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Within the framework of the Georgian-Japanese project, a complete collection of local wheat varieties and related wild species will be created

The Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), within the framework of the Japanese government's "Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development" (SATREPS) program, is launching the project "Establishment of a wheat molecular selection system based on the conservation of local genetic resources of Georgia". Georgian scientists will implement the project together with their Japanese colleagues. The goal of the project is to create and conserve a complete collection of local varieties of wheat and closely related wild species, as well as to develop a new selection system that will continuously improve the varieties using genetic resources.

The details of the new project were discussed by Levan Ujmajuridze, director of the Scientific- Research Center of Agriculture, at a meeting with Mori Hiroyuki, the head of the Georgian office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Hideki Tanabe, the deputy head of the West Asia Department. At the meeting, local species and varieties of wheat, conservation of genetic resources and issues related to seed certification were discussed.

The Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture has been cooperating with JICA for many years. In the 2021 grant project announced by the JICA Georgia office, the center's certification service won a grant. Within the framework of the grant, a drying chamber (incubator) was given to the division, which is used to strengthen the infrastructure of the gene bank of field crops of plant genetic resources.