Could New Cereal Varieties Help Farmers Cope with Rising Temperatures and Water Shortages? Nicole Frantová from the Department of Plant Breeding and Plant Health at the Faculty of AgriSciences at Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU) will seek to answer this question. In collaboration with the Spanish company Vivagran, she is preparing a two-year research project on two unusual cereal hybrids, Tritordeum and DDRR. The research will focus primarily on their growth, development, and tolerance to drought and high temperatures. “Tritordeum and DDRR are cereal hybrids created by crossing cultivated crops with their wild relatives. Tritordeum is a hybrid of wheat and a wild South American barley, while DDRR was developed by crossing rye with a wild relative of wheat,” Frantová explains.
Although both hybrids offer interesting potential applications, their cultivation under Czech conditions has not yet been sufficiently studied. “These are relatively new hybrids, and we do not really know how they will respond to our conditions. First, we need to determine the most suitable sowing time for them. We do not yet know whether they will behave as winter crops or spring crops in our climate,” adds the researcher leading the project. The research will involve two years of field trials at MENDELU’s Field Experimental Station in Žabčice. Both hybrids will be sown at two different times, in autumn and spring, to determine which cultivation method suits them best. From the moment the seedlings emerge, researchers will monitor the different stages of growth, the formation of leaves and tillers, ear development, and the overall condition of the plants.
In addition to the field trials, laboratory experiments will also be conducted. These will allow the researcher to observe processes that cannot be detected through routine field observations. These will include seed germination and the early development of plants in soil. Under controlled conditions, she will also be able to investigate how young plants respond to stress factors. The entire research project will be conducted de novo, meaning that these varieties will be tested in the Czech Republic for the first time. One of the project’s main objectives is to determine how well both hybrids cope with adverse climatic conditions. South Moravia is one of the warmest and driest regions of the Czech Republic, and agricultural crops there repeatedly face water shortages and high temperatures. Researchers will therefore monitor not only plant growth and yield but also signs of stress, such as the drying out of leaves and tillers. “The ability to cope with climate-related stress could be one of the greatest advantages of these new hybrids. Their potential is primarily linked to the genetic characteristics of the wild species used in the crosses,” says Frantová.
Modern wheat and barley varieties are the result of long-term domestication and breeding. During this process, humans have primarily selected for high yields, grain size, and other economically important traits. However, this process has also led to a reduction in genetic diversity. “Wild relatives, by contrast, undergo natural selection. Plants must survive in their particular environments, and as a result, they may possess genes that our current varieties lack. These genes could give them greater tolerance to heat and drought,” Frantová explains. In addition to drought and heat tolerance, the researcher will investigate the potential practical applications of both hybrids. Each offers different possibilities. “Tritordeum could be particularly useful in the food industry. Its flour has a naturally yellow to golden colour due to its lutein content. According to some studies, lutein may also help delay degenerative eye diseases in older people,” Frantová explains, highlighting one of the hybrid’s interesting characteristics. The DDRR hybrid, on the other hand, could expand the options available for producing animal feed. Frantová will therefore focus primarily on the amount of above-ground biomass the plants can produce. The collaboration with the Spanish company that developed the hybrids began on the initiative of the researcher herself. She came across these unusual hybrids by chance while searching for new research opportunities. As a result, Mendel University could become one of the first research institutions in the Czech Republic to study both cereal hybrids systematically.
Photo 1 – source: Vivagran
Photo 2 – source: Nicole Frantová (view of the station and barley experiments in June 2026)
Photo 3 – source: Nicole Frantová (photo taken at the station, showing wheat varieties)
Photo 4 – source: Vivagran
Photo 5 – source: Vivagran