THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE BASE, GERMPLASM, AND HETEROTIC POOLS OR PATTERNS TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYBRID WHEAT. WHEAT (TRITICUM SPP.) YIELDS WILL NEED TO INCREASE BY 1.7% PER YEAR (FROM ITS CURRENT INCREASE OF 0.9% PER YEAR) TO FEED A LARGER GLOBAL POPULATION WITH INCREASING DIETARY NEEDS. HYBRID WHEAT, WHICH IS MORE CLIMATE RESILIENT THAN PURELINE WHEAT, CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THIS GOAL. THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES ARE TO: 1) VALIDATE HETEROSIS FROM PREVIOUSLY MADE AND PREDICTED WHEAT HYBRIDS IN REPLICATED TRIALS; 2) CONTINUE MALE AND FEMALE (MAIN EMPHASIS) PARENT LINE EVALUATION FOR CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED TO DEVELOP EXPERIMENTAL AND COMMERCIAL WHEAT HYBRIDS IN A COST-EFFICIENT MANNER; 3) DEVELOP HETEROTIC GROUPS OR PATTERNS AND TEST MULTIPLE MATING DESIGNS FOR WHEAT HYBRIDS; AND 4) CONTINUE CYTOPLASMIC MALE STERILITY LINE DEVELOPMENT AND IDENTIFY AND VALIDATE RESTORER GENES FOR WHEAT HYBRIDS. THE PROJECT TEAM HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES TOWARDDEVELOPING TOOLS TO FOSTER HYBRID WHEAT DEVELOPMENT TO MAXIMIZE WHEAT YIELD POTENTIAL. USING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH INVOLVING IN-HOUSE GERMPLASM, CHEMICAL HYBRIDIZING AGENTS, BREEDING, PHENOTYPING, GENOMIC SELECTION, AND QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI MAPPING, THIS PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO HELP CREATE THE SCIENTIFIC AND GERMPLASM FOUNDATIONS FOR SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHING A U.S. HYBRID WHEAT INDUSTRY AND IS THUS RELEVANT TO THE AFRI PROGRAM, SPECIFICALLY PLANT BREEDING FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION (A1141). IT IS ALSO RELEVANT TO GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT BY PARTNERING WITH CIMMYT, A MEMBER OF THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEM WHOSE MISSION IS TO REDUCE POVERTY AND HUNGER.