200068 FAO improvement Landraces Wheat Barley North Africa_Third Technical report_ Sep 2016 to Aug 2018

Abstract

Bread wheat, durum wheat and barley are the major staple food crops of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. In these countries, both wheat and barley are used for making bread and other products for human consumption. Barley is also used as animal feed. The yield levels of these crops are low to medium, due to the occurrence of pests and diseases, drought, salinity and high temperatures resulting in lower production. Climate change (CC) further aggravated these problems. As a result, the three countries are not self-sufficient in production of wheat and barley and import for the domestic consumption. Plant genetic resources are the raw materials used to create new crop varieties with biotic and abiotic stresses resistance, play a strategic role in adaptation to changing climate.