The Second International Wheat Congress (IWC) kicked off in Beijing on Sept. 12, 2022. 

The theme of this year’s IWC was “Future Wheat: Resilience and Sustainability.” Adopting a hybrid form of on-site lectures and online broadcast and co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the 2nd IWC lasted four days.  

The opening ceremony of the 2nd IWC featured Wu Weihua, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, CAAS President Wu Kongming, Curtis Pozniak, Chair of the International Organizing Committee of IWC, Claudia Sadoff, CGIAR Executive Managing Director, and Wan Jianmin, President of the Crop Science Society of China. Liu Xu, former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, presided over the opening ceremony.  

Vice Chairman Wu Weihua pointed out that global economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, regional conflicts and extreme weather have posed severe challenges to global food security. As one of the world’s most populous countries, China has taken effective measures to feed one-fifth of the world’s population by producing a quarter of the world’ food with less than 9% of the world’s arable land, thus contributing greatly to global food security.   

Secretary-General Qu Dongyu pointed out that global grain production is estimated to decrease 0.6% year-on-year and wheat production is estimated to drop 1% in 2022, according to FAO’s statistics. He called on scientists from all countries to join hands to transform food production, processing, distribution and consumption modes at their sources by the application of technologies, to build a more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food system.  

President Wu Kongming pointed out that China is committed to improving wheat production and quality while reducing production costs. China has always regarded scientific research on wheat and the application of research results in production as major approaches to improve food production capacity. These approaches have played a crucial role in safeguarding China’s food security and stabilizing international food prices. 

Chair Curtis Pozniak expressed appreciation to China on behalf of the International Organizing Committee of IWC. He hoped wheat scientists worldwide could work together to come up with strategies for the effective use of wheat genetic resources through global collaboration and increase wheat productivity by promoting genetic resource propagation and applying research findings. 

More than 900 wheat researchers, officials, diplomats and business executives from 67 countries registered for the Congress. The opening ceremony was watched by 147,000 viewers online.