0.1–10.9% while cutting water use by at least 25.5%, with rice offering the greatest savings potential.

A study led by researchers at the John Innes Centre has uncovered a new bioengineering strategy to strengthen plant defenses against blast disease, one of the most destructive threats to global cereal production. The study investigates tandem kinase immune receptors, a family of plant proteins responsible for detecting pathogen attacks. By using structural analysis to decode how the wheat immune receptor Rwt7 recognizes Pwt7, a specific effector protein secreted by the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, scientists were able to modify the receptor's structure. This structural insight allowed researchers to engineer plant tandem kinase immune receptors with expanded recognition profiles, enabling them to detect a broader array of fungal threat signals.

When Italian farmer Claudio Grossi discovered a mysterious bag of seeds in his attic in the 1990s, he never expected them to produce a remarkable ancient wheat variety. Nicknamed “miracle wheat,” the towering plants produce seven grain-bearing ears per stalk and have demonstrated resilience to drought and weeds without relying heavily on fertilizers or herbicides. Researchers identified the grain as Triticum turgidum, a heritage wheat with promising nutritional qualities. Today, Grossi's discovery is helping renew interest in ancient grains and their potential to support more sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture.

​ARS researchers and their collaborators have decoded a gene in wheat, labeled H13, that protects some varieties of the grain crop from Hessian fly larvae, whose appetite claims approximately $100 million’s worth of the annual U.S. wheat harvest. The team’s discovery opens the door for faster methods of screening wheat varieties for the Hessian fly resistance gene and transferring it to those that are susceptible to the pest.