To enhance capacity in wheat disease management and strengthen expertise in resistance breeding, CIMMYT successfully held the “International Training on Wheat Diseases and Resistance Breeding” from August 4-22, 2025, in El Batan and Toluca, Mexico. The course brought together 28 participants from numerous countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Paraguay, Sweden, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan and Zambia, to improve their understanding of wheat diseases and master the latest resistance breeding techniques, enabling them to better address the challenges facing wheat production.
Wheat is a vital staple crop worldwide, but it faces a constant threat from various diseases. The training course emphasized Fusarium head blight (FHB) due to its yield and food safety risks, while also covering other critical wheat diseases such as rusts, leaf spot and wheat blast. Through systematic lectures and hands-on exercises, participants gained in-depth knowledge of wheat disease epidemiology, pathogen isolation and preservation, disease screening and evaluation, resistance breeding strategies, and field surveillance techniques.
The training featured lectures from experienced wheat researchers from both CIMMYT and Advance Research Institutes. Complementing these lectures were visits to CIMMYT’s laboratories, greenhouse, genebank, and wheat experimental fields, as well as hands-on practical sessions. These sessions allowed participants to gain valuable skills in techniques such as pathogen identification, culturing and inoculation, disease assessment, DNA extraction, and marker-assisted selection. A highlight of the program was a field day at CIMMYT’s Toluca station, where participants were able to interact directly with CIMMYT researchers and see research in action.
“CIMMYT is committed to addressing global food security and safety challenges through scientific innovation, collaborative and inclusive partnerships and capacity building,” said Dr. Flavio Breseghello, Director of Global Wheat Program. He expects similar training not only in CIMMYT-headquarters but in partner countries to enhance human and infrastructure capacities.
Shitaye Homma Megressa, a participant from EIAR-Ethiopia, said, “This training course was very practical, the experts’ explanations were clear and insightful, and the practical sessions were very helpful. Through this training, my understanding of existing and newly emerging wheat diseases has become more comprehensive, and I have gained a deeper understanding of resistance breeding techniques. I believe this knowledge and skills will play a positive role in my work on wheat disease management.”
Pawan Singh, head of the CIMMYT Wheat Pathology envisions that “This training course is an important step in CIMMYT’s efforts to build capacity in wheat disease management and hopes that through this training, we can cultivate a core group of experts in wheat disease management and resistance breeding, contributing to the sustainable development of global wheat production.”
Nutrition, health and food security 