Kazakhstan develops drought-resistant and salt-tolerant new barley variety

Other BRICS countries and partner nations are also actively advancing similar agricultural breeding programmes, committed to developing new crop varieties that maintain high yields and resistance even under complex climatic conditions.

According to Sada El-Balad, a partner of TV BRICS, Egypt has taken a significant step forward in agricultural innovation by successfully registering five new crop varieties developed by local scientists. These include two new barley varieties adapted to newly reclaimed land and resistant to disease, as well as three vegetable varieties: red sweet peppers, yellow sweet peppers, and beans. These new varieties possess excellent characteristics such as high yields, water efficiency and tolerance to long-distance transport and export. Alaa Farouk, Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, stated that this initiative aims to support farmers and enhance the global competitiveness of Egypt’s agricultural sector whilst addressing the challenges of climate change.

In China, plant breeding experts have successfully overcome a long-standing challenge in rice breeding – namely, the difficulty of perfectly combining "early maturity" with "high yield". As reported by Global Times, a partner of TV BRICS, scientists at the China National Rice Research Institute have identified and cloned a rare gene that enables rice to mature 3 to 8 days earlier while increasing yields by 4 per cent to 11 per cent. This breakthrough not only resolves a long-standing agricultural technical bottleneck but is also of critical importance to southern China, where a multi-cropping system is widely practised and the "window period" between the harvest and sowing of two consecutive crops is extremely short.

As a BRICS partner country, Belarus is also actively conducting scientific research in the field of crop breeding. According to BelTA, a TV BRICS partner, Belarusian agricultural experts have successfully developed a new high-yielding variety of winter rye called "Rizona". This variety has a well-developed root system, enabling it to effectively absorb water even in nutrient-poor, barren soil, demonstrating exceptional environmental adaptability. Furthermore, the variety exhibits exceptional resistance to major diseases and lodging whilst possessing outstanding baking qualities; the flour produced fully meets the standards for first-class flour. The source states that the promotion and adoption of "Rizona" will help Belarusian farmers achieve stable and high yields under complex climatic conditions while ensuring a supply of high-quality flour products for consumers.